Speculation had run through Islamabad for a week, yet the federal government's decision on Sunday to impose an emergency and Governor's Rule simultaneously in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa still surprised seasoned analysts. Fairness demands that we examine every side. The historical record flatters no single party. The PTI governed the province for more than thirteen years and has long been accused of tolerating militant factions. Its supporters call this anti-imperialism and its opponents call it opportunism. The PML(N) has a difficult chapter of its own, since it pursued negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban in 2013 and early 2014, and the Army Public School massacre of December 2014 ended what remained of that approach. The PPP, ANP and MQM, meanwhile, paid heavily between 2008 and 2013, when their leaders and workers were killed at rallies and corner meetings for opposing religious militancy. History has vindicated their stance, though at a terrible cost.

Imran Khan's record on militancy supports much of that criticism, although his defenders read it differently. He opposed military operations in the tribal areas, attributed radicalisation largely to American drone strikes, and proposed that the Taliban open an office in Islamabad. His provincial government allocated Rs300 million to Darul Uloom Haqqania in 2016-17, and a further Rs277 million was proposed in 2018. Khan defended the grants as a way of mainstreaming seminaries. Its head, Maulana Sami ul Haq, was long associated with the Taliban movement, and the PTI fielded him as a Senate candidate in 2018,........

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