The Supreme Court of Pakistan has been urged to order the federal and provincial governments to ensure the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) – the country’s comprehensive anti-terrorism plan formulated after the 2014 Army Public School attack.
The petition was filed by Balochistan’s Shuhada Forum’s Patron-in-Chief Nawabzada Jamal Raisani via advocate Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmed Khokhar under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. It underscores the non-implementation of NAP despite a national consensus on the issue.
The plea requests the court to direct the federal and provincial governments to commence legal, justice, prosecution, and police reforms for the establishment of an expeditious vibrant criminal justice system and for the countrywide implementation of Police Order, 2002 in letter and spirit.
It is pertinent to mention that the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) and the Ministry of Interior in consultation with stakeholders outlined a 20-point NAP for countering terrorism and extremism. The plan was subsequently approved by the parliament in December 2014.
The initiative provisioned productive measures were taken including those aimed to establish the writ of the state in the newly merged districts (formerly federally administered tribal areas) and various counter-terrorism operations most notably Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014 and Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad in 2017. A multi-pronged approach was used rather than just a military offensive, including the establishment of military courts, intelligence-based operations across the country, countering urban terrorism, and an emphasis on curtailing terror financing.
However, despite the strenuous efforts to curb the menace of terrorism, the country has witnessed a significant spike in terrorist attacks with Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa facing the brunt of them. As per the rQ1 2024 Security Report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the two provinces, during the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, accounted for over 92 percent of all fatalities and 86 percent of attacks (including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations). KP suffered 51 percent whereas Balochistan 41 percent of all fatalities in Q1, 2024. The data indicated that the remaining regions were relatively peaceful, suffering less than 8 percent of all fatalities.
In addition to the casualties of terrorism and counter-terrorism, there were 64 incidents of sabotage in the country targeting properties of the government, politicians, private properties, and security properties.
Last month, the incumbent government announced to “restructure” Nacta on modern lines. The meeting, chaired by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, had decided that a comprehensive strategy would be formulated to uproot terrorism and extremism, besides ensuring “full implementation” of NAP.
