Nisar shares long-term strategy to curb terror

Calls religious seminaries a partner and not a target in the fight against extremism

ISLAMABAD:

The country’s stop security czar on Friday unveiled the government’s long-term roadmap against terrorism, as he called religious seminaries ‘a partner’ in the fight against militancy and extremism.

Concluding his debate on the National Action Plan (NAP), Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the military operation was not the ultimate solution.



“After withdrawal of armed forces from the tribal areas – particularly North Waziristan Agency where Operation Zarb-e-Azb is under way – the police, Frontier Corps and Rangers will be deployed in the affected areas,” he said.



He said Rs48 billion have been allocated to strengthen paramilitary forces.

Nisar said the ulema would be asked to spread a counter-narrative against terrorism.  “This counter-narrative will be in the form of short decrees against terrorism, suicide attacks and the killing of innocent people,” he said, adding that the national narrative is being developed in consultation with Itehad Tanzeemat-e-Madaris.

He said an agreement had been reached with ulema on registration of seminaries as well as on the curriculum.



The interior minister also lambasted those who criticise madaris. He rejected the impression that madaris were involved in the terrorism. “They are our partners not targets,” he said.



Setting aside reports of rifts in civil military relations, Nisar revealed that Operation Zarb-e-Azb coupled with a three-tier strategy to prevent any backlash in urban centres was launched with the consensus and approval of the Prime Minister Nawaz.

He said he was given the task to build consensus and convince those political parties who were in favour of dialogue initially not to speak against the military operation in changed circumstances.

He said the NAP was being implemented with commitment in coordination with all provinces, security agencies and stakeholders. “The effective implementation of NAP has registered significant improvement in the overall law and order and internal security in the country,” Nisar added.



Nisar said National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) is being strengthened as the finance ministry has released funds. “We have increased perks for competent officers who are being posted in Nacta. A much awaited Joint Intelligence Directorate is also being established,” he said.

Stats on terrorism

Submitting a written reply to a question by Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Sehar Kamran, Nisar told the Senate that a total of 637 terrorists had been killed during the current year. A total of 710 terrorists were arrested and the total number of terrorist incidents in the country was reported to be 1,113.

In Punjab, 55 terrorists were killed in 24 terror incidents. In Sindh, 36 terrorists were killed in 28 incidents. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), 73 terrorists were killed in 193 incidents. In Balochistan, 98 terrorists were killed in 191 incidents.



In Fata, 373 terrorists were killed in 670 incidents.  In Islamabad Capital Territory, one terrorist was killed in one terror incident. In Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), one terrorist was killed in six incidents whereas no terror incidents were reported in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

The interior minister also provided a list of 61 proscribed organisations, which include Islamic State or Da’ish. Da’ish is the only outfit proscribed after last year’s Peshawar incident. One organisation, Jamat-ud-Dawah, is under observation. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2015.