There is a near national consensus that killing of the TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud in a CIA-operated drone strike is a huge blow to the prospects of peace in the restive tribal region. Therefore, if there is nationwide resentment over this 'subversive' action it should have been expected. He was killed on the eve of a meeting his aides were supposed to be setting the stage for peace talks with a team of emissaries set up by the Pakistan government in consultation with almost all the national political parties. That this incident - having all the peculiarities, and some say mystery, of the Seals' killer raid on Osama hideout in Abbottabad - would, or should, put the Pak-US relationship out of gear, the points of view however, vary, ranging from shooting down the drones to denying the Nato supply route facility to wait-and-see till the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan gets back on its feet. How soon the government succeeds in reviving the peace process, to this there is no answer yet. But what can be said with fair amount of certainty is that at the end of the day it is realpolitik that is going to prevail and not the emotional outbursts. The understanding on both sides that talks should take place stemmed from realities on the ground. On the battlefront, the drones had taken care of most of their top commanders and the general feeling in the militants' camps was that there is no running from it anymore.
On the human front, they found that their blood-soaked campaign had earned them nothing but the people's rejection of their worldview. Certainly it is not a 'change of heart' that prevailed with the militants. If Hakimullah Mehsud is dead today, it was the wish of thousands of families who lost their near and dear-ones to the TTP-reared brutes. They would expect that the government and other stakeholders not to be emotional and unrealistic as the TTP maps out its post-Hakimullah course of action. Yes, the government should conduct a 'review' of its relationship with the United States, but as it decides the follow-up it should not throw the baby out with the bathtub water. Last time when Pakistan closed the Nato supply route as a reaction to Salala killings the US did not stop the drone attacks. Will it do now? Instead of shooting down the drones and closing the Nato supply route the government and others who have joined hands to broach talks with Taliban should rethink their options but within the dictates of pragmatism and national interest. Frankly, Pakistan does not have the will, capacity and wherewithal, at least as of present, to win over the Taliban at the cost of trivializing the assiduously-restored relationship. The answer to question whether the national security forces would have spared Hakimullah, who has been killed by the United States, would be in the question. What credence can be given to Taliban's concurrence to the option of talks, it is amply reflected from their reaction to the killing of their chief. They said Pakistan government 'is a puppet government of the US and it deceives us in the name of peace talks'. And then, is there any thing to show that on their demand for release of detained militants, withdrawal of forces out of Fata and rejection of democracy they are flexible? Their spokesman says the TTP 'knew the government was not sincere in peace talks'. What then made the government to believe that the Taliban were sincere in holding productive talks? It is therefore imperative that before any legislature passes a resolution of the nature Imran Khan is talking about an in-house serious review of the post-Hakimullah scenario is undertaken, keeping in mind that we bite only as much as we can chew. Maybe, as proposed by JUI-F chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, there should be another APC to plan the next move, but not a 'solo flight' as he thinks Imran Khan intends to carry out an act of doing something alone. Should there be a review of relations with the United States as suggested by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, Washington's response is already on the table. In response to the Foreign Office demarche handed over to US' Ambassador, Richard Olson, the State Department insists that the US has a "shared interest" with Pakistan in ending extremist violence and the US has "an ongoing dialogue with Pakistan on all aspects of their relationship and our shared interests including security and counter-terrorism co-operation, and we work together to address each other's concerns". The post-Hakimullah situation clearly underscores the need for appreciating the situation and situating the situation against this backdrop.