Talking to a wily ‘interlocutor’

For any lasting “peace”, TTP must give up those among them who actually attacked or executed our soldiers and others.

Before we go on to the “talks” in particular, we must note that it is rather rich of the PPP and the MQM to now forcefully ask the PML-N government to take stern action against the Taliban and their cohort, the various other militant groups that virtually hold the country by its throat, when they and their allies did absolutely nothing when they were in power for five years in all the provinces except Punjab, and at the Centre. (The sole exception, of course, was the ANP government which whilst it was besieged by accusations of malfeasance and maladministration, at least faced down the terrorists and paid a heavy price for it too.)

When one brings this up, their friends hint that it was because Ashfaq Pervez Kayani was not too keen on taking tough action because he had his own axes to grind in consonance with the then chief of the ISI, Shuja Pasha. Well, they should say it loudly then. But let them hold their horses for the time being and wait for some result to emerge, negative or positive, from the “talks” that are going on as I write this between the TTP (or a faction thereof!) and the government.

Some aspects of the talks have become clear already however; the most critical one being that they are being held on the TTP’s turf, and not, say, in the Governor’s House, Peshawar, that actually runs Fata. The government’s negotiators will soon realise that they are dealing with a wily and very clever and very tough adversary who knows perfectly well how to “tweak” matters to their advantage. Round Two to the TTP if you ask me. Round One went to the government and its army and air force that pummelled the TTP to the “talks” after Bannu.

The second, and equally critical demand of the TTP is the release of prisoners, their language couched in soft terms such as “non-combatants, women and children”. It is mightily obvious that these are not the only ‘prisoners’ they want released but certain hard-core militants too. Well, I do not need to state the obvious: that the release of “women and children” is fine unless some of those women are terrorists themselves, either caught in the act of trying to blow themselves up, or arrested after good intelligence as to their proclivities.

I have to add here and now that the release of any terrorist accused of attacking our army, police, khassadars, levies or plain civilians would be tantamount to giving the terrorists even freer rein than they enjoy today. Additionally, for any lasting “peace”, the TTP must give up those among them who have actually attacked or executed our soldiers and others, video films of which were widely released on the internet to strike fear in Pakistanis’ hearts.

A “shining” example is the man with the huge axe in his hands who had just beheaded 12 of our soldiers, reported as follows by this paper of record on August 31, 2012: “The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) released a video on Friday showing what appeared to be the severed heads of a dozen Pakistani soldiers. Pakistani security officials had already confirmed that 15 of their soldiers went missing three days ago after a clash with the militants.

“TTP Spokesman Sirajud Din sent AFP a video showing a militant commander posing with 12 heads arranged on the ground. “Praise be to God that the mujahideen in Bajaur agency have managed to kill the infidel soldiers of Pakistan,” he says.

“Many of them were killed by bullets, 12 of them as you see have been beheaded, you see 12 heads here, and more heads are on the way.”

‘The commander is flanked in the footage by armed men including one wielding a huge axe.

Confirming the reports of missing soldiers, a senior security official told AFP, “At least 15 of our soldiers are still missing.”

That this gory video was released on a Friday speaks volumes about the TTP and their cruel and heartless ways. It is imperative that in return for peace, the murderers be given up as recompense for wantonly killing the servants of the state who have laid down their lives for the country. And indeed, innocent civilians. In my view, there can be no peace for those who have lost their loved ones, indeed for the country at large, unless the killers are brought to justice.

Our negotiators must also recall Meena Bazaar, Peshawar (Oct. 28, 2009: 137 killed, over 200 injured); Moon Market, Lahore (Dec. 7, 2009: 54 killed, over 150 injured); and All Saints Church, Peshawar (Aug. 22, ’13: 91 killed, over 100 injured). And note that the death toll climbed in all cases in the following weeks and months as injuries from bombings are most severe.

And now for a little cheer: Social media has been abuzz with news that the PTI has banned all travel to the United States by its MPs unless the US apologises for off-loading Sheikh Rashid from a Canada-bound flight from Islamabad.

Tweets and FB postings on this new brilliance are hilarious: from one saying a frightened President Obama has summoned an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the matter to one telling us that the head of the Transport Security Administration (TSA) has been made an OSD, to yet another announcing the crash of the US dollar in what is a growing crisis for the United States.

Suffice it to say that the past two days have been days of much mirth for which one must thank the bright spark (a news report credited Madam Shireen Mazari, MNA) who came up with this particular jewel. Whilst one must thank whoever was the author, one has to ask why this sort of reaction did not come when Mr Imran Khan himself was hauled up for questioning while boarding a flight from Canada to the US, according to one news report for carrying more money on his person than he should have.

Is it the case that this extreme reaction in Sheikh Rashid’s case was prompted by some “political” considerations, or is it the case that the PTI is lurching further to the extreme right with Ms Mazari commanding more authority in matters to do with foreign affairs. In which case, watch out world!

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2014.

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