Earlier, there was just talk about talks or talk about war or military operation or surgical strikes against the militants waging attacks on the state.
After various rounds of All Parties Conferences advocating the path of dialogue, we are finally seeing some semblance of negotiations or a run up to it is underway.
Suddenly, the noise has increased by many decibles. It seems there is a plethora of narratives, some being heard louder than ever before.
As of today, the question of sharia heads the list.There are others too. Let’s try to hear them one by one, again.
You cannot talk peace with the militants, killers, non-state actors. Why? They don’t believe in our Constitution. They will impose sharia. Given the sectarian divisions within Pakistan, which sharia will they settle for? What will become of the minorities and women? Isn’t there enough Islam in our Constitution already?TTP is a conglomeration of different groups; so who will you talk to? Who will represent TTP?
State should have the monopoly over violence and sitting with the terrorists for talks would legitimise them. Position of strength. Position of weakness. The argument made in whispers: the examples from history that you bring are about civilised people; these are uncivilised brutes who know only one language -- arms.
Other side. This is not our war. We are fighting a proxy one for another country. Stop drones and terrorism will come to an end. A Muslim cannot kill another Muslim. These attacks are made by outside forces, the third ‘foreign’ hand. We must talk peace. Military operation is no solution. It leads to more violence. It breeds more terrorists. It leads to collateral damage. It leads to IDPs. A Muslim [soldier] cannot kill another Muslim [terrorist].
Amazing how it all boiled down to one question -- sharia.Amazing the TTP found its team from the society itself, without much ado. Amazing how it nominated a leader of a mainstream political party, its sympathiser nonetheless, to represent them in the talks.
The bottomline: the competing narratives are now in the open, pitched against each other like never before. Both sides have full freedom to express their views. In the coming days, the stronger side shall prevail. Or they will continue their uneasy coexistence for some more time to come.