ISLAMABAD: The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued a Press Release No. PR5/2015-ISPR that stated: “In a bid to coordinate the security and to implement the recently approved National Action Plan (NAP), Provincial Apex Committees have been formed in all provinces which will constitute both military and political leadership.” For the record, the 20-point NAP has a 5-point federal component and a 15-point provincial component. For the record, the Federal Government has not issued any notification for the establishment of any Apex Committee. For the record, none of the provincial governments has issued any notification for the establishment of any Apex Committee. To be certain, the ISPR has issued neither the Terms of Reference nor the actual composition of the Apex Committees. To be certain, neither the federal government nor the provincial governments have notified either the Terms of Reference or the actual composition of the Apex Committees. On February 16, Karachi hosted a meeting of the Sindh Apex Committee and the photograph that was carried by the media had at least five personalities present: PM Nawaz Sharif, COAS Raheel Sharif, ex-president Asif Zardari, CM Qaim Ali Shah and Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan (among many others). On February 16, the media reported that the Sindh Apex Committee had established three Zonal Security Committees: Karachi Zone, headed by DG Pakistan Rangers (Sindh); Hyderabad Zone, headed by General Officer Commanding, 18th Infantry Division; Sukkar Zone, headed by General Officer Commanding, 21st Artillery Division (the ISPR did not issue a press release in regards to the Zonal Committees). On February 28, CM Qaim Ali Shah, during a press conference, stated that “no decision has been made in this regard.” Once again, the Sindh Provincial Government has issued neither a notification nor a circular for the establishment of the Zonal Committees. ISPR’s press release of January 3 uses the term ‘coordinate’ which essentially means “to bring the different elements of a complex activity or organization into a harmonious or efficient relationship”. On March 11, Sindh Rangers raided Nine Zero. On March 17, Sindh Rangers filed a case against MQM Chief Altaf Hussain under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Civil Lines police station. Four questions: One – was the raid on Nine-Zero ordered by the Apex Committee? Two – did the Apex Committee authorize the filing of the case against Altaf Hussain? Three – what happens when some of the so-called civilian members of the Apex Committee are accused of heinous crimes? Finally, what good has been achieved by the so-called Apex Committees since their establishment some 3 months ago? The GHQ-crafted alternative structure of governance in the form of Apex Committees has failed to bear fruit. I have heard that “time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana”.
