Committee on national security includes Parliamentary heavyweights

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary heavyweights including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq have been opted in an elaborate committee on national security, which has been demanded by opposition parties since long, writes Tariq Butt.

However, some of its members like Imran Khan are unlikely to attend its deliberations as they have dismal record to be an active part of any such forum or even the discussions in the National Assembly.

The PTI chairman has always stayed away from the Lower House of Parliament and it can be counted on finger tips how many times he has attended its proceedings over the past four years. He has the lowest record of attendance among all the 342 members of the National Assembly.

Not only this, Imran Khan has never evinced a slight interest in engaging even in serious talks on highly contentious issues with the government and has always nominated his number two Shah Mehmood Qureshi to represent the PTI although the issues that had been discussed had been agitated by him.

After the constitution of the 24-member multiparty committee, one of the four demands that had been repetitively highlighted by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal also stands accepted although he is no longer talking about them.

For months, he kept issuing countless ultimatums to start agitation if his demands were not accepted by the government. But some time back, he stopped even speaking about them in the wake of the total nonchalance of the government, which never took them seriously.

His second demand, which was obviously innocuous and innocent, called for appointment of a full-fledged foreign minister.

He also wanted implementation of a resolution passed during a multiparty conference on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in May last year. The fourth demand urged the government to approve the PPP bill, seeking inquiry against the premier in relation to the offshore companies, which, however, became irrelevant after the matter had been taken up by the Supreme Court. Despite that, the PPP had passed its own piece of legislation in the Senate where it was in majority and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had approved its own bill in the National Assembly due to its numerical strength. Both moves have turned out to be inconsequential.

Key PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Mehmood Achakzai and Dr Farooq Sattar have also been inducted in the committee. The inclusion of parliamentary leading lights has added to the importance of the forum, headed by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.

However, their contribution will be before all and sundry after the body will start functioning. The committee was constituted on the force of similar unanimous resolutions passed by the Senate and National Assembly last month. It will oversee the national security issues, review, and oversee expeditious implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP). It will also monitor the process of transition from military courts to civil courts through criminal justice reforms.

Since long, the justice system needs massive reforms to strengthen, reinforce and enable the civilian courts to deal with heinous crimes like terrorism at a fast speed. Because of its inherent weaknesses, the military courts have been empowered once again for another two years to try the hardcore terrorists.

The government keeps doing something to remove the shortcomings and flaws in the system but its initiatives don’t keep pace with the threat posed by the menace. The judges, prosecutors and witnesses require protection to dispense with the element of fear prevailing among them while handling cases of terrorists.

However, it is a hard fact that the cases drag for a long time in civilian courts because due process of law has to be followed. This is not the case in military courts, which hold in-camera proceedings. The delays also happen because of lawyers’ tactics to benefit their clients. In several cases, the prosecution is found ill-equipped and ill-prepared, which also causes not only inordinate delays but leads to acquittal of the accused.

The committee will present periodical reports regarding the NAP and national security before both Houses of Parliament. The speaker is authorized to make changes in its composition as and when required.

The body will make suggestions where necessary to remove the gaps in the implementation of the comprehensive NAP. The establishment of the military courts is part of this plan. It will remain the exclusive domain of the government to refer the cases to these courts, obviously in consultation with the army authorities, through a defined mechanism. In this connection, the interior ministry has the key role to play.