Parliamentary committee decides to rope in intelligence agencies’ members to develop counter-terrorism action plan
The Anti-Terrorism National Action Plan Committee (ATNAPC) Friday agreed to seek technical assistance and input from the counter-terrorism wing of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for framing recommendations on a counter-terrorism action plan.
A senior officer of the intelligence agency would be part of the anti-terrorism experts’ working group to be tasked to frame recommendations for developing a national action plan to combat the menace of terrorism.
The working group comprising military and civilian leaders will form an action plan which will be then reviewed by the committee. After the committee approves the recommendations by the working group, the plan would be presented before the parliament for approval.
The formation of the committee was announced by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the conclusion of the Multi-Party Conference (MPC) held in Peshawar on Wednesday, a day after a savage Taliban attack on the Army Public School left nearly 150 dead and hundreds injured.
The first meeting was held on Friday.
The committee was briefed by Interior Secretary Shahid Khan over the steps taken by the ministry to improve security measures.
Presiding over the meeting, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan briefed the committee about Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to the General Headquarters (GHQ) to meet Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif.
A source told Pakistan Today that Nisar proposed to form a special experts’ working group to formulate a working paper to combat terrorism within seven days.
The source added that the participants were told that an anti-terrorist force had been formed which was equipped with modern weapons, helicopters and other modern gadgets to fight terrorists. The participants were told that there was a need to increase the anti-terrorist courts for speedy processing of anti terrorist cases.
The committee was informed that National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA) would act as a think tank for the anti-terrorism force and as a hub of information gathering against terrorists.
The participants were told that security institutions were benefiting from the analysis wing of the ISI. It was also told that adequate and effective legislation had already been made to track down terrorists under the Pakistan Protection Act (PPA).
The meeting was told that the banned outfits would not be allowed to function under new names and the government would stop terrorists from using political platforms.
The committee members were also provided documents of internal security policy and were asked to come up with recommendations over the subject. It was also decided during the meeting that the national media would be asked to frame a code of conduct for media coverage of terrorist activities.
The names of former directors-general of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Tariq Khosa, Tariq Pervez, Wasim Ahmed and Brigadier ® Wajid were also proposed to head the experts’ working group. The committee would finalise one name for the slot.
WHAT POLITICAL LEADERS SAY:
Earlier, speaking to a news outfit, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Arif Alvi said his party would suggest formation of a working group consisting of counter-terror experts. Heads of intelligence agencies concerned should be part of the working group, he suggested.
Alvi said that the law enforcers would need to be more vigilant around religious seminaries. “There is a need to correct our collective narrative on terrorism,” he added.
Senator Rehman Malik said that recommendations coming out of the action plan committee should be translated into legislation.
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)’s representative in the committee Senator Mushahid Hussain said, “If we fail to act now, people of Pakistan will say that either our leaders are incompetent or they are cowards. If we don’t act, somebody else will, and we will all be irrelevant and instead of our vision of becoming an Asian Tiger, we will be considered as a paper tiger.”
Although the tragedy catalysed the coming together of leaders from across the political spectrum, some parties attended the committee meeting without many expectations.
“Look at the composition. Most of the people in the committee appear to be Taliban apologists. What can you expect from it?” a member of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) reportedly said.
However, he said MQM would sincerely present its viewpoint so that the country could move towards ridding itself of the scourge of extremism and terrorism.
Among others, Qamar Zaman Kaira of PPP, Afrasiyab Khattak of Awami National Party, Ijazul Haq of PML-Zia, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed of Awami Muslim League, Shireen Mazari of PTI, Dr Farooq Sattar and Babar Ghauri of MQM, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao of Qaumi Watan Party, Shahibzada Tariqullah and Dr Farid Paracha of Jamat-e-Islami, Akram Durrani of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Mahmood Khan Achakzai of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and Anisa Zaib of PPP-Sherpao represented their parties in the meeting.
Law Secretary Barrister Zafarullah Khan and Prime Minister’s advisor Khawaja Zaheer were also present. NACTA officials including Coordinator Hamid Ali Khan, officials of intelligence agencies, military, ministries of defence and interior, and National Crisis Management Cell also participated in the meeting.
The meeting was held in private with no media personnel allowed.
Civil and military should have been united from the outset – maybe we wouldnt have the mess we have today. How nice of the two to finally decide to work together.
Which brig wajid is this hooe not from ERRA
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