Despite government's surrenders to the militants in Swat, there is no respite in terrorist acts by militants. During the month of March, major acts of terrorism were carried out in Lahore. This should and must be an eye-opener for the policymakers in Islamabad and Peshawar. A dialogue had neither worked in past nor it will work at present or in future. Our much eager politicians were of the view that through dialogue and ceasefire with the 'moderate' Taliban, peace could be achieved in and around the troubled tribal areas. They went the extra mile to strike and implement a peace deal with the hardline mullahs in Swat. The salient feature of this deal is the imposition of Sharia in Swat. Now the Taliban are demanding Sharia in the entire country and the government, through its abject surrender, has provided them with justification to do so. This has severely tainted the secular image of the two major liberal political parties of the country i.e. PPP and ANP. In the past, they had bitterly attacked the policies of Musharraf with reference to his nexus with the religo-political alliance MMA and his striking a deal with extremists in tribal areas. Now they are doing the same, nay worse, themselves. They sought votes on their secular manifestos but have thrown themselves into laps of the extremists. Despite all this, they have flailed to secure a peace as according to media reports, the Manawan attack was planned in the tribal areas. -GULSHER PANHWER, Johi, Dadu, via e-mail, March 31.