The federal and provincial governments have been lagging far behind in implementing the 20-point National Action Plan (NAP), which was agreed upon by the top civilian and military leadership of the country around a year back.
Data available with Pakistan Today reflects that the only areas where significant developments have been made are under the domain of security forces or where Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had been given full authority. Areas either falling under the ambit of provincial governments or under the domain of other ministries have shown little or no progress.
The Karachi operation is the biggest achievement of NAP as significant decline has been noted in terrorism cases in the port city where the writ of the government has been restored to some extent and criminals are on the run.
According to the data, a major improvement in law and order has been observed as targeted killing is down by 53 per cent while the number of murders has also been brought down by 50 per cent. Terrorism incidents have also gone down by 80 per cent while the general crime rate is also on the decline.
Robberies are down by 30 per cent, extortion has declined by 56 per cent. Total criminals arrested are 69,179 while the number of terrorists arrested is 890. Moreover, 676 proclaimed offenders, 10,426 court absconders. 124 kidnappers, 545 extortionists and 1,834 murderers have been rounded up till date.
Around 16,304 weapons have also been seized.
Another area where the government has achieved a milestone is that over 98.3 million SIMs have been blocked while biometric verification system has been put in place for new SIM activation.
Another success story is the Balochistan reconciliation process.
Under the amnesty programme, around 625 farraris/outlaws have surrender arms and joined the reconciliation/rehabilitation process in Balochistan. Another 125 ferraris are in process of surrendering arms and joining the rehabilitation package.
A breakthrough has also been made in the provision of funds and functioning of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA) as the Finance Ministry has released Rs 1.06 billion and NACTA has now been shifted to a temporary premises. Personnel for NACTA have also been requisitioned under the command of Ihsan Ghani, an officer with impeccable repute.
The monitoring of NAP through sub-committees is also in progress. The NACTA website is also under process and should be operational within the next few weeks. Links with local and international think-tanks to discuss counter-terrorism, CVE, De-rad, conflict resolution and stabilisation are being established. A compilation of a NACTA Red Book of terrorists has also started.
Meanwhile, execution of terrorists under the Anti-Terrorism Courts or Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) has also seen progress. The number of persons executed under ATA/PPC is 329.
Eleven Special Military Courts have been notified and 148 cases have been transferred to them. Visibility of armed militias and display of weapons has also been contained considerably.
Grey areas:
The area where little or no progress has been made includes madrassa reforms. The government has failed in making any headway there. Despite a recent announcement, and after successive meetings were held with the Wafaqul Madaris, the progress on seminary reforms is slow.
Though the Interior Ministry claims that a national narrative has been drafted to counter the narrative of the terrorists, nothing has yet been shared with media or the civil society.
A Uniform Registration and Data Form has been developed by NACTA and ITMP and shared with provinces and intelligence agencies for input. The ICT and Punjab have completed 100 per cent mapping on agreed parameters. Mapping exercise in provinces ongoing with Sindh (80 per cent), KP (75 per cent), Balochistan (60 per cent). Suspected madaris closed are two in Punjab, 167 in Sindh, and 13 in KP.
Foreign funded madaris are 190 out of which 147 are in Punjab, six in Sindh, seven in KP, and 30 in Balochistan
Though the ministry claims that concrete steps have been taken against proscribed organisations and individuals in coordination with provinces initiated, there is no progress at all. Even the ministry has failed to take action against Maulvi Abdul Aziz of Red Mosque who has issued public threats in the federal capital and has been instigating people to take up arms against the State. Women from the Jamia Hafsa madrassa, led by his wife Umme Hassaan, have also pledged allegiance to Islamic State chief Abubakar Al-Baghdadi yet no action has yet been taken against them.
Progress on Counter-Terrorism Force (CTF), including establishment of a Joint Task Force, and giving due role to provincial police departments, is also underway but at a snail’s pace.
Countering hate speech and literature promoting religious hatred is another area which is yet to grab the government’s attention. So far, 2,333 cases have been registered against 2,163 persons while 73 shops have been sealed for selling provocative material. Cases registered for misuse of loudspeakers are 9,005 while persons arrested are 9,142. Around 2,452 pieces of equipment have also been confiscated.
In Punjab, 1,132 hardcore extremists have been identified of whom 405 persons have been put under Schedule IV.
Action against Hawala/Hundi business also lacks luster as only 214 cases were registered during 2015 while 322 people were arrested for involvement in the illegal business. The government agencies seized Rs 356.56 million during the raids.