The writer is a graduate student at the University of Southern California and tweets @zahra7891
These concerns pertain to the apparent lack of understanding of the issue of terrorism by the political gentry. During the elections, actions of extremism were sometimes termed a result of the “military campaign” that has ensued over the past decade. The newly-elected government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has cited the absence of a clear federal policy as a reason for delays in the peace process and has even made flagrantly immature statements to the tune of, “we are not at war with the Taliban”. These issues depict a severe lack of communication and analysis at an internal, multi-stakeholder level, which is extremely detrimental to the peace process, as one side of the negotiating table does not stand united and would sooner blame institutions than take collective responsibility for protecting the citizens of the country.
Furthermore, the assumptions upon which the single-tactic “peace talks” policy is based, are worrisome. Political rhetoric urges us to believe that a handful of targeted external variables are causing the problem. Stop drone strikes and the TTP will stop attacking innocent civilians. Stop a military offensive and the TTP will back off. Offer the TTP an olive branch and they will happily reciprocate.
The TTP is an organisation that has repeatedly challenged the sovereignty of Pakistan and infringed upon the rights of its people. While fear and violence are tools often used to promote their twisted ideology, the TTP also engages in community efforts to bolster extremist attitudes and exploit indigence, which, in turn, serves as the bases for recruitment and influence.
Any policy forged without a clear strategy to control both violence and influence is flawed and premature. Precisely what are we willing to negotiate for the prospect of peace if the current policy persists? Will we barter away some of our sovereignty for the illusion of peace and prosperity? Will we allow the TTP to breed in silos before becoming an even larger nuisance in the future?
It would serve the political establishment well to reanalyse its stance on negotiating peace before the offer of “peace talks” becomes more of a fatuous statement than a serious policy option. The concerned policy should be more comprehensive and can include military force, a gradual socioeconomic development of affected regions and targeted community campaigns against extremism, counterterrorism training for security forces and the effective implementation of the recently amended Anti-Terrorism Act. This must be aided with a genuine effort to strengthen policy by keeping all stakeholders on board.
The sheer size and seriousness of the issue demands that we move away from naive presumptuous rhetoric and utopian cause-effect relationships and more towards a long-term policy of eradicating extremism from our midst. Negotiation from a point of disadvantage is not negotiation; it is one-sided compromise; an agreement that rests on quicksand and a settlement that Pakistan simply cannot afford.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2013.
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COMMENTS (14)
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@faheema: Agree, you have made an excellent point. The distortion of history and religion taught has been deliberate and the results are in front of us.
The challenge that every government in Pakistan has and will be facing in the future too as the problem faced with regard to terrorism and religious fundamentalism is rather critical and not easy to be put an end to. The idea of talking to the Taliban or as one might call sharing the olive branch cannot be negated as an entirely wrong strategy although the result of the strategy cannot really be predicted. Nevertheless this will be a step forward taken by the Government of Pakistan, is an attempt to tackle the problem. The Taliban will try taking unfair advantage as is the case whenever any extremist organisation is invited to the negotiation table but to view this with complete pessimism may not be the positive way of analysing the problem. There is an army and the other security forces who will be doing their duty in checking this menace as they have been doing hence there is a ray of hope. The Frank stein Monster is a major menace now within The Islamic Republic of Pakistan but the end of this monster if not very near does not seem to be a distant dream either. The task is challenging but certainly not insurmountable.
@Abd: The article refers to failure to confront TTP. The reality is that there is only one institution that can confrot TTP and that is the army. IT has been choosing not to do so giving the smokescreen I referred to. My comment thus directly refers to what is covered in this OpEd. Just as Parvez and Feroz referred to the hatcheries (and rightly so) which are not referred to in tis article. Bsically, each one of us is trying to describe what we believe are the root causes for the symptoms descibed by the author. I hope that clarifies.
