We have come to the point where the government is now officially living in a fool’s paradise, and a bloody one at that. Ever since the so-called ‘peace’ talks started, the militants have increased the frequency and ferocity of their attacks against the state and its people. On Wednesday, a major armed attack took place against nine members of the same family, belonging to an anti-Taliban peace lashkar (militia) in Mashukhel, near Peshawar. The brutal massacre occurred in their home where the militants threw hand grenades at the house and, after locking the women of the house in a separate room, shot the men. This follows Tuesday’s bomb attack on a cinema in Peshawar, killing as many as 12 people. As little as one week before, another cinema in Peshawar was bombed, killing four. This does not include the brutal attack yesterday on a police bus in Karachi, killing as many as 13 police officials and injuring more than 57 others. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack and have shied away from owning up to the bloodbaths in Peshawar. They are not fooling anyone except, apparently, the folk we have in government. Whether the talks continue or die a quick death, one thing is abundantly clear: we are ‘negotiating’ from a position of weakness. With each and every hit, the terrorists are showing us their brute might and hammering the government right into the ground. The government has put all its eggs in the one basket of peace and talks without insisting unequivocally for one thing — that attacks must cease. The representatives of the people must demonstrate that they are serious about peace itself and not just appeasing the Taliban. By confining the scope of the talks to FATA and maybe Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government has given the Taliban the leverage of playing with fire in the rest of the country. This is why they are backing away from claiming responsibility for the Peshawar attacks but are quick to take all the limelight for the Karachi slaying. In this weak ‘attempt’ to show that they are following the ‘rules’ of the talks, the Taliban are hitting us from every angle, and they will win if something drastic and final is not done to stop them. This is an idiotic government, which has decided not too see what is staring it in the face. How can the government not negotiate a proper ceasefire and terms for the entire country? How can FATA or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa be made bargaining chips in this dance of cowering before the militants? What a ridiculous pit the government has dug for itself. With the mantra of peace being chanted from every page of the ruling elite’s gameplan, we see a stark contrast in the militants’ determination to slaughter and plunder the country and its innocent citizens. We have only two choices open to us now: concede the entire country to this band of madmen or demand, once and for all, a ceasefire on our terms or the promise of decisive military operations against each and every militant left standing. *