ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan has set the ball rolling by giving peace one more chance at a time when all eyes were set on a military operation against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
The formation of a four-member committee by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to negotiate a peace deal with the TTP has sat well with those supporting a negotiated settlement of an unending security crisis.
However, there is no dearth of those opposed to the idea of offering an olive branch to the harbingers of death and destruction.
The fact that the TTP indicated willingness to start negotiations with the government makes many believe that the terrorist outfit has been provided a lifeline at a time when the militants were showing clear signs of weakness.
The government had every reason to launch a decisive crackdown against TTP after it let loose a fresh wave of terrorist activities in the past four weeks, targeting both civilians and the military.
“There are 99.9 percent chances that the talks will fail, but still, if the government wants to try negotiations to persuade the terrorists it is its prerogative and we support its endeavour,” said Brig (retired) Mehmood Shah.
Pessimism looms large about the negotiations’ success. The message was loud and clear when one of the negotiators, veteran journalist Rahimullah Yousafzai, after his appointment to the committee, told a private television news channel that the nation should not expect much from the talks.
Brigadier Mehmood Shah was the secretary of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa home and tribal affairs department when, in 2004, the first ever peace treaty with Pakistani Taliban commander Nek Mohammad fell apart within two weeks of its announcement.
On March 27, 2004, then corps commander of Peshawar, Lt-General Safdar Hussain, embraced the militant commander in a tribal jirga (gathering of notables) at Shakai, South Waziristan.
“Since then multiple peace deals have taken place, but barring a couple of them (one with Hafiz Gul Bahadur in Miranshah and the Maulvi Nazir faction of Wana, South Waziristan) no other peace deal has been a success,” said an observer from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
The unreliability of TTP and its failure to adhere to commitments made under previous deals are not the only reasons for opposition to the government’s latest peace offer to the militants.
They oppose the move on tactical and emotional grounds as well. After a series of deadly attacks in January, public opinion is in support of military action against TTP.
With TTP believed to be holed up in Mirali, a sub-division of Miranshah in North Waziristan agency, it would not have been difficult for the military to teach yet another lesson to the militants after their debacle in Swat and South Waziristan agency in 2009.
“Against a planned operation of six weeks the military completed its mission in just 17 days in South Waziristan in November 2009,” said Shah.
“The time was ripe for launching the operation, but the government selected otherwise,” said Shah.
So, what are the newly set up committee’s prospects?
While Shah pins no hopes on its success, based on the outcome of previous peace deals, the political observer from Fata questions the composition of the peace committee.
“The fact that the government is not serious about striking a peace deal is evident from the composition of the committee,” said the observer.
Of the four members of the committee, three belong to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one to Punjab.
“They (tribesmen) don’t listen to outsiders, for them to be engaged there is only one way, and that is a tribal jirga or negotiators from among the tribesmen who can give them guarantees,” said the observer.
Internews
