In a cunningly self-serving way PML-N and PPP leaders – including Khawaja Asif – have often dumped the blame on former prime minister Imran Khan for facilitating several hundred TTP militants’ return from Afghanistan for settlement in mountainous areas of Swat – as if PTI was responsible for the surge in violence.
Let’s track the course of events on this particular issue to set the record straight. And this is based on interviews with key stakeholders privy to the matter.
# In October 2021 negotiations with the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group began as a prelude to behind-the-scenes talks with the TTP.
# On November 9, 2021, the TTP announced a unilateral one-month ceasefire and demanded the release of 200 of its militants.
# On November 29, the TTP extended a ceasefire by 10 days, but on December 10, 2021, called it off, claiming Pakistan had not fulfilled the conditions. The TTP also announced an increase in attacks. Similarly, the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group also intensified its attacks.
# During the roughly six-week negotiations no
TTP militant with a proven record of heinous crimes was released. No compensation was paid either, except the release of a few dozen alleged TTP-linked militants facing minor charges.
# When Imran Khan mentioned the negotiations in an interview with a Turkish media outlet, he had referred to talks with the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, not the TTP.
# The PM was only “informed” about the proposed actions on TTP, only after General Faiz Hameed as ISI chief had prepared a summary of the plan, gotten it approved by President Arif Alvi. PM Khan had little option in publicly disowning the ISI-led process with the TTP.
# Imran Khan’s government ended on April 9, 2022.
# On April 28, the TTP unilaterally announced a ceasefire for an indefinite period after Pakistani planes allegedly bombed TTP and Hafiz Gul Bahadur group locations.
# On June 22, 2022, federal minister Rana Sanaullah told media that a high-level national security meeting, attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and military leadership, decided that negotiations with the TTP would be conducted within the constitutional framework.
# On 7th July 2022, Rana Sanaullah revealed that the Parliamentary Committee on National Security had unanimously supported negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).