Nisar sees NAP enforcement as a shared obligation

Says all govt institutions have to make robust efforts to weed out terrorism

ISLAMABAD:

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday prescribed a series of potent measures for all stakeholders in an effort to implement the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism.

The measures included strict and constant monitoring, supervision and course corrections, according to the minister.



“The NAP is not a quick-fix solution. It is an action plan where all faculties and institutions of the government have to persistently make efforts to completely eradicate the menace of militancy and terrorism,” Chaudhry Nisar said.

He said the NAP’s implementation is a shared responsibility of federal and provincial governments, various ministries, divisions and state institutions.

The interior minister was addressing a conference at the National Defence University on Pakistan’s internal security policy. The conference was attended by senior civil and military officers of the country, as well as senior army official from 23 countries.



He said intolerance, extremism and terrorism have plagued the country for decades. “Our journey now to a tolerant and progressive society is a long, painful and arduous task in which we have made a lot of sacrifices,” he said.



“This road to return is not an easy path but the state and the people of Pakistan with the help of its security agencies and the armed forces are determined to reverse the trend and a visible difference can be seen today in this regard,” he added

Giving an in-depth overview of the external and internal dynamics of the internal security policy of the country, Nisar said the administrative failures in past, frail criminal justice system and inconsistency or absence of policies on vital issues were the major factors that created serious challenges towards internal security of the country.

“Besides, various developments at regional and international levels and the interests of major powers also left serious imprints on our security,” he said. These external and internal factors resulted in the creation of a situation where one could easily see polarisation in a society, which faced existential threats from inside as well as from outside, Nisar added.

However, the minister said, last year’s Army Public School incident united the nation to collectively say no to the extremist ideologies and to rise as one entity in confronting the monstrosity of militancy and terrorism.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2015.