akistan is on the receiving end of a fresh wave of terrorism amid political activities by all political groups with elections due this year. The situation resonates with the year 2013 when the Pakistan Peoples Party, Awami National Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement were cornered by militant groups leaving more space for their rivals. Be that as it may, the question is: will parties that have been or are sympathetic towards the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan secure any benefit on account of this sentiment?

Among major political forces, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Jamaat-i-Islami have historically extended goodwill gestures to the Tehreek-i-Taliban. However, the PML-N changed its policy in 2014 after the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.

During the election campaign in 2013, the ANP, the PPP and the MQM were victims of most targeted attacks claimed by the TTP. Bashir Bilour, an ANP stalwart, died in a suicide attack during a corner meeting for his election campaign. During those days, this scribe talked to the then-TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid. When asked why the TTP was targeting the ANP, the PPP and the MQM, he responded, “We won’t let them campaign because these are the parties of the infidels.” When asked about the TTP’s policy regarding the PML-N and the PTI, he said, “Right now, they are not on our agenda. We will see about them later.”

Interestingly, in 2010 when militancy was at its peak, the then Punjab chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif, had extended a gesture of goodwill to the TTP while addressing a function at Jamia Naeemia, Garhi Shau, Lahore, whose principal, Mufti Muhammad Hussain Naeemi, was a victim of a suicide attack after he issued a decree against suicide attacks. Sharif said, “The Taliban should not attack the Punjab [a province where the PML-N was ruling] because the PML-N and the TTP are both opposed to Gen Musharraf’s policies and oppose dictation from abroad [the US].” PML-N stalwart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, too, had a lenient viewpoint about the TTP.

On the other hand, PTI chairman Imran Khan was amongst those supporting peace deals with the TTP. In October 2012, he led an anti-drone attacks rally in Waziristan. A TTP spokesman had then told a British newspaper that his group was ready to provide security to Khan and his rally if he wanted because they too supported his stance against drone strikes. In 2018, Khan, then prime minister, organised a mammoth gathering at Wana, once the headquarters of the TTP. In 2021, the PTI government, in order to strike a peace deal with the TTP, released some of the detained militants. Khan had also planned the resettlement of TTP warriors in the former tribal areas. He also wanted to give them amnesty.

In 2021, in order to strike a peace deal with the TTP, the PTI government released some of the detained TTP militants. Khan also planned the resettlement of TTP warriors in the tribal districts. 

Of the religious political parties, the Jamaat-i-Islami has mostly remained silent about the TTP and its activities. However, its former ameer, late Syed Munawar Hassan, in a TV programme in 2013, said, “If an American who dies on the battlefield is not a martyr, then his supporters are also not martyrs because they were following the same path.” He had also called Hakimullah Mehsud, the former TTP commander who was killed in a drone strike, a martyr. Soon afterwards, Hasan lost the party election to Sirajul Haq, the current ameer, who is a strong supporter of a peace deal with the TTP.

The PML-N, the PTI and the JI were the major beneficiaries of the marginalised election campaign by the ANP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PPP in the Punjab, the KP and Balochistan and the MQM in Karachi and Hyderabad. The PML-N formed the federal, the Punjab and Balochistan governments; the PTI, for the first time, formed the provincial government in the KP in coalition with the JI and a couple of small parties. The PTI repeated its victory in terror-ridden KP during the 2018 elections and also formed governments in Islamabad and Lahore.

In January 2023, the TTP issued a warning not only to the PPP but also the PML-N and some religious parties. In a statement, the TTP spokesman said, “The TTP is considering taking concrete steps against the PPP and the PML-N, the two major parties of the ruling coalition.” It reads, “If these two parties don’t budge and continue to be slaves to the army, then action will be taken against their leading people. People should not get close to them.”

The TTP has claimed that its battlefield is Pakistan and that it is targeting the security agencies only. “For long, the TTP has not taken action against any political party. Unfortunately, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has given the US the status of mother and has openly declared war against the TTP.”

The statement said, “Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has also pushed his party into the war against the TTP to please the US.” Without mentioning names, the TTP warned the religious leadership (part of the government): “Action against them is not part of the TTP’s policy but we request you not to be part of any activities against us.”

The letter is a matter of grave concern for the ruling coalition. If election campaigns of any party are targeted by militants, it risks undermining efforts for fair elections with a level-playing field for every party. In such a scenario, the PTI and the JI, along with a couple of smaller groups may just be the ultimate beneficiaries, especially in the KP and southern Punjab.

The writer is a senior journalist, teacher of journalism, writer and analyst. He tweets at @BukhariMubasher