LAST week, an email popped into my inbox that shattered my peace of mind in our tranquil beach house in Sri Lanka. It bore a link to a gruesome video showing the Pakistani Taliban shooting 15 Frontier Corps soldiers, blindfolded and with their hands tied, in the back of their heads.

As each bullet hit, there was a spray of blood. After this grisly execution was over, a bearded killer lectured viewers about the righteousness of the whole bloody business. His brief diatribe was peppered with references to the Maker, and assurances that the victims would go to hell.

I wish the many apologists of the Taliban would view this video clip on a big screen, then look the families of the dead soldiers in the eye, and justify their cowardly stance. I wonder how the comrades of the slaughtered FC men feel: in their place, I would be furious at not being allowed to avenge this massacre, as well as so many others.

As we edge towards surrender, we are constantly being placated by assurances that the government has no intention of giving up on any of the core elements of its bargaining position, whatever it is. This is rubbish: simply by elevating the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to the status of an equal negotiating partner, Nawaz Sharif has given killers a platform from where they can dictate terms.

As the recent air attacks on militant positions in North Waziristan and elsewhere showed, there is merit in negotiating from a position of strength. In the mid-1980s, Beirut was caught up in a vicious civil war, and the kidnapping of foreigners was common. In 1985, four Soviet diplomats were abducted by a group calling itself the Islamic Liberation Organisation (ILO). One diplomat’s corpse was dumped outside the Soviet Embassy.

The KGB dispatched a team from its anti-terrorist Alfa Directorate, and it soon established the identities of the ILO’s leaders. Family members of the leadership were then kidnapped, and a pair of vital organs of one of them sent to the ILO with the message that more body parts would follow unless the Soviet diplomats were released immediately.

All three were soon returned, alive and unhurt, and no Soviet citizens were kidnapped in Beirut again. The KGB never publicly admitted its role in this incident, but the story circulated at the time, and was even reported in some newspapers.

Now I am not for one moment suggesting such drastic measures, but am just making the point that militants despise reason and pacifism, and only respect force. To test the waters, they launched the attacks in Hungu and Islamabad after agreeing to a month-long ceasefire.

Although they have denied responsibility for these killings, their protestations of innocence should be taken with a large pinch of salt. Over the years, apart from murdering some 50,000 Pakistanis including over 5,000 security personnel, they have frequently broken truces when it has suited them. And we are expected to believe their denials about the recent attacks?

If they are indeed innocent, then clearly, many militant groups are outside the TTP’s control. Many in the government and on the TV chat show circuit are peddling the line that these recent attacks were the work of ‘hidden hands’ wishing to torpedo the talks.

The US is a prime candidate for the role of spoiler. This, again, is self-serving drivel. That a previously unknown group has claimed credit for the Islamabad killings at a city court should not surprise us. Already, some 60 jihadi groups are operating on Pakistan’s dangerous soil. It is hard to imagine suicide-bombers agreeing to take on a mission for money, so the possibility of foreign agencies recruiting such motivated killers can be ruled out.

Time after time, the TTP, and its cheerleaders like Maulana Samiul Haq, have made it clear that they want nothing short of their version of the Sharia. The government, in its rush to enter negotiations, has been unable to extract a declaration from the TTP that it respects the Constitution, and will conduct negotiations within its ambit.

People like Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif are blind to the reality and the nature of the threat. Due to its numerous strands, the TTP can talk endlessly while carrying on its murderous campaign through various proxies. After each attack, it will blandly issue a denial, and in its desperation, the government will accept the disavowal at face value.

In a recent TV interview, a well-known Urdu columnist declared that the government should be willing to compensate the TTP for any losses they have suffered. But will the Taliban also compensate the families of the thousands of their victims? This is just one example of the double standards being peddled in the media today.

irfan.husain@gmail.com