National Action Plan: Call for implementation under single command

Speakers express concern over slow pace of execution, called on govt to ensure its effective implementation

ISLAMABAD:

Speakers at a conference to discuss the National Action Plan (NAP) expressed concern over the slow pace of execution and called on the government to ensure its effective implementation.

The conference was organised by the Centre for Pakistan and Gulf Studies (CPGS) and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung to review the progress on NAP on Wednesday.

The speakers deliberated on the contours of the counter-terrorism strategy. ANP Senator Afrasiab Khattak emphasised on the implementation aspect of the policy. CPGS President Senator Sehar Kamran said consensus after December 16 was unprecedented and needed to be built upon. Former defence secretary Asif Malik said there was a lot of focus on terrorism but none on sectarianism.

Manzar Zaidi, former Nacta director, said NAP was important yet the measures agreed were not new.

Lawyer Ahmer Bilal Soofi noted that political and military leaders had on several occasions stated the country was in a state of war. This had legal implications, he said.

Dr Nazir Hussain of Quaid-i-Azam University suggested a three-month national security emergency, putting NAP implementation under one command and indiscriminate action against terrorists.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2015.