Can govt’s parliamentary body save us from terrorism?

• PTI expresses reservation over formation of parliamentary committee to form anti-terrorism action plan, says experts’ committee should have been formed
• Experts divided over effectiveness of committee; some term it ‘sheer wastage of time’, khakis better suited to do job, others say committee will yield results

While noted defence experts have expressed scepticism over the government’s move to form a parliamentary committee for framing an anti-terrorism action plan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has also expressed its reservations over the committee’s formation with PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi stating that the party chief Imran Khan had proposed the government forms an experts’ committee and not a parliamentary committee.

Talking to Pakistan Today, Qureshi said that the party’s idea was that a committee comprising anti-terrorism experts may be formed which should forward its proposals to the parliament.

“Once the proposals are framed by the committee, inputs may be sought from the military and political leaderships. However, we will attend the committee’s proceedings as it is the domain of the federal government to form any committee,” he added.

The PTI leader said that now his party would be represented in the committee by Dr Shireen Mazari since he would be busy with conducting dialogues with the government. In this regard, he has called Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar who has fixed the dialogue meeting for today (Friday), he added.

Qureshi has been tasked by his party for holding dialogue with the government for framing terms of reference (ToRs) for the judicial commission to probe the polls rigging charges.

Meanwhile, for representation in the parliamentary committee, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has named Qamar Zaman Kaira and Rehman Malik and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has nominated Dr Farooq Sattar and Babar Ghauri. Moreover, Ijazul Haq from Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z), Afrasiab Khattak from Awami National Party (ANP), Mushahid Hussain Sayed from Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Akram Khan Durrani from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamat-e-Islami (JI)’s Fareed Paracha would also be members of the committee.

EXPERTS NOT HOPEFUL:

As the government braces for its anti-terrorism measures through its parliamentary committee, the experts have stated that the nation was still unaware of the fate of the much-touted Internal Security Plan announced by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Under the policy, the Interior Ministry had announced to turn the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) into a high-powered body which would house a headquarters for gathering and sharing of intelligence. However, the minister’s plan failed as the Finance Ministry refused to allocate funds for the purpose while military leadership also opposed the proposal.

Noted expert on security affairs Brigadier (r) Mahmood Shah said that this parliamentary committee would be of no use to frame anti-terrorism strategy and would rather be a “sheer wastage of time”.

“The political government has been given a go-ahead by the political leadership of the country. Counter-terrorism planning is a job of the army and its allied departments not politicians,” he remarked.

He asked why the much-hyped National Security Policy was not implemented which was announced by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in March last. He said that rather than the committee, a National Security Council (NSC) should be formulised with the political government and the military having representation.

“The NSC is also functional in the United States of America and other developed countries where they have been able to counter terrorism. Only politicians would rather create further problems due to their party obligations who have leanings toward terrorists,” he added.

Referring to a book written by Bob Woodward, Brigadier Mahmood Shah said in the NSC of the US, their president carries out discussions in NSC where the State Department and Pentagon both have representation.

He also opposed to debate the counter terrorism policy in the media, saying that this is not the job of media or politicians to formalise anti-terrorism policy.

“The consensus of political parties is enough. A subcommittee may be formed comprising on security experts and work under the NACTA. But secret planning should not be shared with politicians who can’t keep such planning secret. You know there are parties who have a soft corner for Taliban,” he added.

Moreover, Dr Hassan Askari Rizvi said that the parliamentary committees cannot carry out anti-terrorism policies. He said that the government looks confused.

“The government should have given a plan of action. They should have sought views from experts for improvement. But it did not do anything and rather formed another committee. Committees have failed to deliver in Pakistan. They have a tendency to shift blame of inaction to others,” he added.

“If Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had to announce a committee, why did he summon the All Parties Committee (APC)?” he questioned.

“Other than experts and government officials, a few people from intelligence agencies should have been included. The federal government looks totally confused,” he said, adding that the PML-N government had a reactionary approach towards issues.

Dr Rasool Bux Raees, however, hoped that the new committee would yield desired results and counter terrorism could not be left only with the khakis.

“The committee would reflect the will of the parliament vis-à-vis security policy. It demonstrates unity of command. We already have a National Security Committee of the Cabinet headed by National Security Advisor to PM Sartaj Aziz,” he added.

He disagreed with the notion that the ‘Men in Uniform’ could better understand the counter-terrorism affairs, stating that in all major countries, civilians call the shots regarding security affairs.

“This is what happening in the US and India. Security is subject with civilians not confined to the khakis,” he said. He added that Pakistan already has a national security policy. He said that the committee would also seek input from the army and a consensus strategy could be framed.

“The politicians are capable people. They will have support and input from the GHQ and other government departments. We need to revise our counter terrorism policy,” he concluded.