Simplistic solutions that tend to blame others for problems is classic Pakistan. You ignore the actions of terrorist who massacre Pakistani civilians without remorse and place their motive on "drones" or "America's WOT" without hesitation. You promoted the myth that the Taliban would lay down their arms when American leaves Afghanistan and as that day approaches and the myth evaporates you create another equally bogus myth that stopping drones or "negotiations" will resolve the problem. . Time for a reality check. Your not a super power and can't stop the drone attacks - all the drone rhetoric has created an image that it's a something in your arsenal to negotiate with the Taliban - but that's going to backfire and make you look duplicitous/weak. Also - negotiations imply that you have something on the table that you can afford to give up - what's that? You willing to abandon the Constitution, your right to vote, women's education, polio shots - what? The only chip/leverage you have is the threat of military action and since you haven't launched a significant military action in many years it's unlikely the Taliban will place much value on that chip.
People of Pakistan has given mandate to Nawz shrief and Imeran Khan. Only Allah can help Pakistan now. Both are pro TTP the murderer of people of Pakistan. TTp is creeping in Islamabad will be the first to face Lal Masjid scenario again our judges are also to blame.. Feature is bleak there is no light at the end of the tunnel. We do not want a civil war in Pakistan. This is time say no to TTP and its supporters. Please do not let this beautiful country slip in in to a stone age.
Sleeping with the enemy is a much smaller crime than than not destroying the hatcheries creating these monsters. To cover up the inaction due to a lack of will and conviction, rhetoric and conspiracy theories are spun.
A balanced and fair Op Ed by ET, thanks for that. Afghan Taliban are fighting against foreign forces while TTP or Pakistani Taliban are trying to kill us, weaken us and then take over. They are foreign invaders against Islamic Republic. No country in our 65 year history has killed more Pakistani civilians than TTP and the process is gaining strength every day. Yet we have elected those who want to negotiate with the killers of 60 thousand Pakistanis. Let us negotiate with them the way USA did with Japanese at the end of WW II, from a position of strength and total surrender by TTP.
All very well. But can we antagonize out strategic assets? Who is going to fight our war for Kashmir?
TTP derives strength from the ideology of Islam. In Pakistani society majority of people eat with Islam, Sleep Islam and cover Islam . It is embedded in their life. TTP is also trying to justify their activities interpreting / manipulating what is there in Hadith and Holy book and Jihad( even if it is against their own country) is one of them .Being religious( per their version) is above being patriotic. Their logic which appear irrational to some but it is liked many embedded with what was good for the society 1400 years ago. But values in many aspect of life have since then undergone a change but not acceptable in the society. So long the atmosphere which is conducive for such extremism (But believed by TTP as the purest form) their will be sympathy and or support for them. Oxygen and food which makes TTP healthy has to be stopped totally.else be prepared to agree to cede some area first or implementation of Shari Law to buy some peace temporarily . They can break the agreement/ understanding , if any,on any smallest excuse which is visible. Democratic system itself is not acceptable to them.
@np: What do you actually mean here? The reader comments given below an article is for giving comments on the writer or his/her article. From where does the COAS comes in here? The writer has neither reffered to the COAS in her article nor quoted any of his statements here. Your comments seem to be totally out of context.
ET mods : What I say is true eve if it is politically incorrect. Hope you will not screen it. As for the COAS statements whereby he tries to hide behind smokescreen of civilian authority, what can one say? When it comes to derailing peace talks with India, when it comes to missing persons in Balochistan or when it comes to undermining civilian government through memogate, civilian supremacy is ignored. IT only becomes a factor when giving a reason to protect one's strategic assets.
Nicely written but you have delicately avoided saying that all these suggested peace initiatives and also the military actions including drones are just treating the symptoms and not the disease. The main root cause of this is the proliferation of hatcheries ( extremist madrassas ) that produce the raw material that engage in these criminal activities under the guise of religion. The most recent TTP leader killed was a product of a known Punjab madrassa - has it been closed ? or are we going to find excuses legal or otherwise to avoid doing what must be done.
The talks cannot succeed. So what do the proponents expect? A ceasefire and a lessening of tension perhaps. An uneasy calm, followed by a resumption of attacks? PML-N and PTI will soon realize that the terrorists are not normal people. One could really use a miracle.