Don’t lose the NAP in translation

Its quite clear that the fight against terror is not just confined to the battlefield. It is a multi-faceted conflict

In a decidedly welcome move, signalling what appears to be a paradigm shift in the country’s security policy, the federal government is said to have finally made up its mind to outlaw the Haqqani network and the Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), a front entity for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba and freeze their funds as well. Ten more militant outfits are expected to join the two taking the total number of proscribed terror organisations in the country to 72. The sooner a final decision to this effect is officially announced the better it would be for all concerned, particularly for the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan, who have suffered immeasurably in terms of life and property over the last several years at the hands of these two militant outfits and their ilk.

The recently-concluded joint strategic dialogue with the US hosted by Pakistan and attended by US Secretary of State John Kerry, too, must have played a role in making up the federal government’s mind in this regard. However, the move appears to be the logical corollary of what the country had started on June 15 last year by launching a no-holds barred military offensive against all militants, both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ in North Waziristan Agency.

The move appears to be one more tentative step towards translating the 20-point counterterrorism National Action Plan (NAP) into a reality. One sincerely and ardently hopes that the unified will and determination shown by the nation following the December 16 Peshawar tragedy to rid the country of all kinds of militancy, especially the ones inspired by a distorted version of religion and faith does not get lost in translation. Already at least 23 banned groups are said to be carrying out their nefarious activities in broad daylight under different names. This is what is called getting lost in translation. This kind of laxity on the part of the government directly relates to its own inadequacy in terms of governance and the shortcomings of civilian law-enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, the judiciary, educational institutions and the administrative services. Political parties, too, seem to lack the moral authority and the will to take on these militant outfits with counter-narratives.

The responsibility for pulling all these agencies and organisations out of their inertia is solely that of the government and in the government, the lead must come from the cabinet and the prime minister. The commander must be seen to be commanding and issuing unambiguous commands. It is no secret which group is doing what; who are their leaders and their active members; what are their objectives; where are they getting their funds and arms from and what are their differences and commonalities; from where do they get their inspirations. Many of these groups have had patronage from those who are in official circles while some had served as non-state actors promoting reckless policies. Most have now turned into man-eaters, biting the very hand that once fed them.

And it is no secret that much of the weapons and money come from countries in the Gulf facilitated by the close physical proximity of our lengthy unmanned coastline with that of many of these countries. There appears to be a vested interest at play as it seems that not much is being done to stop this ongoing clandestine business that is destroying Pakistan. A lot of funds also are made available to militant outfits as charitable contributions by local tax-evaders, who perhaps have sympathies that lie with such extremist groups. That is the reason perhaps, why most of these politically influential moneyed people oppose amending the anti-money laundering law to cover tax evasion as well under its purview. The law needs to be updated to bring it on a par with the UN standards urgently; otherwise, it would become increasingly impossible for our banks to open letters of credit or even clear cheques. It is quite clear from all this that the fight against terror is not just confined to the battlefield. It is a multi-faceted conflict, which has to be overcome through a multi-pronged approach.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2015.

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