Instead of evolving a national consensus on how to deal with the monster of violent extremism the government spent most of its energies on accusing the opposition parties for failures of its own. The people were made to believe that terrorism was being supported by Indian consulates in Afghanistan and that with the victory of Afghan Taliban, the incidence would come down remarkably. What happened is the opposite.
Terrorist attacks in districts along the Pak-Afghan border have multiplied. Anti-Pakistan terrorist groups like the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been further emboldened by the victory of the Afghan Taliban. The TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud has redefined TTP’s goals that should worry those who make decisions in Pakistan. Talking to CNN in August Mehsud emphasized continuing Jihad within Pakistan for gaining territorial control of the erstwhile FATA region leading to the implementation of Sharia law there as interpreted by the TTP. The TTP now wants ‘political office’ in a third country as Afghan Taliban had got one. But Afghan Taliban were fighting against foreign troops. The TTP on the other hand is fighting the Pakistani state and wants to change the country’s constitution by force.
Afghan Taliban’s victory over a superpower has raised hopes among the extremist militants in Pakistan who are making demands no responsible state can fulfil. The extradition of the French ambassador still remains an unresolved issue between the TLP and the government. The surrender by the government is likely to encourage other extremist groups to follow in the footstepsof an adamant TLP which has got its name removed from the list of proscribed groups and got its chief released.
