ISLAMABAD: After a considerably long silence due to his backache, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has befittingly responded to the severe attacks, showered on him on daily basis by some senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders over the past some days.
Apart from his reaction to the tirade against him, he also raised some significant points that deserve a serious thought by all and sundry especially those who are finding fault with the counterterrorism National Action Plan (NAP) to get political mileage.
He also pointed a finger at opposition leader Syed Khurshid Shah, who has relentlessly harangued him over the last some days, for the massive ‘favours’ the stalwart has taken from the government in the past two years. However, the government has also to explain what it got in exchange because as they say in politics there’s no free lunch – everyone expects favours to be repaid.
First, Chaudhry Nisar’s assertion that the anti-terrorism war cannot be fought only through guns and bullets and winning psychological war is also important is very pertinent. The unseemly controversy being created by some political circles over the NAP implementation is obviously in bade taste and in a way encourages and emboldens the terrorists. His remark that Pakistan is winning the war on terror by the efforts of the army but losing it on psychological grounds is not out of place. It is obviously uncalled for to spread disillusionment and disappointment for petty political gains.
However, the federal and provincial governments are also themselves responsible for fueling panic. There are serious security threats to the soft targets like the schools, colleges and universities, but the way the administrations have dealt with them has left much to be desired. They ignited confusion, which incited fear in the general public. The interior minister disapproved the approach and did not allow the federal capital’s institutions to be shut.
There are certainly some gaps in the NAP implementation but the overall successes it and the subsequent nationwide operations and the Zarb-e-Azb have produced are unparalleled. Before their launch, nobody ever thought that such colossal achievements will be forthcoming. The accomplishments are unstoppable till elimination of the last terrorist. The credit for this goes to the civilian government, the armed forces, judiciary, and the political parties for having gathered on the same platform backing the campaigns.
However, a point that Chaudhry Nisar missed while reacting to the tirades of Khurshid Shah and some other PPP leaders is that the opposition’s job is to oppose everything and propose nothing. But it is not a secret that he is being put on the mat for his hard-hitting views about the PPP, defence of the Rangers when the force was being lambasted by the Sindh government, refusal to relent on the cases against its leaders etc. What the opposition skips while finding fault with the implementation of the NAP is that it is not an ordinary political issue which deserves comments for political point scoring every day. It is an extremely serious matter with the security forces being in the midst of a war. Therefore, anything said or done that sends a negative message to them is unpalatable.
Two, top PPP leaders have repeatedly rejected the actions taken by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against some of their colleagues. This is a major reason behind their stinging denunciation of the minister as the FIA directly falls in his domain and he doesn’t allow anyone to interfere. The PPP’s anger will be largely taken care of the moment the agency is reined in. However, Chaudhry Nisar will never agree to it.
Three, it is a hard fact, stated by him as well, that terror incidents and casualties are the lowest in nine years. During this long time, Musharraf ruled followed by the PPP, but none picked up the courage to take the terrorists head-on. As a result, the terrorists grew by leaps and bounds playing havoc with the lives and property of innocent people.
Four, the implementation of the NAP is mainly the baby of the civilian administrations while the defence ministry and the army have a small part to play. Chaudhry Nisar correctly stated that the NAP was not being controlled by the army and that the Zarb-i-Azb started before the launch of NAP.
Five, the implementation of the NAP and anti-terrorist operations are non-discriminatory and, in his words, there are no good or bad militants. This policy is being followed after it was decided to wipe out terrorism otherwise it was not possible to achieve the results produced by the campaign.
Six, statistics, spelt out by the minister, are undeniable – during the tenure of the previous government, annual deaths stood around 2,500 in terrorism, which came down to 700 in 2014. In 2015, this figure declined to 400. In 2014, there were two major terrorist attacks while in 2015 there was just one. This showed the efficacy of the NAP and the breaking of the backbone of the terrorists.