Should Pakistan negotiate with TTP?
According to media reports Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
has expressed willingness to talk to the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and has
set two conditions for the talks. It has blamed the GoP for not taking earlier
ceasefire offer seriously.
The TTP spokesman expressed lack of confidence over
the military but expressed willingness to talk if Maulana Fazlur Rehman,
Munawar Hasan, and Nawaz Sharif came forward for being the guarantors.
The second condition is release of three of its militants, Muslim
Khan, Haji Umar and Maulana Mehmood. While there are suggestions that the GoP
should start negotiations some quarters strictly oppose this because they
consider TTP a collection of mercenaries working against Pakistan and killing
Pakistanis. They also don’t accept them as Mujahedeen fighting against foreign
occupiers in Afghanistan but their accomplice.
When TTP spokesman Ehsnaullah Ehsan talked to media at an
undisclosed location near Pak-Afghan border in this video released on February
3, 2013, the prime convict in the Pervez Musharraf attempted suicide attack
case; Adnan Rashid was sitting beside him. One can recall Adnan Rashid was
freed by TTP fighters during the Bannu Jail break in July last year.
Analysts term TTP a cluster of various militant groups and
their stated objectives are: 1) assault on Pakistan and its Army, 2)
enforcement of their interpretation of Sharia and 3) a plan to unite
against NATO-led forces in Afghanistan. It is often believed that the TTP is
not directly affiliated with the Afghan Taliban movement, with both groups
differing greatly in their histories, strategic goals and interests, although both
belong to the Deobandi sect.
The TTP is at war with Pakistan Army in the tribal belt but
has lately extended its operations to urban areas of Pakistan. TTP's main group
consists of fighters and commanders who never took part in war against USSR or
Nato in Afghanistan but they started their actions against Pakistan Army.
It is often alleged that they gets funds and arms from external
source. They have started their activities near Durand Line but their main
target is Pakistan not the occupying forces in Afghanistan. It is also alleged
that their target is nuclear assets of Pakistan because TTP is contently
keeping Pakistan Army engaged and distracting its attention from Indian border.
According to some experts about a hundred thousand
Pakistanis have been killed or wounded and nearly 10,000 men in uniform martyred
but TTP has been pushed back into Afghanistan from where they are now launching
their operations against Pakistan. Experts have the consensus that TTP is a
group of terrorists and it has no links or relations with Afghan resistance groups
fighting against Nato-led forces.
Some analysts believing in conspiracy theories openly accuse that they are getting arms and funds from India and America. They even go to the extent of saying that CIA is killing leaders of Afghan resistance groups through drone attacks or through TTP. Therefore, TTP is not eligible for negotiations. Instead it must be weeded out completely else it will regroup and attack Pakistan with renewed power. TTP will actually do what the ‘godfathers’ will tell them to do.
Some analysts believing in conspiracy theories openly accuse that they are getting arms and funds from India and America. They even go to the extent of saying that CIA is killing leaders of Afghan resistance groups through drone attacks or through TTP. Therefore, TTP is not eligible for negotiations. Instead it must be weeded out completely else it will regroup and attack Pakistan with renewed power. TTP will actually do what the ‘godfathers’ will tell them to do.
TTP has been attacking mainly strategic installations in
Pakistan and destroying equipments which have been procured at very high cost. They
attacked PNS Mehran and destroyed AWACS planes which are very important for
Pakistan’s maritime security. They attacked Peshawar Airbase and targeted fuel
tanks there which were designated for fighter aircrafts for negotiating any
aerial threat from West. They even attacked GHQ of Pakistan Army.
In Pakistan, they recruited many tribal and Punjabi youngsters in the name of Jihad but are now using Tajiks and Uzbeks for their operations against Pakistan. It is believed that Tajik and Uzbek fighters are being supplied by India operating military bases in Tajikistan. These bases are located just a few kilometers away from Uzbek border inside Tajikistan.
It is believed that TTP does not feel comfortable in Afghanistan. It fears after the withdrawal of Nato-forces from Afghanistan, Afghan resistance groups will try to eliminate them because they had caused huge damage to them.
In Pakistan, they recruited many tribal and Punjabi youngsters in the name of Jihad but are now using Tajiks and Uzbeks for their operations against Pakistan. It is believed that Tajik and Uzbek fighters are being supplied by India operating military bases in Tajikistan. These bases are located just a few kilometers away from Uzbek border inside Tajikistan.
It is believed that TTP does not feel comfortable in Afghanistan. It fears after the withdrawal of Nato-forces from Afghanistan, Afghan resistance groups will try to eliminate them because they had caused huge damage to them.
In a May 2010
US General David Petraeus described the TTP's relationship with other
militant groups as difficult to decipher: "There is clearly a symbiotic
relationship between all of these different organizations: al-Qaeda, the
Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi.
And it's very difficult to parse and to try to distinguish between them. They
support each other, they coordinate with each other, sometimes they compete
with each other, [and] sometimes they even fight each other. But at the end of
the day, there is quite a relationship between them."
Another offshoot of the TTP is The Tehreek-i-Taliban Punjab,
alternatively called the Punjabi Taliban. It is also said to be a loose network
of members of banned militant groups based in South Punjab. Major factions
of the Punjabi Taliban are said to be Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Sipah-i-Sahaba
Pakistan and Jaysh-i-Muhammad. It has increasingly provided
the foot-soldiers for violent acts and has played an important role
in attacking Ahmedi, Shia, Sufi and other civilian targets
throughout Pakistan.
The bottomline is that the mercenaries may wear different
caps but their objective is common, plunging Pakistan into anarchy. These
groups are getting funds and arms from outsides and hire ruthless people to
kill and sabotage.
The time has come to weed them out without the slightest
consideration that they are Pakistanis. The outlaws deserve no mercy,
especially because they have been killing the innocent and helping Pakistan’s
enemies to achieve their ulterior objectives.
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Naeem Baig has posted the following comment on my Facebook wall and I quote "Shabbir Kazmi sahib, a good attempt on narrating a very difficult subject. This subject has many dimensions. If this menace has proped up, persisted and expanded to its present state, then we should try to look into our strategy flaws to see if the doctors are administering correct medicines for the disease. I will suggest you to kindly carry out a research to find out the reasons why they are doing what they are doing?"
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