THE transactional approach of our rulers toward terror groups initially aroused concern and shock, followed by horror and anger. After the interior minister’s latest comment that the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) isn’t all bad and the prime minister’s resolve not to let little things such as the Aiwan-e-Adl massacre in Islamabad disrupt the bonhomie with terrorists, one feels nothing other than disgust.

But if this nation is complicit in the barter of the foundational principles of statehood in return for terrorists’ mercy, we probably deserve the sorry lot that is running this ship aground.

In 2012 Malala Yousafzai was our hero when the 16-year old was shot by the TTP. In January this year it was Aitzaz Hassan who lost his life tackling a suicide bomber. Last week it was Fizza Malik, the young lawyer killed by the TTP’s (estranged?) cousins in the heart of Islamabad, along with several others.

Why was she killed? Nothing personal; she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Is there a bright side to this tragedy? Isn’t the TTP granting us an unending supply of heroes in these gloomy times?

Maybe the interior minister will issue a note of gratitude after the delivery of the next hero, or the one after that. Why hurry? With the government having decided to share state sovereignty with terrorists, the production of heroes will now be a licensed business. Let’s analyse the PML-N government’s response dispassionately.

The prime minister and the interior minister don’t just want the TTP to disown or condemn the attack. They want more. They want the TTP to curb terror groups.

So how will the TTP accomplish that? If talks succeed, will we replace the concept of a Rapid Response Force under the new security policy with a Taliban Response Force designed to exterminate terrorists who don’t abide by the TTP’s directives? Is the state now saying that there will be a new ministry of terrorism that belongs to the TTP and it will be given a free hand to ensure that no one indulges in terror without the TTP’s consent? Will the TTP be the state’s joint-venture partner, with the state exercising monopoly over ‘legal’ violence and the TTP exercising monopoly over ‘illegal’ violence?

Is the government saying that it wishes to re-transform the TTP into ‘good’ terrorists working hand-in-hand with the state in the pursuit of our national security project, with the addition that now such a project will have both external and internal dimensions? So the TTP will retain its ability to inflict terror but won’t exercise it due to its agreement with the state? What happens when there evolves a difference of opinion between the joint-venture partners over our system of governance, societal norms, the interpretation of Sharia or the goals of a desirable foreign policy?

If the state is struggling with a Frankenstein monster created for external security objectives when it turned inward after Pakistan’s Afghan policy U-turn post 9/11, imagine the havoc it will play after the next disagreement with the state once it is granted a role and veto in relation to internal security.

If our justice and policing systems were facing disruption due to shadowy immunity afforded to outward-driven militants, imagine the disruption these inward-driven ones will cause now. Can a law enforcement agent dare to challenge the devil in bed with the state?

Not that law enforcement agencies seem to possess the will or capacity to challenge the devil now. Notwithstanding hyped-up reports regarding the sophistication of the Islamabad attack, what transpired in the court might be simpler.

Two suicide bombers with some ammunition (one suicide vest and gun each, bullets and hand grenades, all capable of being hidden under a chadar) strolled onto the court premises and started shooting outside the first courtroom they approached.

They shot most people not after chasing them into courts and chambers but by shooting indiscriminately into courts and chambers while walking through the narrow streets.

They continued their blood bath leisurely because neither the much-touted response force showed up nor reinforcements from the thana next door during the 20 to 25 minutes that the melee lasted.

Most of the police personnel had either not showed up for duty at 9am or were ill-equipped and under-trained. So, they preferred to either hide in lawyers’ chambers or run away.

At some point the terrorists ran out of ammunition. One (probably confronted by a lone policeman) blew himself up in a mini-square.

The other wandered into an empty courtroom, lay his gun down and blew himself up. The interior minister says it was the guard of the slain judge who shot him out of nervousness.

This could have happened when he heard the suicide blast in the adjacent courtroom.

But if this is the state of preparedness and response of our security personnel, do terrorists need sophisticated terror plans?

If the PML-N thinks it can buy and appease its way out of terror by striking a financial deal with the TTP, releasing its prisoners and agreeing to let it run shop in North Waziristan, it is wrong. Once you allow terrorists to start milking the cow, they will milk it till it is dry and then barbeque it.

Sovereignty and monopoly over violence are indivisible. Even if the state under Nawaz Sharif’s rule doesn’t get it, the TTP will once it is inside the tent. n

The writer is a lawyer.

sattar@post.harvard.edu Twitter:@babar_sattar