Risk management

Proactive moves against individual extremists and banned organisations are always welcome. There are ‘pressure points’ throughout the year when security concerns are more than usually elevated, with the holy month of Ramazan being one of them. To this end a meeting of senior police officers was convened on Friday April 27^th in Karachi and significant decisions taken. A review of the list of members of banned organisations across Sindh was made and it was recommended to the home department that some individuals were put on the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 in order that their activities and movements may be more closely monitored. Fifteen people were identified and additionally — and for the first time — the names of members of organisations banned by the United Nations are also to be kept under close surveillance.

In broad terms-terrorism is generally at least one and sometimes several steps in front of the law and order agencies that are tasked with countering it. Pakistan has been slow to develop interagency and interdepartmental protocols and to create a narrative to countervail extremism. The reasons for this are multiple and complex and linked to political and ideological affiliations within agencies and entities. Bringing a sense of coordination to the task is encouraging to report. Surveillance has in the past produced results and the setting up of a rolling database relating to terror financing is also encouraging to note. The State Bank of Pakistan is also in the loop. Specialist software is being developed in order to analyse information relating to those that are on the ‘Fourth Schedule.’

All of the above are positive and practical moves. What now needs to happen is a parallel move on the part of all other police and law-and-order agencies in all the other provinces. Such a development would be in line with the letter and spirit of the much-neglected National Action Plan compiled in the wake of the Army Public School massacre. Terrorism never sleeps and is ever alert to opportunity. Timely moves in Sindh ahead of potentially difficult days will pay dividends, and all other police forces need to follow suit. Soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2018.

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