ISLAMABAD – Expressing his resolve to go for all-out and decisive operation against the militants, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed the relevant authorities to pursue the cases of terrorism on fast-track basis.
The prime minister also directed Attorney General of Pakistan and other members of his legal team to proactively pursue the cases against terrorists pending in courts at various stages and remove hurdles in taking them to its logical conclusion.
He also directed the chief legal officer of his government to make all-out efforts on fast-track basis to manage vacation of stay orders against death sentences, according to a spokesman of the prime minister.
These directions came following the stay order granted by Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench against execution of five ‘terrorists’ whose death warrants were signed by Chief of Army Staff and who were to be hanged on Monday at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail.
The spokesman said that the Premier wanted the government’s legal team to remove impediments in the speedy trial of cases against terrorists across the country, as according to him the killers of Armed Forces personnel, civilians and children do not deserve any mercy and they must be brought to justice.
Also on Monday, the prime minister while chairing a high-level meeting at PM House reviewed the national counter-terrorism plan and expressed his government’s resolve to flush the militants out of country and not let them play with the lives of innocent people any further.
In the meeting Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan gave overall view of the deliberations of working group preparing the recommendations to be made part of the National Action Plan on counter-terrorism which is under consideration of the Parliamentary Committee constituted in this connection.
Sources aware of the meeting deliberations informed The Nation that the recommendations of the working group would likely be tabled before the Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday after whose approval the draft would be put to the Cabinet Committee on National Security and then finally before the parliament for legislation.
Addressing the participants of the meeting the PM said, “One Zarb-e-Azb Operation is going on in the tribal areas while the other would be launched against the enemy who is hidden in our cities and villages.” He said decisive action would be taken against the terrorists who spilled the blood of innocent people. “There will be a decisive war against the terrorists who were also responsible for attacking the Hazara Town, Peshawar church and elsewhere,” PM Nawaz resolved.
The prime minister said the government would not differentiate between the terrorists and those protecting them. Terrorism and sectarianism is like a cancer for Pakistan and now is high time we got rid of this menace, he added.
Other participants of the meeting included Ishaq Dar and Lt-Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch, special assistants to PM, Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed and Barrister Zafarullah, and the attorney general. The meeting considered a proposal concerning establishment of special military courts for conducting speedy trials of terrorists.
Sources informed that during the meeting Premier Sharif and all the participants were determined on the point of giving no space to militants and continuation of the ongoing operation against them till their complete elimination.
It was also agreed in the meeting that intelligence sharing and coordination between the civil and military agencies and law enforcement departments would be enhanced so that the operation against the militants could be made more effective and coherent.
Sources in ruling PML-N informed that after hearing the news of stay order on execution of terrorists Premier Sharif got perturbed and he immediately called his legal aides as well as the attorney general to devise strategy to bring these hardened criminals to justice. He also asked AGP to present report on the terrorists awaiting execution and the cases pending against them at various levels in the courts of law.
