NA panel urges counter narrative against terror

ISLAMABAD: A week after four terrorists stormed the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, a National Assembly panel on Wednesday voiced scepticism over the government’s claim of implementing National Action Plan (NAP) as they sought a briefing from Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

The Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control of the National Assembly met at the NADRA Headquarters, State Bank Building in Islamabad on Wednesday with PML-N MNA Rana Shamim Ahmad Khan in chair. The committee’s chairman said that mere lip-service would not be sufficient. A member of the committee, PTI’s Arif Alvi, said that bolstering ranks of security personnel is not the solution to our predicament. He bemoaned that a counter-terrorism narrative has yet to be developed.



“We need to build a counter-narrative for fighting against terrorism. This task can only be carried out by Ulema and not by clean-shaven people,” Alvi said.

He went on to add that the criminal justice system was failing NAP and went on to cite as example how Rangers had apprehended 5,000 suspects but the police did not have enough resources to prosecute them.

JUI-F's Naeema Kishwer Khan said intelligence reports were available prior to the terrorist attacks on BKU and APS. She argued that if the APS attack was properly investigated, it could have prevented the attack in Charsadda.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2016.