ALL the dithering and obfuscation has predictably led to a situation where we have no idea where we are headed. If the elected leadership was expected to lead, it has failed miserably. Today our destiny seems to have been placed in the hands we have repeatedly rejected.

If there is clarity, it is on the far right. What is common to Munawar Hasan and Prof Ibrahim (Jamaat-i-Islami), Maulvi Samiul Haq (JUI-S) and Mufti Kifayatullah (JUI-F)? Their parties have never individually or collectively won the right to govern Pakistan; they also belong to schools of thought not seen as representing the majority of the country.

What else is common to them? Well, all of them insist on equating terrorist attacks on Pakistani forces and civilians, including women and children, with the legitimate actions of our forces authorised to enforce the state’s writ against all lawbreakers, more so the terrorists. Some of them call dead terrorists martyrs while denying the same courtesy to our fallen soldiers.

They push for talks with terrorists, come what may. Their cheerleaders in the media, print and more significantly in television (I bet many ex-Islami Jamiat-i-Tulaba even as they appear now, clean-shaven and in Armani suits) endorse their view with an enthusiasm that beggars belief.

They wish us to ignore for the “sake of peace” the blood and gore the Taliban visit upon Pakistanis with more regularity and certainty than anything else in their lives. These Taliban-supporting men of God constantly tell Pakistanis to brace for more if the talks fail.

They are clear in their objectives. Knowing full well how much love, admiration and following they command at the ballot box, these ‘ulema’ have now found a different means to have their own denomination of Sharia brought in via different means. Yes, through the barrel of the terrorist gun. What if this is couched in a more civilised form: negotiations?

While the TTP has cleverly ducked and dodged the issue when convenient, the latest press conference of spokesman Shahidullah Shahid has again left no doubt in my mind about what the Al Qaeda-inspired Shura leadership actually wants. Their own brand of religion to be first enforced in the tribal areas and then extended to the rest of the ‘Emirate’.

How does our elected government respond to this threat, with all its insidious twists and turns? Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s latest press briefing was illustrative of the inertia that has come to mark the government response because of the influence of ultra-conservative elements such as the minister himself in key positions.

While reflecting growing public disgust at audacious, mocking attacks that continue unabated across the country especially those targeting our soldiers, Nisar Ali Khan may have said that talks couldn’t continue under the circumstances but in the same breath he also described ‘talks’ as the only way forward.

Nobody would dispute the interior minister’s contention in its entirety. Many of us believe that negotiations are inevitable for a longer-term solution to the crisis. But the question is when and under what circumstances. At the moment, it appears, they seem to be propelled by desperate fear. And the TTP has scented this.

It may sound like a cliché but talks need to be conducted from a position of strength. This point is even more relevant where a state is negotiating with terrorists. Of course, ideological support for the terrorists in influential segments of society does complicate matters. But any sign of weakness is pounced upon by the terrorists, as already evidenced in the killing of our soldiers.

We need to bear in mind how we got here and who got us here before we can chart a course out of these troubled waters. Jihadi ideology was used for years with disastrous consequences by our defence forces and its intelligence apparatus in an attempt to attain their ‘national security’ goals. Since its inception in the Zia years the policy continued till 9/11.

When those hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Centre (and other targets) our military leaders seemed to have woken up as if to a slap in the face. They then took decisions in fear but years of pursuing a policy had created such a constituency for this madness within that the mega-ship couldn’t be turned around and, despite zigzagging, kept course for that proverbial iceberg.

Having paid a bloody price in recent years, they now seem to have realised the folly of their past ways. If this is the case it is incumbent on the government and all of us to encourage them to do right by the motherland and do their duty. It is the only force organised enough and carrying a heavy enough punch to start decapitating the monster it has created.

Yes, we need to beef up the police force no end with counterterrorism and intelligence capacity to protect our urban centres. This should be done with the same urgency and enthusiasm but more thought than with which the prime minister and the military have concluded undisclosed deals with the Saudis.

One can argue whether it is prudent to take sides in a mad and brutal Middle Eastern conflict. But there can be no argument that the prime minister’s commitment to his home needs to be stronger than to his home away from home. Undoubtedly, he will demonstrate this in the coming days.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@hotmail.com