WITH the country’s political leadership failing to provide clarity on who the TTP is and what it represents, perhaps it is a good thing that the TTP speaks for itself so frequently. Because each time a TTP leader speaks, he underlines exactly why the state cannot afford to compromise with militancy and terrorism. Shahidullah Shahid — the latest in a line of TTP spokespersons who seem to have extraordinary freedom to ring up and talk to whoever they want, whenever they want — has told the BBC that the Peshawar church bombing was in accordance with the Sharia. Quite how this is possible or what is the logic behind this claim remains a mystery, and perhaps mercifully so. Pakistan has had more than enough of demagogues using the media soapbox to spread their twisted, hate-filled ideas.

What Shahidullah Shahid’s claim does under-line though is a central fact: the TTP believes that violence against ordinary civilians, innocent men, women and children, is not only acceptable, but religiously ordained. Where, exactly, does that leave the possibility of compromise with the TTP? To the proponents of dialogue, how are so-called misguided souls to be brought back to the path of responsible citizenship if their beliefs are fundamentally rooted in violence and a twisted version of religion? In their desperation to negotiate with militants, the political leadership has ended up obscuring the ugly and unacceptable nature of militancy and terrorism here. Unwise as dialogue may have been as the preferred option at this stage, the political leadership has compoun-ded the error by downplaying before the public the threat that the TTP poses and its true face. If a bombing like the one at the Peshawar church can be justified by a TTP leader, why should the country allow such men to continue to spread their poison under the garb of peace talks and a deal? The political leadership has demonstrated clarity — on talks — without any real understanding till now. It’s time some understanding of the real facts was shown.