Pakistan must negotiate with TTP within constitutional parameters
Jun 15, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], June 15 : Pakistan must negotiate with the proscribed terror outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from a position of strength, and ensure that all agreements are in line with the country's constitution, a Pakistan based-report said.
A policy note titled "Pakistan, the TTP, and the Impetus for Internal and External Peace" published by a Pakistani think tank said that the demands of TTP are unviable as they would amount to handing over constitutional control in these areas to the TTP, the Dawn reported.
It suggested the Pakistan government to treat its demands as non-negotiable saying that any agreement that does not result in the disbandment and the demilitarisation of the TTP cannot be considered a success.
The report analyzed Pakistan's ongoing negotiations with the terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and identified the key stakeholders, and the most viable path forward for the government of Pakistan, the Dawn reported.
TTP's demands include the reversal of the merger of erstwhile Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as per the 25th Constitution Amendment; withdrawal of all military presence from the region; enforcement of Shariah law in the Malakand division; the release of 102 commanders and fighters and presidential pardon to two key militant commanders; and complete freedom of movement for the TTP's members in the Malakand division.
Meanwhile, the government's demands include the complete dissolution of the TTP, disengagement from other militant groups, a renunciation of violent activity, and re-emergence as a legitimate political entity within the constitutional norms of the country.
The report said that Pakistan should capitalize on internal pressures within the TTP for repatriation of their families currently displaced to Afghanistan, the Dawn reported.
Notably, the banned TTP formally announced an indefinite ceasefire with Pakistan following two days of talks with a grand tribal jirga in Kabul this month, with a major condition of reversal of the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to cut any peace deal with Pakistan.
It was earlier reported that in response to the demands of the TTP, Islamabad has already agreed to release hundreds of detained and convicted TTP members and withdraw court cases against them.
Under the negotiation, a large portion of thousands of Pakistani troops stationed in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) -- where the TTP first emerged as an umbrella organization of small Taliban factions in 2007 -- will be withdrawn.
However, the two sides have yet to agree on retracting democratic reforms and the merger of FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and whether thousands of TTP terrorists can return with their arms and keep their organization intact.
Moreover, Islamabad has also agreed to implement Islamic Shari'a law in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Malakand region lately.
Earlier this month, a 57-member jirga of notable tribal leaders negotiating with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) arrived in Kabul for a peace effort between Pakistan and the proscribed terror outfit TTP.
However, it returned to Pakistan without any major breakthrough over the group's demand for the reversal of FATA's merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The jirga consists of tribal elders, politicians, and parliamentarians who met with senior TTP leaders at Kabul's Inter-Continental Hotel for two days and held threadbare discussions over demands, including the most contentious issue of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)'s merger.
