Attiya Munawer
The National Action Plan was formulated by the government to eradicate terrorism. The aim was to eradicate the scourge of terrorism from the country. All the provisions of the 20-point National Action Plan are of utmost importance. If these clauses had been implemented in its spirit, terrorism would have been completely eradicated from the country today, but only nine clauses of the plan were fully implemented, with only five clauses were satisfactorily implemented in the rest due to which many banned organizations are still operating under different names, as well as the registration process of madrassas is slowing down, and nothing has been done to restructure and reform the criminal justice system. Counter-terrorism agencies havenot been strengthened, which is why there is still sabotage in some places. At the same time, the commitment made to prevent sectarian and religious riots has not been implemented. The government had issued a unanimous declaration in the name of Paigham-e-e-Pakistan, on which there was a consensus of eminent scholars of all sects, after which there was hope that terrorism could be eradicated from the country, but the government has not paid much attention to this, due to which religious tensions are seen in many places every year during the days of Muharram. If Paigham-e-Pakistan had been implemented, sectarian and religious riots could have been avoided.
There is no denying the fact that the situation in the region is changing, the situation has changed radically since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban have rapidly taken over 85% of the country. Taliban control the borders with Pakistan, Iran, China and Russia, its effects are beginning to be seen in Pakistan, because after the Taliban came to power,the people of the former jihadi organizations in Pakistan are also re-aligning. If all the provisions of the National Action Plan had been implemented, we would be free from such worries today, but unfortunately this has not happened. The Presiding High-Level Meeting by Prime Minister Imran Khan to review the status of implementation of the National Action Plan has expressed satisfaction over the achievements made so far while unanimously committed to further improve the National Action Plan in the context of cyber security and intelligence.
At present, the country is facing serious threats of terrorism and extremism, how the government and state institutions will address it and how to deal with this precarious situation in an effective and coordinated manner is up to the government. It is a matter of concern that the commitment to implement the National Action Plan should be ensured. Although the government has significantly weakened the structure of terrorism under Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fassad, the threat of terrorism seems to be increasing again in the changing situation, terrorists fleeing from the operations of the security forces have started organizing, terrorists have started appearing in different guises, and they are emerging in a new form in the coming days. If the government outlaws one group then another name comes to the fore, so the government will not only have to bring the organizations working under new names into the national mainstream but also eradicate the nurseries of terrorism by enforcing a declaration like Paigham-e-Pakistan across the country.
Complete eradication of terrorism from the country is not possible without implementing all the provisions of the National Action Plan. The commitment of the civilian leadership is essential to implement the National Action Plan in the true sense of the word because unless the government provides full facilities to the tribal areas and gives them the same benefits as the developed areas, the young generation there will be deprived.The government must make every effort to ensure the implementation of the National Action Plan- holding one and a half-meeting before Muharram is not the solution to the problem, the government should ensure real implementation of the National Action Plan so that once and for all, the scourge of terrorism can be completely eradicated from the country. This is a difficult, but not impossible, task. Once again, the civilian-military leadership must commit itself to the full implementation of the National Action Plan.
Attiya Munawer is a graduate of LCWU with a keen interest in politics and environmental conservation.
