The all party parliamentary committee on national security met on Friday this week with a one point agenda of making recommendations pertaining to national security issues. Considering the outcome of the previous meeting where members of JI and JUI(F) had stopped the committee from reviewing the Anti-Terror Bill 2010 and the bill to provide legal cover to the national counter terrorism authority for one complete year surely is something that must be taken into consideration.
There is a dire need to realise that Pakistan is at war and the gains of the security forces are far from being termed as permanent. With such attitudes where coming to an amicable solution on the anti terror act must be the primary concern of the political parties, all the leaders, especially those belonging to the religious parties are trapped in conducting power politics.
Based upon the lame argument that through this bill and anti terror laws, the government had wanted to give a freehand to the security forces to carry out operations and investigations of arrested people, the religious parties have been instrumental in allowing many hardcore criminals to escape the snare of the law.
The inherent malfunctioning of the prosecution system and an absence of a clearly defined anti-terror law that empowers the security forces to act rapidly in dealing with the terrorists apprehended and detained so far, has resulted in empowering the miscreants instead who have (after being freed due to lack of evidence and witnesses) been going about their business. Dr Usman, the perpetrator of attacks on Marriot hotel, GHQ and Sri Lankan team, is just one such example among many.
There is an urgent need to understand the security dynamics of the tribal areas where the army needs to enter and remain, not as an invading force, but as a stabilising entity.
This will allow the local population to accept them as an extension of their social environment that would lead to better collaboration between the security personnel and the community against militancy.
Since the eradication of terrorism ought to be our primary aim, it becomes vital to empower the security forces enough – only during war time – to be able to conduct swift trials and punishments so that the war efforts and the sacrifices of our people and soldiers are not wasted to further prolong the already indefinite period of the war that is being termed – and rightly so – as ‘The Long War’
PROF KABIL KHAN
Peshawar