Low on PML-N’s priority list?
The government is focused only on high visibility vote catching projects like the extension of the motorway and initiation of rapid transport systems in major urban centers. The PML-N leadership does not brook delay in the implementation of these projects. It is however far less focused on long gestation projects of vital national importance. Major hydropower projects still await the government’s attention. The construction of Dasu project is in the doldrums while that of Diamir Bhasha dam is yet to start. National Action Plan (NAP) to deal with terrorism announced with fanfare in December 2014 also remains mostly unimplemented.
The army, the opposition and the media have criticised the government from different angles for its failure to fully execute the NAP. The army is unhappy over the government allowing the Protection of Pakistan Act (PPA) to lapse. The army’s other complaints include poor prosecution of terrorism cases, lack of focus on capacity building of civilian law enforcement agencies, government’s failure to allocate required funds for countering terrorism and raising new FC wings as well as lack of progress over Fata and madressah reforms. The PPP complains that the government uses NAP against political opponents while the PTI has accused the government of sparing Punjab from the application of the Plan. The media has pointed out that banned outfits continue to function under new names while there is little government control over madrassa funding.
Meanwhile the vital issue of changing the extremist mindset continues to be ignored by the government, opposition and establishment. For more than two decades after Ziaul Haq staged the military coup, extremist thinking continued to be promoted by the establishment. Textbooks in schools and colleges were rewritten with the express aim of spreading religious hatred and xenophobia. Laws were promulgated to target religious and sectarian minorities. The poison of intolerance has spread far and wide, creating an environment conducive to the uninterrupted production of recruits for terrorist outfits. Unless there is an all-out and proactive campaign to eradicate extremist thinking and inculcate moderation, terrorist outfits will continue to thrive.