If our previous record of ‘peace deals’ with the Taliban is anything to go by, it looks like we are getting ready to be duped once again. The Punjabi Taliban has said that it is ready to hold ‘serious’ peace talks with the government. The outfit went on to state that it did have some conditions — no surprises there — such as the nation reviewing its foreign policy agreements with the US and making the affairs of the state sharia-compliant. This is all news that we have heard before and, by now, should have learnt our lesson. The announcement was made by Asmatullah Moavia, the head of the Punjabi Taliban and the Junood-e-Hafsa, a group created in reaction to the operation against the Lal Masjid in 2007. Moavia is a militant who has made it clear in the past that his group, the Punjabi Taliban, while part of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) network, is not under its direct command. That there is the possibility of the country facing many Taliban factions, all wishing to assert their own influence and power, is very plausible and the Punjabi Taliban seem to be a ‘shining’ example of this unnerving fact.
It seems the piper is playing its old tune once again and the fear is that our political eminences will embrace this latest offer. Once again, the militants are speaking from a position of strength, having the audacity to dictate to us what our foreign policies should be and holding a gun to our heads about how to run the state in accordance with their narrow-minded interpretation of religion. We have, time and again, given them credit for their word and have been betrayed almost immediately. In the last four months, the peace negotiations jingle has been playing in the background while we have witnessed a dramatic increase in the intensity of suicide and other bombings. Some of the worst attacks this year have occurred under the watch of the new governments. Recently, the All Saints Church in Peshawar was the scene of a terrifying bombing where dozens were killed; the attack was claimed by the Junood-e-Hafsa. How can we ever believe what militant groups such as these say? No doubt, they are strategising new opportunities to befool the nation again. The PML-N and the PTI, two political parties literally swaying to the peace talks’ tune, need to understand that the militants have left no room for compromise and must be tackled from a position of strength where no preconditions will be acceptable. Giving the militants the upper hand, as has been the past practice, is tantamount to digging one’s own grave. *