Abstract: Nawaz Sharif should not cede further ground to the forces of violent extremism, as if he does, it would embolden their efforts to remake Pakistan in their image. Giving militants the writ of law effectively hands the state to extremists, allowing them to own the public space and ban all competing voices, while knocking off religious minorities and Muslims deemed insufficiently Islamic. Pakistan’s battered civil society would face further assaults, forced to retreat and retrench. Shi’as, Christians, Ahmadis, and Hindus would face existential threats from militants. Such a peace deal would bring no peace.
Knox Thames in Thirty Years War:
Make no mistake, Pakistani extremists groups are playing to win. A snooker hall was the site of a heinous act of sectarian terrorism in January 2013 when two suicide bombers attacked a Karachi game room frequented by Shi’a Muslims. Nearly 100 died. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility in their declared war against Shi’a whom they consider the wrong kind of Muslim (Henderson, 2013). In September, splinter groups from the Pakistani Taliban executed twin suicide bombings on the All Saints Church in Peshawar that killed over 80 Christians as they left Sunday services (Boone, 2013). The Sunni Muslim majority has felt this onslaught too. The Pakistani Taliban targeted politicians deemed “secular” during the run-up to the May election and afterwards. Scores were reportedly killed from the more moderate Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP), with a senior ANP member murdered in August (Gregory, 2013). In January 2014, six Sufi Muslims were killed at a Sufi shrine in Karachi, four with their throats slit and two beheaded (Menon, 2014).
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