PAKISTAN: A reflection on peace talks with the Taliban

October 29, 2013                                                                                                                                Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 12:32 PM

An Article from the Asian Human Rights Commission                            Nida Nida

"It is madness for sheep to talk peace with a wolf," said British historian and clergyman Thomas Fuller. In other words, we cannot change the nature of wild creatures. We cannot predict when snakes, lions, wolves or any other wild animals will attack, and without protecting ourselves we cannot sit calmly. In the context of Pakistan, the sheep is the government, and the wolf is the Taliban. It is madness on the part of the government to want peace talks with the Taliban, who only understand the language of weapons and violence.

On 9 September 2013, Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called an All Parties Conference, in which state institutions had a discussion together with military officials regarding the peace situation in the country. All the parties at the conference agreed to have peace talks with the Taliban, and this decision is being criticized throughout the country. In its opposition to this decision, civil society noted that the newly elected government is confused and has no effective policies or strategies to fight terrorism, while being blind to the reality of the Taliban. Most ordinary Pakistanis will tell you that it is not a good idea to have talks with the Taliban as they have nothing to give, knowing only their weapons, not peace. In fact, peace means death for them.

The Taliban are a remnant of Zia's dictatorship, created to push out Russian forces from Afghanistan. Since the birth of Pakistan, it was at the hands of wolves like Zia and now his offspring, the Taliban, that Pakistan lost its image as a peaceful country on the world map. Glancing through history, not a single progressive development by the Taliban can be found, only suicide bomb attacks, illegal demands, brainwashing of youth, discrimination against women and minorities and the killing of liberals.

Keeping this in mind, many questions arise and should be answered, before adhering to any talks with the wolves: Is it possible for a wolf who picked up weapons and killed dozens of people without any shame, to truly understand peace? Is it possible for a wolf to have peace talks with sheep, when he does not believe in the laws of the sheep? How will people for whom democracy is synonymous with infidels, live within a democratic government? How will they serve justice and compensation one week after the peace talks, for the thousands of innocents they have killed and the numerous families who are now suffering from grief and trauma? Will they have any positive demands from the government, apart from the releasing of their commandos, implementing Sharia laws, and so on?

The above questions will definitely meet with a lot of fear and distrust. Ordinary citizens are sure of the Talibans' intentions regarding peace talks, so why is the government closing its eyes? The recent bomb attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are proof of the mockery of the talks.

An emerging political party in Pakistan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), and part of the coalition government in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, demanded for the removal of the ban against the Taliban and the provision of offices for them to have talks with the government. PTI chairman (and former cricket captain) Imran Khan is apparently under the impression that the government and the nation is his cricket playground, where the Taliban have performed three suicide bomb attacks within one week. The first attack occurred on September 22, in a church, with two bombs blowing up one after another, causing 84 people to die; the second attack was on a bus of government employees on September 26 near Gulbela area, causing the death of 18 persons; and; the third bomb blast occurred on September 29 in the famous market known as Kisa Khawani Bazaar, in which 42 people were killed. Hundreds of people were also injured in these blasts. Despite these grave incidents, Imran Khan is still keen on giving space to his opposite team to win the game. He should rather understand that providing the Taliban even a single room will soon lead it to control the entire house.

It seems to me that these three attacks by the Taliban, coming after a negotiation demand from the government, indicate that they see any peace talks as mere mockery. If the Taliban come for negotiations, their demands will be to restrict women from markets, keeping them limited to the four walls of their homes, ending relations with the USA, releasing of Taliban members from prisons and the implementation of Sharia laws. They will continue with their repression and violence; taking bribes from traders, brainwashing children, destroying girls' schools, murdering liberals and minorities in the name of blasphemy, and so forth.

The government should understand that talks with the Taliban means the release of all terrorists from prison, no law and order in the country and more terrorism. Rather than talks with the wolves, unity between the sheep should be the government priority, which will lead towards the defeat of the wolves.

All parties should work towards collective actions in the government to stop militant operations in Pakistan for the restoration of peace. Any procrastination to this end can only lead to further dire consequences.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Afghanistan's Kunduz province

02/22/2013 08:00 AM CST     Fri, Feb 22, 2013 at 7:45 PM
Precision Strike Kills Taliban IED Expert
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release
KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 22, 2013 - A precision strike killed Zekaria, a Taliban improvised explosive device expert, in the Chahar Darah district of Afghanistan's Kunduz province yesterday, military officials reported.

The strike will significantly degrade the ability of insurgents to conduct attacks in the Charhar Darah district, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command officials said.

In other news, ISAF Joint Command officials confirmed today that Habib, a Taliban leader, was killed by a precision strike yesterday in Logar province's Charkh district. He obtained weapons for insurgents and helped to plan attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, officials said.

