IF there was ever an example of losing at the negotiating table what couldn’t have been lost in battle, we needn’t look far. The government’s acceptance of the talks offered by the TTP was seen by many as an attempt to win back the public case before the state moved to restore its writ.

What is happening now? Just see the faces adorning our TV screens and the messages being beamed 24x7. Maulana Samiul Haq and Maulana Abdul Aziz are channel-hopping at a pace so ferocious that it could only be the gift of someone who believes they are on a divine mission. They have a healthy following in their areas of influence mainly in their seminaries and related constituency.

Many simple folk see them as men of God. One shouldn’t underestimate the lure and toxic powers of their oratory. After all Maulana Aziz and his brother’s Al Qaeda-inspired words were enough to motivate many to fight the forces in Islamabad to the end. Now Aziz and Samiul Haq have a daily audience of millions as they aggressively dominate the discussion. Inexplicably meek anchors and reporters don’t challenge them.

That’s why Abdul Aziz is able to make statements such as saying the Pakistan Army was no match for the TTP’s fighting prowess and faith and would be best advised not to confront it. And nobody questions him. The third member of the TTP committee, the soft-spoken emir of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Jamaat-i-Islami, Prof Ibrahim may not be a firebrand orator but many in his party are and they are making hay while the sun shines.

Having failed to earn a big win in any of the elections in the country’s history, the Jamaat seems to be getting an opportunity to try and usher in its brand of Sharia through the back door. It’s a sight to see those who have always avowedly stood for Sharia ‘via peaceful means’ ie through the ballot box now wanting to ride to succession on the coattails of the terrorists.

God knows how I wish I am wrong and the talks deliver peace to Pakistanis, including the oft-targeted and tormented minority Muslim sects and minority communities. But what the process has delivered so far is to effectively ensure that Sami’s and Abdul Aziz’s obscurantist views get the maximum audience. If these gain traction among large chunks of the population already confused by all the obfuscation on the causes of terrorism, so be it, it seems.

Nawaz Sharif may idealise the Saudi system and the billionaire royal Prince Al Waleed may call him ‘our man in Pakistan’. But the prime minister will have to reflect if he wants Maryam — clearly his pride and beloved daughter, who often gives evidence of having more brains, beans and sense than the combined wisdom of his party’s central committee — confined to her home, never to have a public role again.

Whether we are prepared to acknowledge it at this stage, the choices we make over the coming weeks can, in actual effect, have such stark consequences. What’s in the public domain so far doesn’t inspire confidence. For far too long we have forsaken millions of our tribal brethren and left them to their fate.

We haven’t treated them equally in development, in grant of facilities such as hospitals and schools but more significantly in the grant of fundamental rights. All Pakistanis enjoy one set of laws while the people of Fata are still governed by the draconian colonial era Frontier Crimes Regulation which, among other abominations, calls for collective punishment for any crime committed in the territory.

Yes, for years we have justified this and the stripping of women’s rights in the name of respect for tribal culture and traditions. Hope we aren’t planning to hand over these wonderful tribal Pakhtuns who have been Pakistan’s loyal citizens to a bunch of murderous goons because we wish to buy peace for our urban centres and settled areas. Whatever is necessary for peace should be done but lasting peace is never built on the foundation of injustice.

The fight against this bigotry, murder and mayhem will need to be fought across the length and breadth of the country well beyond any military operation. The state will need to ensure the poor toiling masses can also dream realisable dreams for their children’s future; a future beyond enrolling them in local, dubiously-funded madressahs in the hope of a lifelong meal ticket; first as a student, then perhaps as a prayer leader. And a prayer leader, experience tells us, is only equipped to spread darkness.

Maulana Aziz says dance, music and other ‘obscene’ forms of entertainment should be banned from the media and society as these arouse men and propel them to commit rape. Maulana Samiul Haq says democracy has failed. Therefore, Sharia is the only way forward and we should be grateful to the TTP for striving for it. In fact, Samiul Haq says TTP is fighting to uphold our Constitution.

Does our leadership (civil and military) have what it takes to build a Pakistan that can stand tall in the comity of nations in the 21st century? One that respects others’ sovereignty with as much zeal as it guards its own? A truly modern state which prides itself on its education and healthcare systems for the poor as much as it celebrates its metro buses, motorways and its diverse and rich culture? We have a good sense of the Pakistan we’ll have if they fail us again.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@hotmail.com