Pakistan: TTP’s gambit ( little chance for peace )

With all these agents of chaos let loose there is little chance for peace

The selection of the TTP’s committee for talks once again indicates that the terrorist network is as crafty as it is lethal. Well aware of the dynamics of Pakistan’s politics it has nominated three leaders belonging to religious parties, one from a mainstream party and a cleric known for his extremist views. They all have a soft corner for the militants. Despite their bitter mutual rivalries the JI, JUI-F and JUI-S are united on the issue of Sharia along with Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Majid fame. The three religious parties which were sidelined by the electorate would now be suddenly in the limelight after the TTP move. During the talks with the government’s team they would compete with one another to gain the maximum space for the terrorist network in return for allowing them to operate peacefully. The government had wanted its committee to focus on ending the terrorist attacks. It is instead being invited to play on Taliban’s turf. With the government accepting the offer, the focus of the two committees would be on fixing the timetable for the enforcement of Sharia. The TTP would meanwhile gain time to overcome its weaknesses and to concentrate on the implementation of its strategy of terror. Imran Khan has declined to accept the offer by the TTP. It would however suit him to make use of any opportunity he finds to expose the government rather the TTP.

Meanwhile, 15 prominent clerics of a particular school of thought have urged the government and Taliban to announce a ceasefire to end the bloodshed in the country. Instead of holding the TTP responsible for bomb blasts and suicide attacks that have killed thousands of innocent citizens, and telling it to stop the gruesome game, they have put the lawbreakers and law enforcers in the same category thus helping the terrorist network. This shows the TTP is a step ahead of the government. What the government should have done was to rally the support of those religious leaders who have always called a terrorist a terrorist in spite of attacks and threats of further violence.

At a time when the entire parliament, with the exception of a mini minority, was willing to support action against the terrorists, Sharif agreed to treat them as a party, providing the proscribed network a measure of respectability. Thanks the PML-N government a number of terrorist leaders who had gone into hibernation are coming out into the open to continue their activities. Leader of JeM Masood Azhar has already delivered a telephonic address at a gathering of his followers in Muzaffarabad while Fazlur Rehman Khalil of Harkatul Mujideen is now appearing on TV talk shows. With all these agents of chaos let loose there is little chance for peace.