THE Defence Committee of the Cabinet meeting yesterday yielded several decisions of note. The creation of a controversial and politically divisive National Security Council was green-lighted, while it was reiterated that the on-going tensions along the Line of Control should be handled through dialogue. The NSC decision in particular deserves careful scrutiny, but for now, another decision taken at the DCC meeting is worth going over. The DCC has decided, according to media reports, that negotiations will only be held with those militants who lay down their arms and renounce violence and barring that force will be used to confront the militancy threat. If the government abides by its latest decision, the PML-N’s drift from confusing talk about unspecified and un-delineated talks towards more of a pragmatic approach will be near complete. For that, the country should be grateful.

As Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan have said this week, the government is beginning to grasp the scale of the militancy and terrorism threat and has resolved to do whatever is necessary to defeat it. But as the interior minister pointed out in a comment from the Senate floor on Wednesday, firm and decisive action — essentially, military operations to begin with in parts of Fata — will only happen if the army is given the assurance that the use of force enjoys public and political support. In theory, this is a problematic position: after all, the government was elected to lead and the army is sworn to defend the country against external and internal threats; if there is an assessment that the use of force is required, ought political and public pressure from the fringes prevent what is necessary? In reality, however, given the weakness of institutions, and the self-interests of institutions, it has become clear that a political and public consensus will be necessary if the state is to move with force against militant groups.

In this realm of realism, there is one reality that stands out: for over a decade now, whichever government has been in power, the use of force as an important — though by no means only — element of national strategy against militancy has been invariably agreed upon. Be it a military man, Pervez Musharraf, be it his political support from the right of centre, the PML-Q, be it the secular and liberal PPP, ANP and MQM, and now, be it the conservative PML-N, each has come to accept that force is required against militancy. Thus those in the opposition arguing against it must be persuaded otherwise.