Opinion After Peshawar
Delhi and Islamabad must acknowledge the need to come together against terror
In the wake of Tuesday’s tragedy in Peshawar, in which Taliban gunmen stormed a military-run school and killed 141 people, most of them children, India has reached out to Pakistan, breaching a prolonged silence between the two countries, to share grief and convey sympathy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called his counterpart Nawaz Sharif; Parliament and schools across India observed a two-minute silence on Wednesday and prayer assemblies and candlelight vigils have been organised. This shared moment of mourning also underscores a common challenge. New Delhi and Islamabad must resume bilateral talks and begin a process to put together a joint front against an enemy that stalks both countries and increasingly seeks out soft targets to spread fear. The Peshawar attack follows last month’s terror strike on the Pakistani side of the Wagah border, in which 60 people died. In these circumstances, India and Pakistan must see the perils of letting bilateral dialogue persist on its old, accident-prone track.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed the attack was revenge for the Pakistan army’s offensive in North Waziristan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had initiated talks with the militants earlier, has declared the dialogue a failure, leaving the state with no option but military operations. But the Pakistani establishment needs to do more to control and constrict the permissive environment which, over the years, has allowed extremism to strike roots and grow in the country. It needs to acknowledge that the distinction between terror groups, based on whom they target, is spurious and that there is no dividing line, in fact, between the Afghan or Pakistan Taliban, or between them and those terror outfits that specifically target India. This is an internal challenge for the Pakistani state. It is also one that reverberates across the entire region.
A joint mechanism and process for combating terror, with shared intelligence across borders, is imperative. Peshawar could be a turning point, not just for a rethink within Pakistan and a renewed attempt to recast its national narrative, but also for Delhi and Islamabad to set aside their stated positions, from Kashmir to cross-border firing, and come together against terror. The horror of Peshawar demands that the voice of those who speak for peace must prevail.
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