NAP not fully implemented due to lack of civilian ownership- Speakers

National Action Plan (NAP) to counter terrorism has not been fully implemented

KARACHI – Aug 27,2021 Speakers at a moot said that the National Action Plan (NAP) to counter terrorism has not been fully implemented due to various reasons, mainly lack of civilian ownership of the plan for its execution, confusion on the definition of terrorism, and absence of a national narrative on terrorism.

They were speaking at a ceremony on Friday organised by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Pakistan, a German political foundation, Pakistan Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad based think-tank here on to launch two reports- “Defining Terrorism in Pakistan” and “Assessing the National Action Plan to counter terrorism and defining terrorism in Pakistan.”

Barrister Murtaza Wahab, the Sindh Chief Minister’s advisor on Law and Administrator Karachi, said that Sindh province has passed several bills regarding improving policing, reforming jails, and dealing with cases of synthetic drugs.

“But without the support of the judiciary, it is hard to implement the bills that have been adopted to curb crimes and combat terrorism,” he said.

Senator Taj Haider, a Pakistan People’s Party’s central leader, said that the terrorists do not have powers to fight with the state but without having a political will, it is difficult to fight terrorism.  “The terrorist groups mainly gain support from marginalized communities by exploiting the sufferings and problems.”

Haider said that the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) was empowered to implement NAP and coordinate among all active law enforcement and intelligence agencies. “But unfortunately, the NACTA was crippled.”

Dr. Jochen Hippler, FES Pakistan Country Director, stressed the need to have a clear definition of terrorism and to execute the NAP in letter and sprite with its ownership by the government to eliminate terrorism from Pakistan.

Mangla Sharma, a Mutahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s MPA, said that Pakistani should prepare itself to confront any potential security threats after the Taliban took over Kabul.

“Incidents, such as vandalizing the statue of Ranjit Singh or attacks on worship places of minority faiths show that extremist elements in Pakistan have been encouraged by Taliban’s gains in the neighboring country.

Karamat Ali, a member of the Sindh public safety and police complaints commission, said that the Sindh government has been showing a non-serious and lackluster approach towards making the commission an effective body for resolving the issues pertaining to police performance, citizens’ complaints against the police, and other issues.

Citizen Police Liason Committee chief Zubair Habib, Asad Iqbal Butt, co-chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakitan , PIPS’s Safdar Sial, and FES Program Coordinators Hamayoun Khan also spoke to the event and said that all stakeholders would have to play their role to eliminate the scourge of terrorism.