Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s efforts – since February this year to create coordination among all 27 intelligence agencies under the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) – seem to have remained futile as he asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the fourth-time to release the promised Rs32 billion to implement the INSP.
“It [INSP] is still a dream as not a single rupee is released to finally develop and implement this policy,” a senior officer of interior ministry told The Express Tribune.
He cited two main reasons for the INSP’s non-implementation: “Refusal of funds by the Finance Division and denial of a key spy agency to come under one umbrella — a major stumbling block for the pursuance of this policy.” This issue further aggravated when Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar got into a heated argument on the issue of releasing funds for the INSP in one of the cabinet meetings, he added.
Meanwhile, a senior director at Nacta revealed that all record from Nacta’s old office – which was shifted to the Ministry of Interior after endorsement of the INSP last year – was lying at the Secretariat Block-S and National Database Registration Authority till last week.
Interior Minister Nisar as well as Interior Secretary Shahid Khan remained inaccessible for comment on this issue till filing of this report. It is interesting to note that the ministry has no spokesperson since senior officer Omar Hameed Khan left the ministry.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Nacta’s newly appointed National Coordinator Hamid Ali Khan insisted that the policy was being implemented. He, however, admitted that scarcity of funds remained a key hurdle in way of implementing the policy.
“We’ve written for funds [to implement this policy],” said Hamid Ali Khan, who seemed very optimistic about the future of the INSP. Hamid, however, neither denied nor confirmed that an intelligence agency was not cooperating with Nacta or the ministry.
PPP Senator Farahatullah Babar observed that the government seemed to be floundering, not knowing how to bring all spy agencies under one umbrella with civilian oversight.
“This seems to be a stumbling block in implementing the INSP,” observed Senator Babar, whose party has already moved a motion to debate this issue in the upper house of parliament.
“Tall promises were made for the success of the INSP by promising huge funds but not a single rupee was allocated for it in the 2014 annual budget. It is, therefore, still a drama and has gained significantly nothing,” he added.
Former interior secretary Tasneem Noorani advised the government to spend money on this new policy before it engages foreigners in mega projects. “It seems the government deliberately did not prioritise security for its citizens within the country.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2014.
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