TTP split that deepens

The simmering split between pro- and anti-Pakistan factions of Taliban reportedly came to a head over the weekend when the central shura of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan refused to endorse its chief Mullah Fazlullah's order of sacking Khan Said alias Sajna. Fazlullah had replaced Sajna with his favourite commander Khalid Omar Khurasani to take control of both South and North Waziristan where popular support for productive peace talks with the government is on the rise. Khurasani was expected to weigh in with Sajna's local rival Shahysar Mehsud and thus win two-month old intra-Taliban conflict that has cost scores of lives including some important commanders on both sides. The emir's decision to first sack Sajna and then seek its endorsement didn't sit well with the TTP shura, as its precept expects of him to ask for advice and not dictate. Such a crack in the Taliban unity was expected for some time, not only because their struggle has developed war fatigue but also because some ground realities like traditional tribal rivalries and economic factors seem to be fast overtaking the jihadist fervour. Fazlullah's non-Waziristan roots even, though he was elected emir by Hakeemullah Mehsud's followers; do not lend him the same measure of local support that Sajna enjoys as the inheritor of Waliur Rehman's mind and heart. Waliur Rehman was for sharia rule in Pakistan but not at the cost of the country's independence and sovereignty. In Mullah Fazlullah's rejection of Khan Said Sajna for any prominent position and role in TTP there is an unmistakable reflection of his anti-Pakistan agenda he tries advancing from his safe haven across the border in Afghanistan provinces of Kunar and Nooristan. Rightly then the widening intra-TTP factions split is validation of the long-denied thesis that there are 'good Taliban' and there are 'bad Taliban'. On which side of this divide stands the present emir of TTP, Mullah Fazlullah his video released simultaneously to the rejection of his command by the Taliban shura is the pointer. Through this video, dubbed as his 'policy statement', the TTP chief has asked the 'fidayeen' (suicide-bombers) to be ready to face guns and tanks of evil forces.
Who then the government mediators for peace with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan should be talking to? The advocates of peace parleys with the Taliban - their political backing of peace dialogue has proved to be nothing short of lifeline to the recalcitrant anti-state forces - would not like to admit the reality of the ongoing intra-Taliban warfare and refuse to come down from generalities of dividends the talks can deliver. Prima facie, the government itself too is ambivalent and the leadership tries walking between the raindrops by saying one thing and then saying just the opposite. For instance, on Friday Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali was quite optimistic about revival of face-to-face talks with the Taliban. The next day he didn't know where to sit for talks when the Taliban are busy in sorting out each other. So far only one across meeting has materialised, and that long time back. The second meeting the government expected to be 'decisive' with both sides putting their agendas on the table has not yet materialised. And it may not for quite some time given the ongoing leadership tug of war among the Pakistani Taliban factions and the role of Afghan Taliban in post-withdrawal of foreign forces Afghanistan. If the ambiguity and apparent loss of direction on the part of the government on the issue of talks with TTP is a considered policy - some say it is and is paying reminding how TTP unity has been rent asunder - we don't know. But we have a beef with it if it is so. Now that the Taliban saga has begun appearing in its true colours, that it is all about control and power and in the wild west of Pakistan, the government should clearly and loudly declare the TTP-inspired-or-supported unrest and violence is an anti-state plan and project, and would be handled as a law and order issue. At the same time, it should activate back-channel contacts with Sajna-led anti-Fazlullah factions who are relatively easy to access given they come mainly from southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. The window for this is small and delay in this has its inherent risk that the factional split may heal up as happened following the death of Baitullah Mehsud and then Hakeemullah Mehsud.