PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif addressing the All Parties Conference in Islamabad on Thursday. PHOTO: INP
But these factors aside, we have a situation where virtually all the major parties in the country are willing to talk to a force, which has openly said it does not believe in Pakistan’s Constitution, which has murdered thousands of people, displayed unparalleled brutality and which seeks to impose its version of Shariah law across the country. One can only wonder what these parties are thinking of. The JUI-F APC was attended, among others, by Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of the country’s nuclear programme and chief of his newly-formed Tehrik Tahaffuz-e-Pakistan, and heads of various parties including Mian Nawaz Sharif of the PML-N, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain of the PML-Q, Munawwar Hassan of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Aftab Sherpao of the Qaumi Watan Party, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad of the Awami Muslim League and Mehmood Khan Achakzai of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. The MQM was represented by Dr Farooq Sattar, Tahir Mashhadi and Waseem Akhtar. The PPP delegation was led by Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
One would think that among these persons, greater wisdom would prevail. This, sadly enough, appears not to be the case. We also do not know what the peg for negotiations is to be; in the give and take of talks, what is to be conceded to the Taliban. These are all factors that must be considered very carefully. We need to hear from our key leaders, as elections approach, how they see these and what offers they think can be made to the Taliban.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2013.
COMMENTS (23)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
It seem proposed FATA province (part of various political parties political agenda) will be handed over to Talibans eventually given free hand to impose their version of Sharia.
@kaalchakra: {Now, anybody who picks up a gun or throws a few bombs is declared a terrorist}
Are you seriously serious? A gun and a few bombs resulting in tens of thousands of deaths including slaughtering of hundreds of captured soldiers and all concieveable and unconcievable acts of atrocity? On the other hand maybe you are not to blame. Must have been sound asleep for the last 5~10 years like Rip Van Winkle.
according a senator that appeared for a talk show on a news network, the thinking behind this APC is that america and nato are talking to the afghan taliban so why shouldn't we try to talk the TTP.
so in other words this is a last ditch effort to mitigate their loses and retain some of the 'good' taliban after foreign troops stop general operations in afghanistan. it would never turn out to be the way that they'd like - things have changed, but even that wont stop them from being ever the opportunist.
@Gp65: yeah you're right, the pakistani public has been whipped into silence, only because a mass demonstration against the taliban screams "suicide bomber"
I am a die hard Taliban basher and always opposed any negotiations or asking for tentative agenda without any response whatsoever from Taliban apologists. But in this case I would like to keep my mouth shut and let the peace lobby try its best. Who knows some sort of miracle may happen. At the very least the Taliban will be exposed when actual negotiations do start and who knows we may finally have a national consensus for Jihad against these barbarians.
These talks are the best thing to have happened recently. We have been throwing around the word 'terrorists' too loosely these days, all under American and Indian influence. There was a time, not too far back, when we never agreed upon who a terrorist was. Now, anybody who picks up a gun or throws a few bombs is declared a terrorist!
@imran bhatt: British army backed Churchill. Did PPP and ANP get that support as one politician after another was killed in cold blood?
@d: I wasn't relying on CNN. I do have my eye on Pakistani electronic media in Urdu too - geo, Dunya etc. if there is a news lip that you can share to support your claim I would like to see it. Urdu TV is fine but not newspaper because I cannot read Urdu.
@gp65: there have been protests, they just don't make it to cnn. im pretty sure we dont support masked men gunning us down because it is in accordance with our religion.
Pity there are too many Chamberlains and not a single sight of Churchill.
Rat race for vote bank politics. There will be dead end to the dialogue after the election and status quo will prevail.
we are a country besieged by the terrorists. Without the will or resources to fight we have decided to agree with them the terms of surrender.
@lancersboy: Enter reality before commenting. Also you should try listening more than when it's just convenient. As if they've never had a sentence of dialog with them. What do you call the numerous failed deals in the past? Did they use sign language neither understood? Haven't you ever heard what their non-negotiable demands are? You either surrender or fight. They aren't giving you an option for anything in between. Those things have been said so many times it should be nearly common knowledge yet it somehow manages to take a detour around some brains and ears. Furthermore, forces aren't actually leaving Afghanistan. They're having the number lowered and the Afghan military is taking over the job. So, no, the Taliban will not be a political reality in Afghanistan any year soon unless they too drop their non-negotiable terms. They want things the way they were previously and are met with a resounding "not a chance" from the people of Afghanistan and NATO. Worst case scenario is they give the Afghan military a hard time pending on their training level which is probably now higher than even your own Army's because of who has been training them and equipping them. If that worst case scenario happens, it just means they'll send people back to assist the Afghans. The Taliban as a ruling party is nothing but fantasy now.
@salman: Who told you that you had to wait?
So the war should continue...not a single sentence in favour of dialogue? If I may venture into the hotbed of intellectuals who are all poised to keep the war mantra being raised for future.2014,and bulk of Uncle Sam's forces out of the region,Taliban will be a reality in Afghanistan.Should Pakistan continue on the path of confrontation? France and Germany were sworn enemies in first half of 20th Century but became part of a lasting alliance after that,what stops us to talk.Yes there has to be a policy of dialogue based on Pakistan's interest.If the secular leadership has not delivered in the Islamic World than Morseys and Arbakans emerge in hot beds of secularism like Egypt and Turkey,why Pakistan will be different???? I know it is ET's policy to disallow views of people like me...let us see if the policy could be modified to give chance to open debate.
If TALKS is for holding Elections incidents free, well and good. Otherwise I do not see any meeting point of policies.
Very worrying indeed. A major slap in the face to the many thousands murdered and maimed by the TTP. After the elections are over and the status-quo are sitting comfortably in their thrones once more, ordinary Pakistanis should brace themselves for more carnage...
@d: "only shows how far removed our leaders are from the people they represent"
Not all parties are motivated by rightwing votebanks. Some have simply been intimitaded into silence. They may not be as far removed as you think. Remember thousands of people came out to protest a badly made film and not even a dozen people came out to protest killing of polio workers, desecration of Ahmadi graves, kidnapping and forced conversion of Rinkle Kumari under judicial supervision, razing a temple by land mafia despite stay order and much more."But these factors aside, we have a situation where virtually all the major parties in the country are willing to talk to a force, which has openly said it does not believe in Pakistan’s Constitution, which has murdered thousands of people, displayed unparalleled brutality and which seeks to impose its version of Shariah law across the country."
Factually correct but I have a couple of observations:
PPP and ANP have been pushed to this situation after a slew of their politicians were brutally murdered by terrorists while the deep state continued the Russian roulette of good terrorists and bad terrorists MQM is still a princiled hold out on this issue.This will in no way affect India directly or indirectly ?
this is an outrage and seems a ploy to appease a certain demographic to deepen their vote capacity. only shows how far removed our leaders are from the people they represent.
This offer of talks by the TTP would never had happened if ELECTIONS were not approaching and the usual suspect parties were not more concerned with seat counts rather than the scourge of militancy killing the country! This is like being on the Titanic after it hit the iceberg and wondering what will be served for dinner the following evening!
So when can we start calling mian sahib "taliban sharif"?
Assuming that the talks go well, I wonder what role our political leadership is contemplating giving to these TTP barbarians! Would they relinquish violence and become 'civilized' after the talks and stop bombing girl schools, give rights to the women and start respecting Pakistan and its constitution? Thanks ET for continuously highlighting this extremely serious issue.