Fine-tuning NAP
This needless MQM drama, and all that will stem from it, will make for one more outside factor that will occupy the prime minister’s attention just as he tries to fine-tune NAP into a more operational plan. It’s not as if he has too much time on his hands to begin with. For one thing, the Panama Leaks nightmare has not gone away. And the ruling party is still predominantly occupied with dodging this particular bullet. For another, there’s the breakdown on the international front. India has breathed fresh life into regional anti-Pakistan tendencies, and erected an alliance that includes Balochistan and Afghanistan, with a fair deal of cooperation with Iran.
It’s for good reason, in these circumstances, that the civilian side of NAP has lagged behind the military’s progress in Zarb-e-Azb. The prime minister and his close circle is too busy trying to survive to give the survival of the country immediate priority. Yet there have been meetings aplenty with the top security machinery, even the delayed decision to move NAP a little away from the interior ministry. But the time the PM does dedicate to national security should be optimally utilised. It is essential when implementing NAP, for example, not to put the cart before the horse within the Plan’s working system.
After touching a number of NAP issues in a number of meetings, the PM now seems concentrating on banned organisations, terror financing, etc. While these are indeed very important points, and should have been addressed long, long ago, it might perhaps be wiser to concentrate on the more subtle points first, like intel-sharing between agencies and reforming seminaries. Once the preemption machinery is better oiled, and the dozens of security agencies are working in tandem, it would be more practical to move more effectively against the bad guys in urban centres. Hopefully the PM will keep his eye on the ball this time and not be sidelined by politics of survival lest another tragedy visits the people because those in charge were looking the other way.