Daily Times

After one month’s interval, in the dark night of May 29, a drone reappeared in the sovereign horizon of our country, zeroed in on its target, and kaboom, went into ashes the seven persons that were revered by their followers as leaders, despised by the perpetrators as terrorists, and treated by some sections of the people as annoyed citizens of the country. Reaction from media, political and religious parties was an expected outcome, which quickly surfaced after the incident, raising concerns and questions about the intent of such an action, especially when the newly elected political party that considered drone attacks unacceptable was about to form the government and its chances of fruitful negotiations with the Taliban were looking bright. The Pakistan Foreign Office and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) were the first to strongly condemn this event and to follow them were Maulana Samiul Haq of Jamiat-e-Ulema-i-Islam and Maulana Fazlur Rehman of Jamiat-e-Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

The very next day of the incident, Nawaz Sharif, addressing the US Ambassador in Lahore, said that Pakistan and the United States will work collectively to counter terrorism, but for some unknown reasons he decided not to touch upon the subject of drone attacks. Finding it an opportune time, Raza Rabbani of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) criticised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for not condemning the drone attack, urging Sharif to take the nation into confidence about his policy on this issue as if the PPP had a better track record on it. Imran Khan also joined in and urged Sharif to take the drone strike issue on priority, to order to strike them down if they try to enter into our territory again, or do something to end such attacks on Pakistani territory.

Surprisingly, the US refused to admit that it had killed Waliur Rehman, while the Taliban accepted the incident and confirmed the death of Rehman in the attack. In retaliation, the Taliban announced their unwillingness to continue with the peace negotiation offer they made earlier. Most observers and political parties in the country nodded in agreement that the attack was a serious blow to the peace negotiation efforts. Once again, Pakistan and the US appeared to be on different tracks in dealing with the menace of terrorism: one willing to make another attempt to find a peaceful solution by talking to the Taliban while the other unwilling to discontinue its policy of using force against them. How can a long lasting solution to the ongoing war against terrorism be achieved when the two key stakeholders are at odds with each other? How can a nation bring peace to its territory when it tolerates one act of terrorism and does not tolerate the other?

If a drone attack is taken as an act of sabotage to the ongoing peace efforts then why aren’t the acts of terrorism by the Taliban considered the same? A week before the last drone strike, 11 security officials and two civilians were killed on May 23 in a targeted bomb attack in Quetta, which that was proudly claimed by the Taliban as their handiwork. A week before that, on May 13, a suicide car bomb hit the IGP Balochistan’s residence in Quetta, killed six persons on the spot and wounded 70 persons, two of whom were later declared dead at the hospital. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, long time allies and associates of the Taliban, claimed responsibility for this attack. On May 17, two soldiers were killed in an ambush suspected to be carried out by the Taliban on a convoy that was passing through Matani village in the outskirts of Peshawar. The same day two bomb blasts occurred at two separate mosques in Malakand, killing 13 and wounding over 30 people. Altogether 36 persons were put to death by the Taliban and their associates, if we do not count other incidents of violence in Kurrum Agency, North Waziristan and Hangu that took place during May 13 to 29, where the involvement of the Taliban is very much suspected.

In principle and legally, the death of every person, except the ones who resort to violence and killing, is equally condemnable, irrespective of who the victim is. The same is true for the effects of such heinous crimes. Why did we show so much concern on the deaths of seven members of a banned organisation and remained tight-lipped about similar incidents when the victims were security persons and common people? Why did the media not launch a large campaign on the negative impacts that these acts of terrorism had on the negotiations offer made by the winning political parties? No reasons seem to be relevant other than the fear of the Taliban or lack of sympathy for the victims.

Interestingly, the spokesman of the Taliban appeared to be more intelligent and logical when he talked to the press and claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 11 soldiers in Quetta. He disregarded the negotiations offer by Sharif as unreliable by saying, “We are waiting for him to form his government and see what type of policies he formulates towards us.” He delivered this statement on May 23 when Sharif was still merely an elected chief of a leading political party. He took oath as the prime minister on June 5, a week after the drone attack in FATA. Instead of taking a position similar to the Taliban, the PTI showed its displeasure at the incident and conveyed its plan to move a resolution in the National Assembly (NA) to put an end to drone strikes. Before they could have moved a bill in the NA, a PTI MPA in Hangu, Farid Khan, was shot dead by the militants on June 3. Police arrested a key suspect, Commander Mufti Hamid, while the brother of the slain parliamentarian registered a FIR against the JUI-F members as the main suspects. Sharif, soon after taking oath as the prime minister, announced that the drone strike chapter must be closed now. But terrorism does not seem to on the new government’s agenda.

Seeking peaceful solution of a crisis is the best strategy but it should not have to be a one-way traffic. If the government is showing its willingness to explore a peaceful solution, the Taliban have an equal responsibility to show their willingness and sincerity to it as well. Deaths resulting from drone strikes or terrorism are equally condemnable and showing indifference to either one of them will never restore a lasting peace in the country.

The writer is a freelance journalist and researcher. He can be reached at mohammad.nafees@yahoo.com