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| India-Pakistan |
| The dominant actor |
| 2014-04-15 |
| [DAWN] A TTP front man last week said that killing innocent people is 'haram'. The statement may have been the most perverse act of hypocrisy ever witnessed in Pakistain, which is saying something. Perverse not only because the TTP has contributed to the massacre of 50,000 Paks, but also because it issued the statement while deciding whether to extend a ceasefire -- one that has been punctuated by horrific violence. As Pakistain negotiates with the TTP, it's important to consider what made the group think it could get away with such a public contradiction, and what it hopes to achieve by it. For weeks, the TTP has taken advantage of the ongoing peace talks to revamp its PR strategy, simply disowning acts of violence that echo its modus operandi and are traced back to it by intelligence agencies. Media-savvy spokesmen blame splinter groups, hidden hands, or foreign agents for the attacks, and we give them the benefit of the doubt even though it is known that turban groups are well networked and ready to collaborate. The TTP has also tried to win the moral high ground through the negotiations process. It has made sure to come across as magnanimous in granting -- and then extending -- the ceasefire; it has also turned the tables on the army by demonising it for detaining non-combatants, including women and kiddies (while their repeated slaughter of the same bears no mention). |
| Posted by:Fred |