Violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty
Mohammad
Jamil
THE debate is raging in the media after the
recent drone attack that killed head of the TTP Hakimullah Mehsud, and
impression is being conveyed by some politicos and analysts that the TTP was
ready for holding talks with the government. But this is not true. Whether
Hakimullah Mehsud was evil incarnate or someone willing to accept the writ of
the state is not the point here. It is imperative that both the US and the TTP
should be condemned in the strongest possible terms for their crimes and vile
activities, and neither the US nor the TTP should be allowed to trample
Pakistan’s sovereignty.
Pakistan
government, all political parties, religious parties, and in fact the entire
nation have condemned the recent drone attack that killed head of the banned
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). On the whole drones’ attacks have been
counter-productive for one that Pakistan’s sovereignty is violated and secondly
when Pakistan looks helpless, this emboldens the militants, as it gives an
impression of weakness of the government as well as armed forces. International
community starts believing that Pakistan government and its armed forces are
not capable of controlling the menace of terrorism.
In
keeping with desire and aspirations of the people, Pakistan’s political;
military and intelligence leaderships are on the same page so far as
non-acceptance of drone strikes is concerned. Whether talking to the TTP is a
good idea or not is not the issue here. There is a little room for discussion
with a terrorist organization that has killed thousands of Pakistani citizens
and espouses a violent and sectarian ideology. People of Pakistan have suffered
at the hands of terrorists, and they want that the government should be deal
with an iron hand. However, if the government could bring peace through
negotiations, it was worth trying. At the same time, for it to be effective,
the decisions about the ‘when’ and ‘how’ of such a crackdown must be taken by
the government of Pakistan in close consultation with the security
establishment. It can’t be left to the whims of a other countries albeit a
super power. It is true that the government has been sluggish and inept at
devising a comprehensive counter-terrorism policy. It has so far appeared to
have espoused expectations of US aid for overcoming economic crisis, which
proved a hoax in the past.
For
months it seemed in a state of paralysis. And when it finally moved, it
convened yet another All Parties Conference to garner for itself the crutches
of national consensus and a license for talks. Even after that, there was more
talk about talks rather than any real movement in that direction. Pakistan is
facing a dilemma. If the government does not take stern action against
militants that pose a threat to the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, the latter
tend to violate of Pakistan’s sovereignty. On the other hand, if the TTP
leadership does not showcase its intent to hold talks to bring peace in the
country, or the government procrastinates due to one reason or another, the
militants get breathing space to reorganize. After being decimated in Swat and
Malakand, Pakistani Taliban reorganized and came back with full force. Anyhow,
Hakimullah Mehsud was reportedly at his headquarters in North Waziristan to
attend a gathering of 25 Taliban leaders to discuss the government’s offer of
talks. Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan termed the US drone
strike that killed the TTP commander as an attempt to sabotage the government’s
plan to hold talks with the TTP.
The fact
remained that the TTP had issued a list of preconditions including the release
of all its members held in Pakistani jails and the withdrawal of troops from
the tribal areas along the Afghan border, where the militants have hideouts. On
Friday, before the drone attack that killed Hakimullah Mehsud, TTP spokesman
had reiterated these demands and said the government must fulfill them to prove
they are serious about talks. As the TTP militants continued their attacks on
military and civilians, yet some political and religious parties have been
pressurizing the government that it should enter into dialogue with the
militants. The TTP’s spokesman is on record having said that the TTP never made
an offer for talks. The TTP seems to be changing goalposts, and also try to
create confusion by denying its involvement in one incident while owning the
other. However, All Parties Conference had passed a resolution that dialogue
with the militants was the first option to bring peace to the country. Despite
that overture, Major General Sanaullah Niazi, Lt. Col. Tauseef and soldier
Irfan were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Upper Dir district after they
were returning from visiting forward posts along the Afghan border.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan had claimed the responsibility for the attack.
Some
political and religious figures often justify militants’ vile activities on
grounds patently spurious. It is now for the civilian and military leadership
to think out a strategy, which indeed they should have done long time ago, but
apparently have not done so far. Extremism has indeed become the biggest
internal threat to the country; rather it has turned into a dreadful threat to
its very existence. The perpetrators of terrorism are laying claims to
religious motivation, albeit very dubiously. The way they destroyed schools,
shrines and attacked mosques and worshippers knocks the bottom of their
pretense of being practicing Muslims. The sophisticated weaponry militants
possess and use; the fighting expertise they display and unlimited funds they
have go to prove that they are not religiously motivated but the proxies of
certain alien powers. Unfortunately, our past and present governments have been
hesitant to name the countries that support the militants. As stated above, the
government has been procrastinating in holding talks either due to its
ineptness or strategy of the TTP to gain time and to reorganize. The government
should start telling the truth.
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