ON his return to London after signing the Munich agreement in September 1938, British prime minister Neville Chamberlain said to a cheering crowed: “I believe it is peace for our time.” The ‘peace’ that Chamberlain claimed to have won entailed serving Czechoslovakia on a plate to Adolf Hitler.

Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement did not bring peace, but plunged the world into a catastrophic war.

We have had our own Munich-like moments while dealing with the militants challenging the state. But the irony is that we refuse to learn from history. Remember what happened in Swat just a few years ago? A peace deal there in 2008 led to the release of all the top militant commanders captured during the military operation.

They went back to the area and butchered their opponents. The territory fell to the barbaric rule of Mullah Fazlullah. That, however, did not deter our leaders from giving the illusionary peace another chance. One more peace accord in 2009 allowed the militants to advance further into neighbouring districts.

But we are in the habit of repeating our mistakes. Yet again we are engaged in so-called peace negotiations with terrorists who are responsible for a bloodbath that has claimed thousands of innocent lives.

The details of the first round of direct talks last week between the government and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan leaked to the media sounds like a comic opera. Held at some remote TTP base in the tribal region the meeting turned out to be more of a catharsis session for the Taliban with their ‘respected teacher’ Maulana Samiul Haq.

But there was no hint of any flexibility in their hardline position. The talks have apparently hit a road block with the Taliban demanding the release of 300 to 400 captives in the custody of Pakistani security forces, mostly said to be hard-core militants, and withdrawal of the military from South Waziristan.

These are red lines the government would find hard to cross without its relations with the military being affected. But the prime minister is so eager to get the talks going that he may accept some of the Taliban’s demands including the release of some prisoners.

Even if talks remain stalemated, the TTP has already achieved some of its objectives. The military operation in North Waziristan has been postponed indefinitely and action against the network in other parts of the country has been halted.

Some media reports quoting intelligence sources said that under the cover of the ceasefire, the TTP has removed much of its ammunition and fighters from North Waziristan. The advantage the army had gained earlier this year by destroying some of the militant camps and ammunition dumps seems to have been lost after the truce.

The biggest victory for the TTP is that direct talks with the government have legitimised its activities. With the terrorist infrastructure intact, peace will remain elusive. A strengthened TTP with a degree of legitimacy will present a much greater threat to a weak state, allowing the terrorist network to enforce its retrogressive ideology through brute force.

Last month’s Islamabad court attack during the negotiations has made the TTP’s intention very clear. Though the network has denied its involvement, some reports quoting intelligence sources confirmed that the TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah ordered the massacre.

The attack seemed to be aimed at bringing the government under pressure before the start of the talks. Most shocking, however, is the way in which the interior minister tried to cover up the TTP’s links to the attack.

Even if the two sides reach some kind of agreement, the militants are not going to give up violence. The fear is that instead of high-profile mass killings the militants may resort to targeted killings of opponents and critics. The attack on journalist Raza Rumi that killed his driver is just a trailer of things to come.

What is most disturbing, however, is that the government’s policy of appeasement has divided the country on provincial, ethnic and sectarian lines. The much-touted consensus among the political parties on talks with the Taliban is all but broken.

Many political parties may not be willing to publicly disassociate themselves from the resolution passed by the all-parties conference, but they have little faith that the talks could restore peace in the country. While all the major political forces in Sindh favour a tougher position, Punjab-based parties have adopted a conciliatory approach towards militancy.

The militants have cleverly exploited this divide and selectively target only those political parties that are actively resisting them. The TTP has refused to release the sons of late governor Salmaan Taseer and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani because the PPP government in Sindh is cracking down on the group.

Legitimising the TTP has, in fact, increased the sense of insecurity not only among the minority sects, but is also of concern to the majority Sunni Muslims who believe in a more tolerant Islam. Any deal on the TTP’s terms will plunge the country into civil strife destroying its social fabric.

On April 30 every year the army observes Martyrs Day paying homage to the soldiers who gave their lives fighting militancy. The table of the family members of these soldiers expands each year with increasing numbers dying on the front line.

How will the new army chief face the families of those killed by the terrorists who the state is now surrendering to? It is not peace, but the destruction of the country that our leaders are bargaining for.

The writer is an author and journalist.

zhussain100@yahoo.comTwitter: @hidhussain