FOUR days after the All-Party Conference in Islamabad passed its ‘consensus resolution’, the head of the Council of Islamic Ideology declared on Monday that the militants were well-wishers of neither Islam nor Pakistan, and emphasised that violence was no solution to problems. Addressing a press conference in Quetta in the presence of ulema from different sects, Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani appealed to all religious and political parties to unite to face the internal and external forces threatening Pakistan. Coming from the chief of the constitutional body, the rejection of religious militancy is in line with several fatwas given in the past by individual ulema and larger multi-sect conferences in Pakistan and elsewhere in South Asia against suicide bombings and acts of terror targeting innocent people. Even though the ulema’s reaction to acts of terror has often been tardy and restrained, some brave individuals, like Mufti Naeemi of Lahore, have paid with their lives for being outspoken in their denunciation of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s murderous acts.

Maulana Sherani’s opinion bordering on a fatwa should be taken note of by the government, which, following some vexatious developments, has renewed its commitment to seeking a negotiated settlement to the Taliban insurgency. While no one in their sane mind would quarrel with this idea in principle, the CII chief’s declaration arms the PPP-led government with a moral locus standi with which to negotiate with those who, according to him, are not well-wishers of Islam and Pakistan. The TTP and other religious extremist groups have declared war on Pakistan and continue to kill Pakistani soldiers, men, women and children. If the negotiations are to be held, or are perhaps already under way, the public ought to know where we are headed and what exactly is the price the nation will have to pay if the government is to negotiate and compromise with the militants. More regretfully, in spite of the olive branch proffered by the APC, the militants have not conveyed a categorical acceptance of the peace call. In fact, the initial reaction from the TTP has been lukewarm and conditional.