Interior Minister Sh Rashid Ahmad seems clear that the Lahore blast, which killed three people in Anarkali on Friday, was carried out by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), but seems clear too that the TTP can be spoken to ‘provided it accept the Constitution.’ He apparently does not see any problem in talking to an organization that does not respect the ordinary law of the land, let alone the Constitution to which it is subject, nor does he seem to remember what came of the recent talks with the TTP, which saw the TTP make such demands as the prior implementation of Sharia in the country, and permission for the TTP to set up a political office in some other country.
The return of the TTP to terrorism shows that it now wants to carry out activities that will once again bring the Pakistani state to the negotiating table. After all, that is the process by which the Afghan Talian negotiated with the USA: by meeting every fresh failure to negotiate with renewed terroristic activity. The Interior Ministry and all associated intelligence agencies must up their game, and make it so impossible for the TTP to commit terrorism that it negotiates and concedes pretty much what the Pakistani state is asking: a surrender of both arms and persons, and a return to normal civilian life of the militants.
Sh Rashid discounted the claim of responsibility by the Balochistan Liberation Army. While the idea of the BLA working with the TTP is counter-intuitive, mainly because of their political opposition in their home territory, it cannot be rejected without being explored, because if both organizations are indeed sponsored by India’s RAW, as is claimed by Pakistani agencies, then there would be economies of scale generated by cooperation. However, the essential problem of the Interior Ministry remains its chief. Neither the present incumbent, nor his predecessor, inspire much confidence. The challenge is dire; the continuation of terrorism even after the alleged source, the previous Afghan government, was ousted; is not a good sign, and merely points to a future that is both turbulent and uncertain.
