By withdrawing the military from Fata, the Taliban would gain much more strength than what we perceive.
SIALKOT: This is with reference to Ejaz Haider’s article of June 19 “Achakzai’s pie-in-the-sky formula”. I cannot agree more with the writer. Mr Achakzai needs to gain more knowledge on issues pertaining to negotiation and crisis management. By withdrawing the military from Fata, the Taliban would gain much more strength than what we perceive. We saw a lot of euphoria after an infamous deal with the Swat chapter of the Taliban was finalised but after exactly 71 days, the military was called in to evict the enemies of freedom and liberty. We must never ever think of negotiating with militants from a weak position. Pakistan must learn from the examples set by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
I am sure there will be those who will say that the US dialogue with the Afghan Taliban provides a good precedence for us to do the same, i.e. talk to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan but we must realise that the situation in Afghanistan is entirely different. Even if we consider this argument, then we must realise that the Afghan Taliban have actually been forced to enter the negotiation phase because they have been weakened by the American military.
Syed Ali Zia Jaffery
Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2013.
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