THERE was a brief flicker of hope — and then, just as quickly, it was dashed on the rocks of reality. With a new session of parliament summoned for Monday — a much-delayed session and the first since the surge in terrorism and militancy across the country in recent weeks — there was talk in the air of the government finally getting serious about its militancy policy and the prime minister himself gracing the National Assembly with his presence to announce his government’s strategy going forward. In the end, no such thing happened and the lifeless parliament limped on with barely any interest from the government side, with the opposition trying and failing to inject new urgency into the parliamentary process.

By now, the prime minister’s aversion to appearing in parliament — always well known in the past — has taken on an entirely new dimension. It is nothing short of astonishing that the day Nawaz Sharif convened a session of his party’s parliamentarians, he was unable to make the short hop to parliament itself. Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan offered the feeble excuse in parliament that the prime minister had decided to have further consultations on the government’s approach to dealing with militancy and that the prime minister would appear in parliament soon. But delay by consultation and death by committees and APCs are the oldest tricks in a politician’s handbook when they do not want to take a decision. The interior minister’s rambling speech gave little hope that the government is any closer to a decision point.

The question that ought to be asked of the government is a simple one: if not now, then when? When will this government be ready to decide on how to push back against the rising tide of violence? If events in the new year are not enough to trigger an immediate and sure response, then what levels of violence is the government willing to let the public and the security forces be subjected to before deciding to act? The interior minister’s waffling on the dialogue option was almost cringe-worthy: talking about talks never was a policy and never will be an effective policy. Within the PML-N too, as evidenced by Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid’s tougher line while speaking to journalists and by reports of what transpired in the meeting of PML-N parliamentarians, there seems to be some understanding of the urgency of the situation. Surely, while consensus may be desirable, the fight against militancy cannot be held hostage to it indefinitely. Prime Minister, the country awaits your leadership.