Faizabad sit-in a big question mark on implementation of NAP: PILDAT

LAHORE: Discussing the implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) in Punjab during the last quarter of 2017, speakers at the PILDAT Roundtable believed that the Faizabad sit-in has raised big question mark on the effectiveness of implementation of the NAP in nearly three years. While this constituted as a flagrant violation across many NAP points, in particular it violated NAP point 3: Militant outfits and armed gangs will not be allowed to operate in the country as the protesters fought a pitched battle to push the might of State back in the operation.

According to a press release, this was shared by PILDAT on its sixth public forum on National Action Plan, where the fifth quarterly monitor on the implementation of National Action Plan on counter terrorism in Punjab was released. The forum was addressed by former governor of Sindh Lt-Gen (R) Moinuddin Haider; Ms Marva Khan, teaching fellow, Sheikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law, LUMS; Syed Hammad Abid, SSP Intelligence, Counter-Terrorism Department, Punjab, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President PILDAT and Aasiya Riaz, Joint Director PILDAT. The Roundtable was also joined by a number of opinion leaders and academia.

Given the importance of the 20-point consensus-based National Action Plan (NAP) in countering terrorism in Pakistan, PILDAT has undertaken a citizens’ initiative to monitor the progress of implementation of the NAP. PILDAT quarterly monitors report progress based on publicly available data and aim to serve the purpose of advocacy for effective implementation.

Aasiya Riaz, Joint Director PILDAT, provided an overview of the implementation status of NAP during the third quarter of 2017. She said the fifth quarterly monitor on implementation of NAP in Punjab is a continuation of periodic monitoring of implementation of National Action Plan that PILDAT began in January 2017. She said that out of the 15 NAP points pertaining to the performance of Punjab, three NAP points have witnessed regression in their status of implementation while 10 have shown consistent progress. Overall the Punjab province has received satisfactory progress on one out of 15 NAP points; progress is somewhat satisfactory on six NAP points compared to nine in the previous quarter, followed by five points progress somewhat unsatisfactory compared to two such lights in previous quarter and one point unsatisfactory which has consistently remained red throughout three years. Ms Marva Khan opined that NAP’s implementation status should be looked at in the context of the larger political situation in the country. She stated that the role of the superior courts does not appear to be protection of fundamental rights of citizens but apparently a political tug-of-war. She also pointed out that while anti-terrorism courts were working on a fast-track basis, many new legislation on aspects such as financial terrorism failed to address the root causes of the issue. Syed Hammad Abid, SSP CTD, stated that Counter Terrorism Department, Punjab has been working diligently since its creation. He pointed out that under Point No 3 (Militant outfits will not be allowed to operate in the country), convictions have increased 41% during the current quarter. Similarly under point No 9 (taking effective action against religious persecution), there were no incidents of religious persecution; therefore, this point should have been assigned at a somewhat satisfactory level. He stated that Point No 14 (measures against abuse of social media for terrorism) is a global issue and requires big data analysis tools for effective monitoring. While this point comes largely under FIA’s jurisdiction, CTD’s Cyber crime wing has been doing a lot of work and around 826 websites have been banned by the PTA so far, on the request of CTD.

Speaking on the occasion, Lt-Gen (R) Moinuddin Haider said our country has been engaged in firefighting with respect to terrorism and militancy. He stated that it appears that NAP has been sidelined as a national issue, and it is not getting enough attention in the media. He remarked that for effective implementation of NAP and for good governance in general, the two institutions that need to be empowered and made effective are local government and police departments. He also pointed out that many of these militant and right wing groups have used welfare organisations as a smoke-screen for their activities.