ISLAMABAD – The government yesterday defended talks with the reconcilable elements in the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and the opposition parties claimed the talks proposal by the government had bypassed the Parliament as they gathered at a webinar here to discuss the issue. Speaking virtually at a dialogue of the political parties on government talks with TTP, hosted by the Islamabad Policy Institute, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that talks with the TTP were meant to wean away the reconcilable elements at a time when the group was at a weak point. The IPI held the meeting to assess the political and security ramifications of the start of government’s dialogue with TTP and analyse the challenge of extending legitimacy to the terrorist group. Chaudhry insisted that not everyone in TTP was ideologically committed to the group and many of them were ready for reconciling with the state. He emphasised that hardcore base of the group was very narrow and getting the reconcilables to part ways with it would weaken it. “The state wants to give an opening to the people who do not want to raise arms against us. We can’t prolong fights generation after generations,” he maintained and said that those who would not renounce violence would be dealt with sternly. He argued that the government was negotiating from a position of strength unlike the mistake committed by the United States in Afghanistan that did not talk to Afghan Taliban when it was on the acme of its power. The information minister claimed that some of the TTP factions were linked to Afghan Taliban, who think that those who resorted to violence for ‘other’ reasons should be engaged. Speaking on the occasion, Vice President Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Khurram Dastgir Khan said his party rejects talks with TTP at this stage because there was no clarity about the process and the group with which talks were being held. “Pakistani government’s negotiation with and mainstreaming of extremist religious groups have both failed catastrophically in the recent past. There is therefore neither cause nor justification for (Prime Minister) Imran Khan-led government’s unilateral offer of amnesty to an organization that has murdered tens of thousands of Pakistani civilians as well as soldiers,” he underscored.
He said government’s offer of amnesty to the TTP was a blunder of appeasement, and “taken condemnably” without consulting Parliament.
The PML-N, he said, demands that the government should brief the Parliament forthwith with detailed facts as well as its overall strategy.
Secretary General Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians Farhatullah Babar also called on the State to clarify its position with regards to the dialogue with the “terrorist group.” “Before we get into talks with the militants we have to set our strategic interests and goals,” he added.
Babar feared that Pakistan’s support for Afghan Taliban was helping the local militant groups psychologically. “If we are supporting Afghan Taliban, we are indirectly supporting TTP because they are one and the same,” he said.
The PPP leader further asked the government to keep an eye on the great game in Afghanistan while making such moves.
Regarding the government’s amnesty offer for TTP militants, he said, concessions should not be extended unilaterally.
The two opposition parties believed the talks offer to the TTP without taking the parliament into confidence was like bypassing the parliament.
Executive Director IPI Professor Sajjad Bokhari said a key challenge facing the government, political parties, civil society and other stakeholders is figuring out how to disarm and demobilize TTP without according it legitimacy.
He said that while the state and its organs can forgive and forget violence inflicted against them but the heirs of victims may find it difficult to wash the memory.
“Is a new precedent being set in Pakistan that from now on any armed group which has targeted unarmed civilians can be brought into political mainstream through talks if it renounces violence,” he questioned.
https://nation.com.pk/23-Oct-2021/government-defends-opposition-rejects-talks-with-ttp
