The TTP’s Trojan Horses

Let us stop being in denial about the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its objectives. Most in this country view the TTP not as a gang of murderous criminals but a political entity drawing its ideological inspiration from the same faith that the overwhelming majority of Pakistanis follow. This is borne out by the results of the May 2013 general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and also by the resolution passed by the All Parties Conference (APC). Also, that is perhaps why Hafiz Saeed is not out on the streets with his Defence of Pakistan Council thundering denunciations against the September 15 killing of two senior army officers and a soldier at the hands of the TTP.

There have been customary expressions of condolences by everyone on Pakistan’s ‘who’s who’ list but barely anyone condemned the attack or called for taking stern action against the perpetrators of the heinous crime. Even those who abhor the brutal tactics that the TTP uses to foist its ideology would be loath, it seems, to vote in favour of engaging it in a frontal war. On the same day that it killed three soldiers, the group had the cheek to demand the release of its colleagues in the state’s custody and withdrawal of troops from the tribal region as confidence-building measures for them to consider the offer of talks.

The TTP did not happen accidentally. Its creation was embedded in the creation of Pakistan itself. The ideology in its nascent state first appeared in the Objective Resolution passed in 1949 by the first constituent assembly and it acquired a decisive form subsequently when it was made a part of the Constitution in 1985. It was the first Afghan war that saw the idea sprout into a full-fledged ideology and the ongoing second Afghan war has shaped it into a formidable force, challenging not only the very Constitution of the country but also its military might.

Most of its successes in the last seven years can be credited to its Trojan Horses that have invaded the mindset of almost the entire body politic of the nation including significant sections of the armed forces, the civil service, police and the judiciary. Most of the high-profile attacks it had so far mounted against the armed forces and the law-enforcement agencies seemed to have been undertaken after gathering accurate and authentic information from sources sympathetic to its cause inside the target entities. And, the execution of each seemed to have been carried out with military precision — showing an exquisite sense of timing and familiarity with the on-ground situation, both resistance-wise and in terms of physical surroundings.

Let us also stop being in denial about the nature of the ongoing war. It is not a war against Pakistan but a war for the implementation of the ‘ideology of Pakistan’ as understood by the TTP. Since TTP’s ideology is anchored in Islam, its appeal for Pakistanis cannot but be significant. And since these beard-less opponents standing in their way are not perceived by the majority of Pakistanis as devout Muslims, therefore, there is no mass support for uprooting the TTP by force. That is, perhaps, why those regions in Fata which have been liberated are still being managed by the army because the locals seem to have lost confidence in the state’s ability to completely eradicate the menace of the TTP.

And finally, let us also stop being in denial about the endgame. There is not going to be any military victory even in the distant future. Neither is there going to be any peace accord in the immediate future. In fact, there is going to be no endgame of this war in the foreseeable future as long as its support in Punjab — about 40 jihadi organisations—is not destroyed completely. And that, neither the army nor the PML-N appear to be willing to do. The war would, therefore, continue to be fuelled by an ideology whose inherently divisive character would continue to morph the TTP into many more factions. And these factions would, in due course of time, start going for each other’s throat claiming sole ownership of Shariah as they understand it. Meanwhile, the dwindling number of opponents of this ideology would perhaps be seen fighting a losing battle to keep a failing state from becoming finally a failed state.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2013.

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