by Magad Lipan

Pakistan has been forced to broker a truce with two right-wing Islamist extremist groups, the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) following violent protests and demonstrations that have brought the Imran Khan government to its knees.

The TLP is a radical Sunni Muslim group that is determined to protect Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws and to punishing blasphemers. Prime Minister Imran Khan and his advisors in the uniform succumbed to persistent protests from the radical outfit and lifted the ban on its activities.

Over 20 people and 10 policemen were killed in the clashes between TLP fighters and security forces in various parts of Pakistan over the last fortnight. The TLP was made a proscribed organisation just eight months ago in April.

 “The TLP had fairly successfully conveyed a narrative that an elected government was responsible for not honoring an agreement made with the group, and hence should be held responsible for the chaos that occurred during the protests,” according to a despatch in The Diplomat.

The TLP sees the latest protest as another effort to multiply its votes across Pakistan. It has its eyes on the upcoming local government elections and eventually the general election. In the coming months, political leaders from Punjab and Sindh may be seen joining the TLP to win over the group’s die-hard religious vote, which is rising exponentially.

TTP SAGA

The Pakistan government has been in face-to-face talks with TTP, known as the Pakistan Taliban, for over two weeks. The talks were mediated by Afghan Taliban’s interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani. It resulted in engineering a ceasefire.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the two sides have agreed to form negotiation teams which will take the process forward.  He justified the talks saying that these are in line with the Constitution and added that the ceasefire would be extended keeping in view the progress of the talks.

Pakistan Taliban leaders are hiding in Afghanistan for several years now. The outfit was formed by armed rebels in 2007. The group has killed thousands of people in hundreds of attacks.

 “About a million people were displaced when Pakistan launched operations in the northwest in 2013 to clear out TTP fighters, reports Aljazeera.  They had returned to their homes after 2017 after Pakistan claimed victory against the armed group.

Pakistan military offensives have driven the Pakistan Taliban from its stronghold in the tribal districts but it is estimated to control some 4,000-5,000 fighters, many based across the border in Afghanistan.

Both Pakistan and the former Western-backed government in Kabul regularly accuse each other of providing shelter to Taliban groups and allowing them to conduct cross-border attacks, according to   Aljazeera.

The latest issue of confrontation between the government and the Pakistan Taliban is the attempt by the latter to retake land lost to the military over the last few years across Pakistan’s tribal regions. The TTP wants to introduce its harsh interpretation of Sharia laws in those areas and wants the right to keep arms.

The TTP has been emboldened by the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“Pakistani Taliban are already increasing their influence. Local contractors report Taliban-imposed surcharges on every contract and the killing of those who defy them,” an investigative report by news agency Associated Press (AP) said a couple of weeks ago:

The AP correspondent gave the example of TTP’s ruthlessness in gaining control of the tribal areas: “In early September, for example, a contractor named Noor Islam Dawar built a small canal not far from the town of Mir Ali near the Afghan border. It wasn’t worth more than $5,000. Still, the Taliban came calling, demanding their share of $1,100. Dawar had nothing to give and pleaded for their understanding, according to relatives and local activists. A week later he was dead, shot by unknown gunmen. His family blames the Taliban.”

The TTP shares the same ideology as the Afghan Taliban. Formed in the early 2000s, it launched bombings and attacks to bring down the Pakistani government and seize control of the tribal areas. The military crackdown thereafter has repressed it.

There are several factions of the TTP. The Pakistan government sought the mediation of the Afghan Taliban to get them to the negotiating table. According to reports, “some TTP figures in North Waziristan — a rugged area the group once controlled — are ready to negotiate…but the most violent factions, led by Noor Wali Mehsud, are not interested in talks…Mehsud’s Taliban want control of South Waziristan”.

The TTP’s conditions for talks include control over parts of Pakistan’s tribal regions, imposition of its harsh interpretation of Sharia law and the right to keep arms. (POREG)