RECENT increase in terrorism merits dispassionate and multi-dimensional evaluation of response strategy. Situation seems more complex due to the swift resurgence of terrorism after a significant decline amid effective counter-terrorism operations and sacrifices of defence forces and LEAs. KP and Balochistan provinces are facing the maximum brunt of terrorist attacks. There is an obvious sinister pattern as most of the attacks are aimed at LEAs and defence forces. Terrorist groups are trying to challenge the writ of the state to portray wider lawlessness and security threats in both provinces. Timing of terrorism resurgence precisely coincided with the instability wave jolting the politico-economic pillars of Pakistan. It was obvious that terrorist groups made desperate efforts to regain the territory lost after tremendous operations by defence forces and LEAs.
Political disorder in the post-VONC scenario offered an exploitable opportunity to the shattered groups operating with impunity in Afghanistan. Pakistan is rightly concerned about the regrouping of anti-state terrorist groups with undeniable existence in Afghanistan. This issue gets more complicated with IEA’s stereo-typed suggestions to hold dialogue with TTP. Such irrational suggestion reflects IEA’s much understandable tilt towards TTP. Saner quarters believe that Pakistan should not enter into the dialogue process with TTP or any of its splinter groups due to some very considerable reasons. One; TTP is a designated terrorist outfit with its hands soaked with the blood of Pakistani citizens. Valiant sons did not sacrifice precious lives to rehabilitate the savage beasts back in the homeland. Two; TTP do not believe in the Constitution of the sate.
In simple words, how the state can engage with a group which denies the very existence of the state and its constitutional scheme. Three; Demands floated by TTP in the past regarding imposition of Shariah in erstwhile FATA and pull-out of troops from certain areas were entirely unconstitutional. Four; Dialogue with a defeated and shattered TTP would signal unnecessary weakness on the part of the state and discredit the past CT successes. Five; A runaway terrorist outfit like TTP comprising unspecified splinter groups does not qualify to stand at par with a state having a strong professional army and functional constitutional order. Six; Dialogue proposal is nothing more than a bluff to fetch time and space to expand the wings in lost territories. Having enlisted a few pertinent reasons to debunk the idea of dialogue; the role of IEA cannot be assessed in isolation. A few quarters are exploiting the existing situation to distort the stance of Pakistan about Afghan Taliban aka IEA.
It is wrongly propagated that Pakistan had supported the IEA against the Ashraf Ghani regime and celebrated the swift takeover of Kabul back in August 2021. This wrong impression is further twisted in the backdrop of IEA’s hesitant response on cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan. Spoiler quarters are trying hard to inflame the fragile Pak-Afghan bilateral ties by fanning the irritants related to the TTP issue. There is another dark side of this multi-dimensional problem. Indian propaganda mills are striving hard to portray Pakistan as the epicentre of terrorism and patron of IEA. While the terrorist groups operating in KP and Balochistan with undeniable support of Afghanistan-based RAW’s proxies, Indian disinformation networks are portraying TTP and its splinter groups as a homegrown problem of Pakistan.
There is a need to understand the larger plan by identifying the intended objectives of hostile quarters in the context of ongoing global contestation. Let’s focus on some pertinent aspects. First, terrorism resurgence aims at disrupting Pakistan’s ties with regional players, especially China. Thrust in Balochistan is all about sabotage of CPEC. Two, India has been assigned a lead role in the US-led China containment drive. This factor alone is enough to understand the nature of linkage between RAW and foreign based so-called Baloch anarchists. Three, TTP was kept alive and active in poorly-governed areas of Afghanistan to accelerate the destabilizing drive against Pakistan at best available moment. Political disorder amid VONC, especially unwise confrontational politics of the former PM, provided that opportunity to the enemy. Four, defence forces are being targeted by hostile quarters to expedite the destabilizing process in Pakistan. This venomous objective can be easily extracted from the malicious propaganda of traditional propaganda outlets of Indian media.
It is very much clear that internal security problems of Pakistan have deep roots attached to complex geo-political contestation. Afghan Taliban aka IEA should keep certain points in focus prior to finalizing their policy about Pakistan. One, Pakistan has a zero tolerance policy towards TTP and all its splinter groups, therefore, prolonged denial or divergence policy may not prove beneficial for IEA as well as for regional peace. Two, Pakistan believes in a friendly stable Afghanistan without having any favourites there. The IEA, at the moment, enjoys zero international recognition and Pakistan is out of such few countries that always advocate the international community to engage with Afghanistan for the sake of humanitarian causes. Three, millions of Afghan refugees have adopted Pakistan as a second home.
Despite multiple economic and security issues, Pakistan continues to extend brotherly support to Afghanis. Four, there is almost a consensus in the regional and international community regarding the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan. Therefore, Pakistan’s concerns on TTP’s cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan are beyond any doubt. Being signatory of Doha deal, IEA is duty-bound to eliminate cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan. While Pakistan seems focused on eliminating all brands of terrorism for the much needed stability, it is about time for the IEA to rectify its policy lines and weigh the consequences of denying the genuine concerns of a trustworthy neighbour like Pakistan.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Islamabad.
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