‘Who brought terrorists back?’ asks PM

F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday raised serious concern over the resurfacing of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) failed to maintain security despite the availability of special funds.
He said that PTI was in rule in the province for the last 10 years and was responsible to ensure the safety of the lives of innocent people that suffered a new spate of terrorist incidents. In his initial remarks at the meeting of the federal cabinet, the prime minister mentioned that Rs 417 billion were provided to KP since the year 2010 under the National Finance Commission Award.
The funding was supposed to be used for the capacity-building of KP Police and security forces, he said. “Where this money was spent despite the establishment of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD),” he questioned. He said the nation wanted the ruling KP government to be held accountable for the rise of terrorism in the province.
“Who regarded the terrorist as ‘Jihadi’ and let them return,” he said, pointing out the lenient approach that led to the re-emergence of terrorism in the province. Shehbaz Sharif lauded the courage and resilience of the people of KP for bearing the brunt of terrorism. He said several members of the political families in KP and also the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto lost their life in the wake of terrorist incidents.
“These invaluable sacrifices cannot be forgotten,” he said, adding, it was painful that even minor children were among the dead in the recent suicide blast at a Peshawar mosque. The prime minister warned that if urgent measures were not taken to control terrorism, it could spread to the rest of the country. He vowed to “unitedly” fight the scourge and ensure peace in the country.
He also put aside the routine agenda of the cabinet to solely discuss the issue of terrorism, saying that an in-camera session could be held for further deliberations. Federal cabinet unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the suicide attack in a mosque at Peshawar Police Lines. The cabinet further stressed upon the need of promotion of national unity, solidarity and the raising of cohesive voice by all the political forces of the country against terrorists.
It called upon all the political forces to shun their political divide and grievances and express unity for the interests of the country and its people and unanimously converge on agenda for elimination of terrorism, so that requirements of the national security, solidarity, peace and economy could be protected in an effective manner. The cabinet representing the people of Pakistan and their elected government, condemned in the strongest terms, the terrorist incident at Peshawar Police Lines of January 30 and expressed condolences and sympathies with the bereaved families.
“The entire nation shares the grief of the bereaved families,” PM Office Media Wing in a press release said. The cabinet also prayed for the high ranks of the shuhada and for their families to bear the losses with fortitude. It also prayed for the early recovery of the injured people. The federal cabinet also made it clear that those could neither be the Muslims who targeted fellow Muslims at place of worship nor deserved to be called human beings.
Under the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah and the unanimous opinion of the learned religious scholars, derived from these teachings and declared in ‘Paighan e Pakistan’ that such like incidents were openly against the tenets of Islam and ‘Haram’, the cabinet expressed. The cabinet, in its meeting, also expressed the resolve to eradicate all forms of terrorism and ensure the protection of the lives and properties of the public.
They also expressed that the blood of the Pakistanis would be accounted for. The restructuring of the police force of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and counter-terrorism department would be carried out, besides the provision of quality training, and taking of solid steps for the supply of the latest weapons and necessary related gadgets would be ensured, so as to avert the occurrence of such like incidents in the future. The prime minister also expressed his gratitude to the Chinese president and the premier for expressing solidarity with Pakistan.