Pakistan Government Surrenders Before Extremist And Militant Outfits In Pakistan
Pak Government Has Surrendered To Tehreek-I-Labbaik Pakistan
Main
Points:
1. Last week,
Imran Khan government had talks with the extremist group TLP
2. The TTP was
involved in Peshawar Army school massacre
killing 150 students.
3. TTP has the
patronage of Afghan Taliban.
------
New
Age Islam Staff Writer
13 November
2021
It seems
that following in the footsteps of the US which surrendered before the Taliban
in Afghanistan, the Pakistan government has also decided not to adopt a
confrontationist policy vis a vis the Taliban in Pakistan aka TTP and any other
extremist group in the country. Last week, the Imran Khan government had
entered into a one sided peace deal with the TLP (Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan),
a Barelvi religious group giving them legitimacy in political and religious
arena. Now the Pakistan government has
entered into a peace deal with TTP which is a proscribed organisation and has a
history of heinous terrorist attacks on schools, residential commercial
complexes, and religious processions and on minorities since 2007 when it came
into being after the Lal Masjid siege.
It should
be noted that the government waged a battle against the proscribed group and
lost many of the soldiers in its fight against terrorism and lost millions of
dollars on the war in North Waziristan in 2009 and was successful in clearing
the tribal belts of the militant outfit. But the ascent to power of Taliban in
Afghanistan this year has emboldened the terrorist outfit and it appears that
the Imran Khan government succumbed to the pressure of Aftghan Taliban and
agreed to hold talks with the TTP. According to media reports, one of the
demands of the TLP in return for peace is the release of some of their comrades.
If this is true, then it will cause a serious threat to the country as they
were involved in the fiercest of terrorist attacks causing death to hundreds of
innocent civilians and children.
No one
denies the importance of talks with militants or any disgruntled groups for
resolving issues and for removing misunderstanding but the talks should not be
based one one-sided conditions. The TTP follows the agenda of imposing their
extremist interpretation of Sharia which denies human and religious rights to
the minorities, the Shias, the Hindus and other marginalised religious groups.
The
government has not made it clear as to on what grounds the truce has been
entered with a militant outfit. Any militant outfit which is based on a
militant ideology will never dissociate with its ideology and come into the
political mainstream. Their main goal is to impose their militant ideology and
so entering into truce with them will not change their ideology and they will
not leave the path of violence. They follow a retrograde interpretation of the
relgion. Therefore, the Pakistan government’s policy of making peace with
extremist and militant groups will only give rise to extremism and politics of
violence in Pakistan. The instability and insecurity that this policy of the
Pakistan government will cause will affect not only Pakistan but the entire
region. Therefore, the Paksitan government should not hobnob with the extremist
forces of the country for the sake of peace and stability in the region.
-- -----
By
Zahid Hussain
November
10, 2021
DAYS after
surrendering to the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan, the government has announced a
month-long ceasefire with another banned terrorist outfit. We are told that
there has been substantive development in the ongoing negotiations with the
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), brokered by the Afghan Taliban. But we still
don’t know on what terms the so-called peace is being negotiated with a
terrorist group that had declared war on the Pakistani state and had killed
thousands of people.
According
to a media report, the group wants the release of several hundred militants,
many of whom were involved in terrorist attacks, before the start of
negotiations. That would contradict the government’s claim of having made
significant progress in the talks. The information minister says that the
negotiations are being held under a constitutional framework. But there is no
clear answer to the question of how the state can talk peace with a group,
which is banned as a terrorist outfit and which has not surrendered.
There was
no cessation in hostilities while Pakistani security officials engaged in
talks. Just days before the ceasefire announcement, an ambush in North
Waziristan claimed the lives of four soldiers. Scores of soldiers have lost
their lives in renewed terrorist attacks over the last few months in former
Fata. Such an escalation in violence raises questions about a tentative truce
delivering peace.
