THE future of Khyber Pakhtun­khwa remains unclear, whether it’s as a single entity or as a democratic one. PTI, we are told, has been made PNG — once again. And the south of KP is reportedly being carved out rapidly to be a new province or to simply reverse the amendment that made the former Fata part of KP. No one is really sure what the coming days hold.

Amid this confusion, a newly appointed member of the Area Representative and Development Council (ARDC) for the special emergency-hit districts of the south has created another storm in a teacup. In a video statement he spoke of reaching out to the Afghan Taliban to bring peace to Pakistan. Considering that this preference for dialogue over conflict with the fitna-across-the-border ostensibly has been the reason the PTI government was sent home, a similar message of love from the new advisory council just wasn’t cricket. But before we could get our breath back at this audacity, the new spokesman of the region, Mehmood Jan Babar, added to the mess by not denying the idea altogether.

Eventually Samar Bilour, who represents the Peshawar-led advisory council, had to enter the fray to diss the notion of talks. As an aside, we now have a Peshawar council and a Southern council.

Be that as it may, the point is these statements have simply added to the confusion surrounding the province. And terrorism, despite the frequency of the attacks and the statements of the government, has taken a backseat. The focus is more on........

© Dawn