No Action Plan: ‘Govt must show it is serious about stamping out terrorism’

This is the largest inland war against terror ever fought, says Shazia George

FAISALABAD: The government must devise a solid strategy to eliminate extremists, terrorists and their facilitators and financiers once and for all, protesters at a demonstration under Rawadari Tehreek held in front of the Faisalabad Press Club on Thursday.

The protest was organised by the Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM), the Peace and Human Development (PHD) Foundation, and the Centre for Human Rights Education (CHRE).

The National Action Plan should be renamed the No Action Plan, some of the protesters said. “The government is taking terrorism lightly.”

The protesters carried banners and placards demanding an extension of military operations against extremist and militant organisations in the country.

Shazia George of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women said that Pakistan was fighting one of the largest inland wars ever fought against terrorism. “We can only win this if we create a national narrative and invest in broad awareness programmes to eradicate the roots of hatred.”

AWAM programmes director Naseem Anthony said the government’s performance in tackling terrorism, so far, was abysmal. Especially when it comes to financing terror, disallowing re-emergence of extremist outfits, and taking action against militant groups in the Punjab, he said.

Anthony said that the government should set up a parliamentary oversight committee on national security to monitor and review counter-terrorism efforts by the federal and provincial governments and agencies.

Peace and Human Development Foundation director Suneel Malik said, “Our future can only be secure with the complete implementation of NAP…the government needs to show that it is serious about eliminating terrorism by calling an All-Parties Conference (APC) and taking the opposition parties on board to critically examine the way the NAP, and military operations were being executed.”

Advocate Mujahid Hussain Gilani said the government had failed to give the National Counter-Terrorism Authority teeth and to put it to use as a tool for intelligence sharing.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2016.