Related Sites: NATO International Security Assistance Force

Extremists caught off guard by outcry over Malala

With their reputation already tarnished, militant groups appear to have dealt themselves a self-inflicted wound by going after a schoolgirl who campaigned for girls' education.By Udayan Namboodiri and Zahir Shah for Khabar South Asia
October 26, 2012

Courtesy Photo:Students hold a placard during a rally to condemn
the attack on Malala Yousafzai in Peshawar October 11th. Militant
extremists like the Taliban were caught off guard by the global
condemnation of their assassination attempt of the 14-year-old
girl who spoke out in favour of women's education rights.
Girls worldwide have held candlelight vigils in support and
Muslim clerics and other religious leaders have
condemned the attack. [Fayaz Aziz/Reuters]

Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old from the Swat Valley who rankled the Taliban with her assertion of every girl's right to education and is recovering in a British hospital, has become a rallying symbol not only in her native Pakistan, but across South Asia.

In the Indian city of Lucknow, with its storied Muslim heritage, girl students from all religious backgrounds staged a candlelight vigil on October 17th for Malala, who was shot October 9th by a gunman who boarded her school bus. Two fellow classmates were also injured in the attack.

On October 25th, more than 3,000 girls and boys drawn from all communities took part in a procession in downtown Kochi, Kerala. "The little girl in Pakistan has won a huge fan following," said Ameena Kuttimeena, a state government education service official, in comments to Khabar South Asia.

At home, Malala's story has galvanised Pakistani public opinion. Prayer vigils were held across the country and thousands attended rallies of solidarity in capital Islamabad and Karachi.

Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, accused the attackers of cowardice and said they "have no respect even for the golden words of the prophet".

According to Pir Haider Ali Shah, an MP from the Awami National Party, Pakistanis from all walks of life have come together in condemnation of the shooting.

"Across-the-board condemnation of the attack on this teenage girl is unprecedented," he said. "The level of unity shown by the Pakistani nation over the incident is equal to the one observed when a massive earthquake hit northern regions of the country in 2005."

Taliban, al-Qaeda on the defensive

The reaction appears to have come as a surprise to extremist groups operating in South and Central Asia, putting them on the defensive.

The Taliban issued a seven-page statement insisting that the attempted murder of Malala was permissible under Islam, and threatening to kill journalists who it said were casting the terror group in a negative light. Al-Qaeda followed suit days later with a letter that said the girl had been targeted because she "made fun of jihad" and was too close to the West.

Uzbek militants operating in North Waziristan, meanwhile, have been issuing pamphlets asserting that Islam "allows punishment of women involved in crimes".

"Malala had committed the crime of using insulting language against the Mujahideen so the attack on her was very much justified," the militants said.

But the use of Islam to condone an assault on a minor-age schoolgirl has been hotly disputed by Islamic authorities, including religious scholar and former Pakistani Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi. Islam, he explained to Khabar, does not allow such attacks. "Killing an innocent girl cannot be justified in Islam," he said.

Maulana Tayyab Qureshi, caretaker of the historic Mohabbat Khan Mosque, also cast doubt on the militants' claims. "I don't feel the brutal attack on the minor girl Malala and her other schoolmates could be justified under Sharia," he said, adding that it is "highly uncalled for and unjustified".

"I don't know how the attackers, whosoever they are, can justify it but it would be just a personal justification and had nothing to do with Islam and its teachings," Qureshi remarked.

Activist: Malala close to people's hearts

Pakistanis reacted strongly to the shooting because they see Malala as a symbol of girls' right to education, according to Qamar Naseem, a business executive who also chairs the End Violence Against Women and Girls Alliance, a group of civil society organisations.

The people of Pakistan hold Malala close to their hearts and view her as a torchbearer for emancipation, he told Khabar.

Asked whether the attack would further damage the reputation of the Taliban, Qamar said: "To a very large extent! I would say the masses' reaction to the attack and the brutal attempt itself had badly tarnished the Taliban's image, which was already on the verge of decline due to their vicious acts of violence and barbarism."

"The seven-page explanation and their repeated clarifications with different justifications clearly shows the Taliban were panicked and were really in hot water over the Malala issue," Qamar added, describing it as a media and public relations disaster for the militants.

Indian analysts, meanwhile, say Malala's campaign on behalf of girls' education is drawing support from across the region.

"More education among women means greater insurance against radical thoughts creeping into young minds," said Shajid Aslam, a legislator from the eastern state of Bihar. "You find greater fundamentalism in feudal societies which deprive education to girls than in countries where girls have this right."

According to Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, Malala "can be a game-changer. The girls of all South Asia are praying for her."

"Through her brave struggle, Malala has injected new life into not only education, but all human values. Henceforth Taliban and all fundamentalists will be careful," Banerjee added.