Unfinished war: Terrorists marginalised, not eliminated, says Nisar

Interior minister says a joint intelligence directorate will be set up in 3 months

ISLAMABAD:

The government’s top security czar Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Thursday warned that their war against terror was not yet over as he presented himself for accountability along with a half-term progress report for his ministry before the National Assembly on Thursday.

“We have to remain vigilant as the war on terror is not yet over,” Nisar said on the floor of the assembly, adding that “Although we have achieved substantial gains in our war against terrorism but they [terrorists] have only been marginalised, not eliminated completely.”

Nisar and the government have come under criticism this year for lax implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) first by the courts in July, and then in recent months it was the military which expressed its concern over the lack of ‘governance initiatives’ to complement counter-terrorism operations.

With a disclaimer that it was not a progress report on NAP, Nisar presented a 19-page progress report for the past two-and-a-half years before the lower house of parliament. He also offered himself for accountability by the assembly.



“We want to create a new tradition of accountability for ministers in parliament. Although I don’t say all is well but I have tried to create a tradition of accountability as government is accountable to Parliament.”

The initiative was appreciated by the opposition, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI).

Interestingly, the executive summary of report listed the standoff between the government and the PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) as an achievement as it took credit for making security arrangements against a ‘formidable internal security hazard.’

Nisar’s report focussed on the ministry’s work in two broad categories: counter-terrorism efforts and counter-corruption – especially in the departments attached with the ministry.

The minister said that his ministry had played a crucial role in coordinating efforts between the various security agencies, civil and military, which had led to a significant drop in terror activities with bomb blasts no longer a matter of daily routine.

“We have cooperated with Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) despite the fact that opposition parties are in the government in those provinces.”

In this regard, the interior minister said that over 2,500 intelligence reports and 900 information intercepts had been shared with various law enforcement agencies and provinces.

He also announced that a Joint Intelligence Directorate would be established within three months since funds have already been allocated for it.

On the anti-corruption front, Nisar detailed that they had undertaken 2,666 inquiries in the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA), Passport Office, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and police. As a result, as many as 56 officers were suspended with 49 cases registered.

In the case of NADRA, Nisar said they had blocked more than a million identity cards and sacked 10 people for issuing wrong cards. Further, he said that 64 employees of FIA had been fired, but they were sent back to their parent organisations after the courts restored them.

Additionally, the interior minister pointed out how they had carried out verification of arms licenses, issued 9.528 million passports, removed 9,760 names off the exit control list, installing machine readable passport facilities at 77 Pakistani missions abroad and online renewal of visas and passports systems.

Nisar, who had earlier outlined how the ministry had a budget of Rs85 billion in the current fiscal year with a strength of 200,000, bemoaned a dearth of quality human resource noting that it took them months to fill a vacancy. Despite his disclaimer, Syed Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan Peoples Party criticised the government for failing to curb hate speech in the country.

PTI’s Dr Shireen Mazari, however, supported Nisar’s stance on illegal immigrants but said only selective areas of NAP were being addressed.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Abdul Wasim questioned the registration of an FIR against his party chief in the Imran Farooq murder case just before the local government elections.

Former interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao appreciated Nisar for presenting the report noting how the powers of the minister are limited compared to those in other countries such as India and underlined the need to strengthen the ministry further.


Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2015.