The leader of the Opposition Syed Khurshid Shah said that all the political parties supported the government over the issue of terrorism and dealing with consensus, and asked the government to announce a clear-cut policy over the matter.
News Report
The Interior Minister Ch. Nisar Ali Khan finally presented the National Security Policy (NSP) in the Parliament on Wednesday.The Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan formally unveiled the document of the country’s National Security Policy in the Parliament on Wednesday. He said that only the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had assisted the government in policy formation, and that none of the provinces has contributed to it. (source)
He further said that suggestions had been taken from the military, the intelligence agencies and from other experts in policy formation.
Ch. Nisar Ali Khan presented a document of 100 pages divided into three parts. The ‘secret’ part deals with day-to-day policies and details about daily operations; the strategic part with rules for finding and working on various options available to the government including dialogue, military operation and the use of force as well as negotiations; while the third part, the one the government focused the most on, is about dealing efficiently with the threats and responding to the attacks appropriately. (source)
Ch Nisar said that all political parties must cooperate with the government in building up confidence and consensus, and must cautiously be careful on the issues directly related to the survival and existence of the state, and should avoid political point scoring and partisan that can harm the interest of the country.
Describing the details about the NSP, Ch Nisar Ali Khan added that the conversion of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) into a powerful decision-making body is the main objective of the first ever NSP. For this purpose, a Joint Intelligence Directorate will be established that will bring in coordination the 26 intelligence agencies of Pakistan that are with no coordination presently. A rapid response force will be established, starting from Islamabad that will work under the police department and will be duplicated in all the four provinces. The PM will call a meeting of the Chief Ministers of all the four provinces to bring them in confidence and for briefing provincial responsibilities. The issues will be identified and brought in notice by the intelligence reports, and the counter terrorism force will scan, plan actions and clear these reports. For rapid response, the counter-terrorism forces will be used. Four to five different fields are identified for providing airfields and helicopters for the counter-terrorism forces in the provinces to ensure rapid response.
Moreover, the internal security division will be established under the Interior Ministry, in which all the civil, armed and border forces will be in coordination with each other to ensure rapid response.
Responding to questions regarding his offer to Taliban for a cricket match and their response, Ch Nisar Ali khan said that he did not invite the Taliban for a cricket match and did not pay heed to each and every statement from Taliban.
Commenting on the NSP, the leader of the Opposition Syed Khurshid Shah said that all the political parties supported the government over the issue of terrorism and dealing with consensus, and asked the government to announce a clear-cut policy over the matter. He further said that although the decision to hold talks with Taliban was taken in the APC, no one was taken in confidence during the negotiation process. However, Shah also said that no step that may compromise the country’s territorial integrity would be taken. (source) He was of the view that the government has not taken any serious steps to deal with terrorism so far.
Meanwhile, petty politics between the PPP and the PML-N has ensued, wherein Khursheed and Nisar have resorted to the blame-game tactics, speculating each other to be confused about the Policy. (Source)
Prime Minister Sharif also told the House that the government will leave no stone unturned to ensure the security and to safeguard the life and property of the people of Pakistan. He said that the government is fully aware of its duty and is taking solid steps and putting serious efforts to bring peace and progress in the country and to build the trust of the investors for improved investment and economic growth.
In view of the story, it seems that the NSP has been made controversial by not including other major political forces in the process of its formulation, as if this was not the case, it would bring more consensus and confidence of the opposition and the public. Such a vital policy needs to be put to public scrutiny as well, and a clear-cut stance of the government to deal with threats to the life of the people of Pakistan must be addressed in order to bring the public in confidence on what the government is really doing to ensure their security and deal with terrorism. This may also be a reason for confusion in the political leadership, general public and thinktanks about the NSP, its route and way of implementation and the possible chances of success.
The Policy is still creating an ambiguity as to whether to take action against or have dialogue with the TTP; also in referring to the groups of TTP, i.e., the pro-talks and pro-terror, is reflecting that the government is still shaky in its decision of operation against the TTP to eradicate terror from the country. For some, the Policy may even be presenting a long-winding, complicated process as opposed to the immediate clear-up operations that the Military seems to be capable of promising.
