Rebuffed: Interior ministry chides Sindh CM over ‘groundless’ claims

Says it is unfortunate a national security issue is being politicised

ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry fended off Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s claim that the federal government had failed to implement the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism, saying it was made in total ignorance of ground realities.

“It is quite unfortunate that a national security issue has been used merely for political point-scoring without any substantive grounds and [by] ignoring the facts on the ground,” the ministry’s spokesperson said in an official statement on Tuesday.

Presiding over Sindh apex committee on Monday, Shah lambasted the federal government over its ‘inaction’ against terrorist groups and for ‘non-implementation’ of the NAP.



Responding to the claims, the ministry’s spokesperson said: “The 20-point NAP is a collective responsibility of the federation and federating units with the major points falling into the administrative domain of the provincial governments.”

He said it was a matter of record that the independent and free media of the country had shown great responsibility and maturity vis-à-vis glorification and promotion of terrorism and completely blacked out terrorists.

The spokesperson said the accusation that the federal government allowed banned outfits to hold rallies and meetings openly was factually incorrect. “The policy of the government towards banned outfits is very clear and no proscribed organisation is allowed to hold rallies or public meetings,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2017.