Growing concerns on NAP

In a rather unusual manner, the Ministry of Interior recently expressed its displeasure over a court’s observation, where during hearing of an NGO’s funding case, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja had said that the lack of progress on implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) was a joke with the nation.
The ministry defended its position and went on to give its own performance figures, which no doubt were impressive, but it probably ignored one crucial fact – NAP was chalked out as a paradigm to attack terrorism in the country from all directions and not to fight isolated battles. Unless it is an all-encompassing effort, the areas presently being ignored will eventually spawn into Frankenstein’s monsters later.
It is in the context of the quantum of threat faced and the measures taken so far, which regrettably do seem like a joke, whether the esteemed ministry likes this formulation or not. After all, weren’t Al-Qaeda linked terrorists who had planned to strike important government buildings nabbed from Lahore only recently? Lahore, as we all know, has seen fewer acts of terrorism as compared to the rest of the country.
Earlier, ISPR had also voiced nearly the same concerns through an interview to a Russian magazine where its director general observed that there is lack of progress in implementation in some areas of NAP due to political issues. The media too had been highlighting the dire need to focus on areas that are apparently slipping from the radar. So, obviously, there is a wide gap between public expectations and perceptions on the issue and the actions taken by the government so far.
The interior ministry further confused the issue by stating that it is the not the responsibility of any single ministry and that implementation of NAP is a national agenda. That may well be so but surely there must be one lead ministry responsible for coordinating measures in all directions. If not, it would mean dilution of responsibility – and we have seen the fate of many a national agenda with diluted responsibilities before.
In the aftermath of the Peshawar tragedy, when NAP was agreed upon by the country’s political leadership after exhaustive deliberations, the prime minister himself had stressed the urgency and totality of NAP by declaring that the government had to act fast and that whatever has been agreed had to be implemented immediately. He called NAP a defining moment to eliminate terrorism from the country.
But, six months down that ‘defining moment’ speech, a look at the stocktaking isn’t very encouraging. Just to mention some areas, the trial of terrorists in military courts, which is an important element of NAP, is a stalemated issue. It bears reminding that speedy trials by military courts had become a necessity after thousands of accused terrorists had been either acquitted or released by civilian courts in the past four years. Trials by military courts for a period of two years would have greatly helped but apparently ego has come in the way.
There is little evidence to suggest that the government is sincerely moving towards strengthening Nacta, which is touted as the long arm of the state against terrorism and responsible for cocoordinating intelligence and operational matters. All that is known is that there is friction where there is money – and friction there is much between the interior and the finance ministries.
The drive against sectarian hatred and extremist ideology, as evident from the situation in Balochistan, isn’t making much progress either. Nor is the objective of political reconciliation with nationalist elements by the provincial government in Quetta recording any success. Across small towns in Punjab extremist thought is a thriving industry.
In Karachi, the Rangers have made a lot of difference to life in the city and everyone is anxious that the operation there should be taken to its logical conclusion. This is natural since Karachi is the financial hub of the country and its past drift into lawlessness had also allowed terrorists and crime mafia to creep in. The problem here is very different and requires actions as a first priority.
But the two rural and urban-based political parties that are most affected by actions of Rangers are now working overtime to present the operation as victimisation of one province by another, ignoring the fact that their leaders have for far too long considered Pakistan as a workplace only for accumulating ill-gotten wealth while maintaining their homes and all other interest abroad. They have also forgotten that almost every coffin returning from the battle zone these days is buried either in Punjab or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
That said, the federal government should speed up and grasp the nettle on such issues as freezing the funding sources of the terrorist, not allowing defunct outfits to operate under new names – a widespread complaint in Punjab –, registering religious seminaries and regulating their curriculum, as well as administrative and development reforms in Fata.
It was agreed in NAP that a comprehensive policy would be formulated for the return of Afghan refugees. It is not understood what is stopping the government from acting proactively to send the remaining refugees on our soil back to their country. Isn’t nearly a quarter of a century of hospitality enough?
The prime minister is not attending many apex committee meetings these days so not much is known about the working of over a dozen or so committees and sub-committees which were set up to monitor the progress made in the implementation of NAP. If their line of responsibility and terms of reference have not been finalided so far, they need to be before there is a complete loss of momentum.
Instead of getting offended by growing public concern over the sluggish progress on the implementation of NAP, it is in the government’s own interest to break this inertia and take some broad spectrum measures. Dr Tahirul Qadri recently alleged that Nawaz Sharif was a supporter of terrorist organisations.
This view is gaining traction with the other view that delay in implementation of NAP serves the ruling PML-N politically. It is argued that with the PPP so far deep in the dumps that its recovery for the next election is next to impossible and the PTI’s electoral prospects at best restricted to improve showing in the next parliament, it is not prudent to antagonise banned outfits which have the street power to influence polls.
As any bridge player knows, if one has an ace of spade in his hand and contracts seven no trumps to play, one is tempted to collect the last trick with the ace of spade just in case the east or the west player retains or discards the wrong card during the play. Implementing NAP has now become a high-stakes game for various players with implications for the country but as the prime minister Nawaz Sharif has to play his hand differently.
If the gap between the government’s actions and the public’s expectations on implementation of NAP is not narrowed down, there is yet another danger of the rank and file in the military getting disillusioned. This lurking danger has its own dynamics and will go away only through tangible actions – and not through wishful thinking.
Tailpiece: During Ramazan, the prime minister has chosen to sit in the Prophet’s (pbuh) Mosque in Medina during the last few days and pray in solitude for his personal rewards and invocations in the hereafter. To be self-satisfying, such deeply religious rituals are best performed at one’s own expense and in one’s own time. The prime minister may please note that this precious time belongs to the people of Pakistan even if the hospitality at the mosque is from his Saudi friends.
The writer is a retired vice admiral.
Email: tajkhattak@ymail.com