Threat to liberal political parties from increased militancy
THE resurgence of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Pakistani soil, after being pushed by the anti-militancy operations conducted in the wake of TTP’s attack on the students of Army Public School, Peshawar in 2014, has increased manifold. Unfortunately, many of these militants and their commanders found safe heavens in the border areas of Afghanistan. After the Taliban took over in Afghanistan, the TTP found very conducive atmosphere to carry out their terrorist activities in Pakistan, especially Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Besides other Pakistani’s, the workers and leaders of liberal and to an extent secular political parties are at great risk. These parties include ANP, PPP and the Muslim League-N.
An important question which begs an answer is: Will right wing parties like Tehreek-i-Insaf Jamat-i-Islami and Jamiat-Ulama-i-Islam (JUI), which have historically extended goodwill gestures to TTP, benefit from TTP’s inimical policies towards the liberal political parties. It must be added that Muslim League-N’s policy towards TTP changed at the beginning of militancy operations against the TTP in 2014. And the Muslim League-N thus lost favour with TTP. The ANP received the worst brunt of TTP violence especially during the 2013 elections and afterwards also. Many frontline leaders like Bashir Bilour, his son Haroon Bilour, Mian Iftikhar’s son Mian Rashid were assassinated by the TTP. Besides these leaders, many workers were also killed by TTP terrorists.
Threat to these liberal parties was specifically given in its January 3, message by the TTP. These parties and their leaders were warned of “Concrete action” for “declaring war” on TTP. The background and context of this message was the decision by the National Security Council meeting on 1 January which declared: “Zero tolerance for terrorism” in the wake of the Peshawar Police line suicide bombing that killed over 100 people. Besides the ANP, the PPP received the greatest blow from TTP terrorism, when its supreme leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi. The leads to her assassination, clearly pointed towards TTP. The episode has, however, remained clouded in controversy in part on account of unconcluded case against (late) Gen Pervez Musharraf. One instant of PML-N loss by the TTP, was the killing of the party’s Peshawar President Haji Sardar Khan Mohmand in 2013.
Soon after the takeover of Kabul by the Afghan Taliban in 2021, the Pakistan Government and military establishment of that time, started an ill-planned series of peace talks with the TTP under the auspices of the Afghan Government. The salient features of these talks were to create conditions, under which members of the TTP could be repatriated to their homes, mostly in the newly merged tribal districts. To facilitate these peace talks, the then government even freed some hardened terrorists from Pakistani jails. The developments had a devastating effect all over Pakistan. Police and security installations were attacked not only in the whole of KP, but Karachi and Baluchistan were also badly hit. It is clear that the Afghan Taliban did not keep their end of the bargain, that: Afghan soil would not be allowed to be used as a base to attack other countries.
The National Security Council (NSC) in its latest huddle held on 7 April 2023, without directly blaming the previous PTI government, noted the resurgence of terrorism along the Afghan border because of the ill-fated peace talks with the TTP. It was decided in the NSC meeting, to start the National Action Plan in the next 15 days to thwart terror threats emanating from terror outfits of all hue. Earlier two similar operations were launched in 2002 and 2014. The NSC resolved to conduct the operations till the eradication of terrorism from Pakistan. The current resurgence of increased terrorist activity by TTP can also be attributed in part, to the inadequacy of follow through of the National Action Plan. The lack of follow up, largely left the retreating TTP sleeper cells intact. With fresh impetus from within Afghanistan, these TTP sleepers’ cells became active to create terrorist havoc all over Pakistan.
Now with new militancy operations imminent against the TTP, and general elections also looming in not too a distant future, one wonders how the liberal political parties are going to fare against pro-Taliban parties like PTI in the election. There can certainly be no level playing field for liberal and secular parties like ANP, PPP and PML-N, which would have to face the full wrath of the TTP and its affiliates, as per their direct threat to these parties on 3 January by the TTP. According to Ahsan Iqbal, PML-N Secretary General, one reason for the PTI government to hold peace talks with TTP and allowing some of its rank and file to settle in their home districts, was to keep the PDM parties under constant pressure. It seems that in the forth-coming elections, level playing field will not only be necessary in terms of the presence of the leaders of all the political parties in Pakistan during the elections. But the management of terrorism is done in such a manner that religious and pro-Taliban parties have no advantage over liberal and secular political parties.
