It is time the civilian government and military leadership shed illusions about any Taliban group being amenable to peace. The Afghan Taliban, Haqqani network, and the TTP are all chips of the same block. The timing to sort them out is of crucial importance. Unless they are taken out before the departure of the US-led troops in Afghanistan, enormous price in human and material terms will have to be paid to eradicate the threat. Any indecisiveness at this stage would be highly dangerous.
The TTP, we are told by one of its nominees for peace talks, could be persuaded to extend ceasefire provided the government was ready to deliver on its demands. The government has already released a number of TTP prisoners without the TTP releasing any of the noncombatants in their custody. The militants want to get their demands accepted under threat of violence. One fails to understand the wisdom behind continuing the process of peace talks “on a slow pace based on a wait and see policy”, as reportedly decided in the security meeting on Thursday. The terrorist attacks are continuing. One security man was killed and two injured in a blast near Peshawar. A series of explosions took place in the weapons depot of the Khyber Rifles in the tribal region completely destroying the depot. A Taliban subsidiary has claimed to have conducted the explosions. In Lahore police have nabbed a group affiliated with the LeJ which has owned killing 18 including Shia leaders besides committing bank robberies. Meanwhile, polio vaccination teams continue to be under attack, leading army to decide to provide them cover. On Thursday the KP government admitted in the provincial Assembly that 13 primary and middle schools had been shut down on the outskirts of Peshawar alone due to militancy. If this is the situation in the provincial capital one can imagine what might be happening to schools in far off towns and tribal areas.
The issue regarding the future of talks with the TTP was reportedly discussed at the federal cabinet’s meeting on Friday. The pursuit of peace through talks, strongly advocated by Ch Nisar, has led to a blind alley. The TTP had declared a unilateral ceasefire only after its strongholds in North Waziristan and other agencies were subjected to bombardment, commanders killed and IED making facilities destroyed. There is a need now to put an end to vacillation. The militants understand only the language of force. Putting an end to militancy by resort to the state’s machinery of coercion may be distasteful to some. But when lives of thousands of peaceful citizens and soldiers defending their county are at stake, vacillation has to be put aside.
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