Pakistan needs a paradigm shift in its approach to terrorism

Pakistan needs a paradigm shift in its approach to terrorism 

• A suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque that was packed with worshippers during afternoon prayers in Peshawar.The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has taken responsibility for the attack which took place inside the mosque in the high-security Police Lines area on Monday.

Rise in terrorist attack 

• When the Taliban captured Kabul in August 2021, Imran Khan, then Prime Minister of Pakistan, said Afghanistan had “broken the shackles of slavery”. 
• Pakistan,which had harboured the Taliban leadership,was largely seen as one of the victors of the Afghan civil war. 
• But the celebratory mood faded asthe Taliban’s triumph also emboldened the Tehreek­e­Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani version of the Sunni Islamist insurgency. 
• Since then,Pakistan has witnessed a rise in terrorist attacks,especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan. 

Factions among Taliban 

• Monday’s blast in a mosque in Peshawar’s highly fortified Police Line area, claiming at least 100 lives, was the deadliest in Pakistan inyears and a sharp reminder of how its strategy of backing the “good Taliban” and fighting the “bad Taliban” has backfired. 
• A TTP faction initially claimed responsibility, but a spokesperson denied any role. This demonstrates the divisions within the group rather than raising doubts aboutits involvement. The blast bears the hall marks of a TTP attack — it took place in its strong hold and was targeted at security personnel. And no other group has claimed responsibility.

Ideologically brothers 

• The TTP and the Afghan Taliban may be organisationally different, but they are ideologically brothers. 
• What the TTP wants to do in Pakistanis what the Taliban have managed to do in Afghanistan. 
• After the 2014 Peshawar school bombing, which killed over 150 people, mostly children, the Pakistani Army had cracked down onthe group. 
• But the Afghan Taliban’s return to power changed the dynamics of insurgency in the border region. 
• Mr. Khan adopted a policy of engagement towards the TTP. The Afghan Taliban hosted talks between the TTP and Pakistan which led to a ceasefire. But the year­long truce collapsed in November last year. 
• Many believethat the TTP, which used the cease fire to rearm and reorganise itself, is now spreading terror with greater fire power. 

Blast in grim situation 

• The Peshawar blast has come at a time of continuing political instability, with Mr. Khan leading a relentless campaign against the government, Pakistan’s currency tanking, its foreign reserves falling, inflation soaring and the power situation remaining grim. 
• Unable to pay its debts, the government is in talks with the IMF for a bailout package. And now,there is a security challenge. 
• Pakistan should realise that its policy of selectively fighting and selectively harbouring terrorism and extremism has done it more harm than good. 
• It needs a paradigm shift in its approach towards terrorism, while, more urgently, amassing its resources andgoing after the TTP, which is posing the biggest internal security threat to the Pakistani state.