[OpIndia] "In an uncanny apology, radical Maulvi Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui has cried foul after he was caught on tape, pleading Allah to send a virus to kill 50 crore Indians. He read his apology from a sheet of paper while remaining visually remorseless and unregretful about his contentious comments. Siddiqui began by claiming that he was quoted out of context. He then alleged that his video was edited by some miscreants in a bid to defame him.

In an attempt to water down the vitriol that he spewed earlier, Siddiqui went on to say that he respected "India’s secularism" and that he had worked for the people, irrespective of religion and caste.

“Because it is good for the unbelievers to be struck down in the midst of life by Allah in their lakhs and crores....

He also added that he was a ’social reformer’ and that he always prayed for the ’well-being of the people.’ Moreover, in an apparent U-turn, he conceded that people cutting across all races, castes, and religions must be united together to fight against the Wuhan Coronavirus. Following that, he went about explaining his alleged ’goodness’ and acts of ’philanthropy.’ Siddiqui said that he had contributed ₹1,00,001 to the Chief Minister’s relief fund and had distributed food grains and other essential materials to the poor, downtrodden, and the marginalised.

Towards the end of the video, he put forth an apology where he did not seem particularly remorseful, "My objective was not to hurt anyone’s feelings. If anyone is grieved by what I said then I would like to apologize. As an Islamic preacher, I am obliged to not hurt anyone."

In an earlier video referring to the Delhi Anti-Hindu riots, the Maulvi remarked, "Recently I have got the news that mosques are being set on fire, mosques are being burnt for the last two days. I think something is going to happen within a month. May Allah accept our prayers. May Allah send such a terrible virus to India that ten to twenty to fifty crore people die in India. Am I saying something wrong? It is absolutely blissful." After that, the crowd present there applauded the Maulvi’s statement....

The deal was signed with militants and not with tribal elders, as is being officially claimed. The signatories are the two principal parties to the conflict: (a) the administrator of North Waziristan as the government representative, and (b) militants and clerics who until September 5 were on the wanted list. Among them are Hafiz Gul Bahadar, Maulana Sadiq Noor, Azad Khan, Maulvi Saifullah, Maulvi Ahmad Shah Jehan, Azmat Ali, Hafiz Amir Hamza and Mir Sharaf.

The first two in the list are top militant [or Taliban] clerics and the remaining six were nominated by them to co-sign the agreement, sources say, adding that they were all pardoned by the government subsequent to the deal. The agreement identifies them as ‘fareeq-e-doum’ (second party). As the names indicate, no tribal elder from the Utmanzai tribe was among the signatories, as claimed by the government. The 45-member inter-tribal jirga handpicked and nominated by Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai countersigned the document as the interlocutors. Period.

Governor Jan Aurakzai [or Orakzai] is a known Taliban sympathizer and is a proponent of expanding the terms of the Waziristan Accord throughout the tribal agencies.

On September 5, we noted that senior Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader Tahir Yuldashev were present at the signing. On September 23, we noted that major Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders, including members of the Central Shura, fully backed the Waziristan Accord.

Dawn goes on to document the violations of the truce, items we've documented here since its signing: the continuation of targeted assassinations, the presence of 'foreigners' in the region, the absence of Pakistani troops, the rise in crime and the existence of two Taliban offices in Miramshah. The Taliban themselves mentions ten offices in the note pinned on the chest of an assassinated "spy."

The Friday Times of Lahore took a trip to Miramshah and discovered the Taliban have near total control of the city. Iqbal Khattak describes the scene:

Markets were open, streets were full of people and many long-haired people known as the 'Taliban' were patrolling the bazaar in 4x4 SSR jeeps and on foot, brandishing Kalashnikov, rifles and other weapons. Vehicles were leaving from the general bus stand in all directions and trailers were bringing different commodity items into the bazaar and carrying exports goods to Afghanistan through the Ghulam Khan check-post. There are few signs of government presence, however. All check-posts have been vacated and paramilitary jawans are almost gone except at one or two places. The military is back to the barracks. I only saw two tribal policemen at one place near the Dattakhel bus stand.

The local view is the Taliban have gained the upper hand in signing the "truce." "The Taliban have emerged victorious from the accord. Whatever demands they put on the table were met (by the government)," said Pehlawan Malik Mir Kazim, an elder in a town near Miramshah. "This is the general perception among the people here." Kazim refutes the claims the Waziristan Accord was designed to counter the Taliban. "If that were true the Taliban would not be moving around openly without any fear of the government," said Kazim.

The militants are clearly triumphant and enjoying the freedom of movement the accord has afforded them. As one 22-year old militant Bismillah Khan put it: "It is great to move around without fear of encountering the troops." Former FATA security chief Brig. (Retd), Mehmood Shah said the accord gave the Taliban complete freedom of movement and the "chances of presence [sic] of high value targets" must have grown following the government's lifting of travel restrictions on militants. The Taliban look fresh, their hair well-oiled. "They were mostly battle-fatigued and dust covered when they were fighting the troops and moving constantly from one place to another," Rasool Khan, a chemist near the agency headquarters hospital, told TFT.

This has far-reaching implications. The Taliban and al-Qaeda have a safe haven in every sense of the word. They are no longer the tired, hunted fugitives concerned about the Pakistani Army. Their energies can now be directed from survival to current and future operations. The Pakistani government has not ceded authority over the tribal agencies, only control. Musharraf has repeatedly stated cross border raids from U.S. and NATO forces would be unacceptable violations of Pakistan's sovereignty. The Taliban and al-Qaeda have openly established training camps and are recruiting, arming and training fighters, and sortieing them into Afghanistan, within Pakistan, and beyond