ISLAMABAD: Security experts on Friday warned that banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is making new nexus with Baloch separatists and local militant groups based in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which will likely to exacerbate the already precarious security situation in the country.
They were speaking at a consultation on “Afghan peace and reconciliation; Pakistan’s interests and policy options”, organised by an Islamabad-based think tank, Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS).
Representatives of political parties and civil society, academics, and journalists, among others, participated in the discussion.
Unlike the past, this is for the first time that TTP has started carrying out terrorist attacks in Pashtun areas of Balochistan, which is very disturbing, they pointed out.
They added that there is no clarity about Pakistan’s policy for Afghanistan and the ruling coalition in the Centre is also unclear on how to deal with the TTP since talks with the proscribed group failed last year.
The discussants underscored that TTP and other local militant groups were filling the space left by mainstream and nationalist political parties in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as they are no more only jihadi-religious groups. They further said that these militant groups now promote political and nationalist thoughts to achieve their vested interests.
President International Research Council for Religious Affairs (IRCRA) Muhammad Israr Madani highlighted that they would have to enhance people-to people contacts and trade to decrease the hostility of Afghans towards Pakistan. “There is a need for religious diplomacy and involvement of religious scholars in this regard,” he said.
Madani said that Pakistan should hold talks with Afghanistan continuously on different issues and these should not be limited to a single sitting. He also said that Pakistan should make its border management policy people-friendly to facilitate the Afghan people.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Munir Ahmed opined that Pakistan’s Afghan policy should be led by a civilian set up and parliament. “Political parties should be given an opportunity to make such a policy.”
Programme Advisor at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Pakistan Hamayoun Khan held that there was an issue of mistrust between the two countries. He said that Central Asia was a huge potential for Pakistan and Afghanistan and both countries could benefit from it if they improve their bilateral relations.
Joint Director PIPS Safdar Sial in his concluding remarks said that Pakistan’s engagement with the Taliban-led interim government in Kabul was the ultimate solution to all problems. He suggested that the civilian government in Pakistan should take ownership of Afghan policy, which should be led by parliament. He added that security agencies must have their input in it.
Aoun Sahi, a senior analyst taking part in the consultation said there was confusion in Pakistan who would make a new Afghan policy as the previous one failed to produce results. “It is also unclear who is now leading any Afghan policy.”
Aqeel Yousafzai, a Peshawar-based expert on Afghan affairs, said that recent statements of TTP chief Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud were political in nature and there was no mention of jihad in these. He added that the group had been introducing itself as a Pashtun nationalist group for the last four years. “The rhetoric of nationalist parties and militant groups like TTP is now the same,” he said, adding that this should be very alarming for the policymakers.
Yousafzai also endorsed that local militant and separatist groups have entered into some sort of understanding with the TTP. He argued that the government should open its door for talks with all militant groups.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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