EDITORIAL: Islamabad’s demand for extradition of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists who operate from the Afghan territory has indicated one thing very clearly--testing times are ahead for Pakistan’s relationship with the Taliban government. TTP terrorists have murdered thousands of Pakistanis over the last many years, the most agonizing being the tragedy of the Army Public School in Peshawar. Even when they had the ‘cause’, if it was really a cause, they were the hired guns profusely funded by India. Now when Afghan Taliban have regained political and territorial supremacy in the border regions used by the TTP, Pakistan has demanded their extradition, as well as an “explicit assurance” that Afghan soil will no longer be a safe haven for TTP terrorists. An identical demand has been made by China as it faces a serious challenge that Afghanistan-based East Turkmenistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) has been posing to it for quite some time. And, everyone else also wants the new Afghan administration to ensure that its soil does not fertilize terrorist outfits, including the Islamic State (IS). As part of its demand for extradition of TTP terrorists, Pakistan has also handed over to the new rulers in Kabul a list of most-wanted terrorists.
Being conscious of Pakistan’s consistent demand for extradition of TTP terrorists, Taliban chief Habitullah Akhundzada has reportedly set up a three-member commission to examine Pakistan’s complaint. According to the Voice of America, the TTP “has been asked to stop violence against Pakistan and return home across the border in exchange for a possible amnesty by the Pakistan government”. Since the new rulers of Afghanistan have announced a seemingly general amnesty, it would be certainly problematic for Kabul to hand over TTP terrorists to Pakistan. We would, therefore, like to desist from making any comment on the question of amnesty for all until the commission makes its report public. We do know that in the context of day-to-day developments in Afghanistan, amnesty is the buzzword. Pakistan, too, may consider granting amnesty to TTP terrorists but that has to be within the country’s juridical framework. Pakistan says amnesty, if any, will be “in line with the country’s constitution and law, which would require the militants to surrender their weapons”. The question is whether Kabul will help produce terrorists before the court of law in Pakistan; this is indeed a testing challenge for the governments in Islamabad and Kabul. To quote Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi “the desire for a prosperous future for the Afghan people is linked to reciprocity of approach from the other side”.
Even if a general amnesty offered by the Taliban government is a huge departure from its past and is expected to promote national reconciliation on the basis of forgive and forget, it is incumbent upon it to see how its actions would match hopes and aspirations of its international supporters. What would be the reaction of an average Pakistani, who saw firsthand the massacre of Peshawar children, to grant of amnesty to the TTP blood hounds? It is quite clear that Pakistan wants the Afghan Taliban to succeed in establishing a stable and prosperous Afghanistan that will not allow its soil to be used by terrorist outfits of all kinds. But to grant pardon to somebody who murdered a student is not the prerogative of the state. The question of granting amnesty to TTP terrorists is a national issue demands a parliamentary approach to this profoundly complex matter.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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