It appears
that it is the state that has virtually surrendered to a group that is also on
the list of global terrorist networks. There is no indication yet that the TTP
is willing to lay down its arms and accept the Constitution. The demand for the
release of prisoners before talks would make it clear that the outfit seeks to
negotiate from a position of strength.
It seems to
follow the pattern of past peace negotiations with the militant group. Each
peace deal further empowered the terrorist outfit. The latest talks are likely
to be used by the TTP to reorganise itself and regain its space in the tribal
districts. There are already some reports of the revival of TTP activities in
parts of the area. The return of Taliban rule in Afghanistan seems to have
further emboldened the proscribed network.
It was in
December 2007 that several militant groups operating in different parts of Fata
and KP formed the TTP under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud. The TTP had an
agenda to enforce its own retrogressive version of Sharia rule in the country.
Its birth came in the aftermath of the Lal Masjid operation in Islamabad that
saw a massive rise in terrorist attacks in the country.
There is no
doubt that the formation of the TTP had the blessings of Al Qaeda. They jointly
carried out high-profile terrorist attacks across the country targeting
civilians as well as security installations. The nexus was responsible for the
devastating attacks on the GHQ and ISI installations. By 2008, the militants
had virtually established their rule over large swathes of territory in
northern Pakistan presenting an existentialist threat to the country. It was on
Pakistan’s urging that the TTP was declared a global terrorist group.
The TTP
benefited from the weak response of the security establishment and a series of
peace deals, with the state virtually surrendering its writ. It was only after
2009 that the security forces launched massive operations against the militant
group. It took more than six years before the tribal belt was cleared of the
militants at a huge human and economic cost. Hundreds of thousands of troops
were involved in the action. The massacre at Peshawar’s Army Public School that
left almost 150 students and staff members dead was the most heinous terrorist
attack in the country’s history.
Most
critical was the North Waziristan operation that finally broke the back of the
TTP. Pushed into Afghanistan, the group disintegrated into several factions,
some joining the so-called Islamic State’s Khorasan chapter. Many others were
reportedly provided sanctuaries by various Afghan Taliban groups. That has also
given the Afghan Taliban huge leverage over the TTP.
Apparently,
it was after the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan that backchannel
contacts between Pakistani security agencies and the TTP were established. The
talks were facilitated by the Haqqani Network that has long maintained close
ties with the Pakistani militant group.
It is not
that the state should not talk to militant groups but the real issue is on what
terms. Negotiations make sense only after the militants agree to a complete
surrender of arms. But there is no such indication. The TTP has only agreed to
a short-term ceasefire, and as has happened in the past, will use the truce to
regain its lost space.
Most
troubling, however, is the absence of a clear strategy on the part of the state
on how to deal with terrorist and violent faith-based extremist groups. There
has not been any effort to develop a national consensus on such critical national
security issues.
Curiously,
it was in a media interview that the prime minister made the disclosure that
his government was in talks with the fiercest of militant groups. Apparently,
the issue was not even deliberated in the cabinet let alone parliament. The
opposition was only briefed on the development by the military leadership this
week. But the prime minister is still not willing to take the nation into
confidence on this sensitive issue.
The
ambiguity around the terms of negotiations has made the talks extremely
controversial. The whole episode has reinforced suspicions that it is pressure
from the Afghan Taliban that has compelled Pakistan to engage with the TTP. The
change in Afghanistan and our support for the conservative regime there appears
to have also caused the authorities to soft-pedal the group.
Any deal
with the TTP is likely to reverse the gains the country has made in its battle
against terrorism and violent extremism. Unconditional negotiations will
legitimise the terrorist group. The shameful deal with the TLP last week and
talks with the TTP should be cause for serious concern. It certainly raises
questions about our resolve to fight terrorism.
-----
Zahid
Hussain is the author of No-Win War — The Paradox of US-Pakistan Relations in
Afghanistan’s Shadow.
Source: The Dawn, Pakistan
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/pakistan-extremist-militant-outfit/d/125765
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