K-P considering safeguards against extremism

Experts feel a functional centre to stop terrorists from recruiting at educational institutions is need of hour

PESHAWAR:

With the interim setup in neighboring Afghanistan occupied with navigating the country through an economic crisis, factions within the country might become a security risk for Pakistan.

As recently as last month, terrorist groups on the Pak-Afghan border martyred two soldiers and last week the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) exchanged fire with a terrorist group in Kohat and killed four from their ranks.

Dr Ijaz Khan, former Head of the International Relations Department at the University of Peshawar, while talking to The Express Tribune, sounded the alarm bells, stating that there were chances that instances of extremism and terrorism will rise in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) because some terrorist groups in the border areas became active after the Taliban came to power.

“Some religious parties and militant groups gained confidence after the new government in Afghanistan was formed and they will target security forces on the border,” he said.

Khan, who is an educationist currently based in the provincial capital, opined that the provincial government had not done enough to stop extremist factions from actively recruiting in K-P.

“They should have established a centre to counter militancy and extremism and create awareness in society especially the youth,” he added.

His wishes for the betterment of the province might come true soon as the K-P Assembly has recently passed a bill titled “Establishment of a Research Centre of Excellence on Countering Violent Extremism in KP” to curtail the threat of the potential rise of extremism and terrorism in the province.

However, a professor from the criminology department of University of Peshawar, talking to The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity, labeled the bill a mere puff.

“Such announcements were made by past governments as well but no real action was taken,” he said.

The professor was of the view that it was easy to pass bills in the assembly but their practical significance was nonexistent.

“The youth can easily be misled and there is a dire need to establish an actual functioning centre that could work in harmony with educational institutions,” he said, seconding Khan’s views.

The Minister for Information and Higher Education, Kamran Khan Bangash, on the other hand, is hopeful that this proposed centre will work.

“The centre will work with educational institutes to create awareness and train people on how to eliminate extremism from society,” Bangash said.

He acknowledged that the province had suffered massively at the hands of terrorism and if such an initiative had been taken sooner many casualties could have been avoided.

“We hope this centre can create harmony amongst people,” Bangash told The Express Tribune.