A parliamentary body Friday observed that major portion of National Action Plan (NAP), which was devised following the Army Public School (APS) attack, has yet not been implemented and urged the Ministry of Interior to take concrete steps for speedy execution of the plan to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism.
While condemning the terror attack at Sabzi Mandi Hazarganji, Quetta, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior asked the Ministry of Interior to brief the body about the implementation of the 20-point NAP on counter-terrorism during the next meeting.
While chairing the meeting, Senator Rehman Malik said that he had already called a special meeting for briefing on the implementation of NAP; however, on the request of the Ministry of Interior, some more time was given to the ministry for the said briefing.
Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi said the Ministry of Interior should have briefed the committee that day (Friday) as the NAP was not new subject for them because it was approved in 2014. "Terrorism has almost been eradicated from Pakistan but new wave of terror is alarming; therefore, the relevant agencies must take concrete measures to cope with the menace," he said. The committee sought the report from the government of Balochistan over the incident and announced that the next meeting would be held in Quetta to get briefing about the killing of people of Hazara community.
The committee expressed grief over the loss of human lives and expressed sympathies with the families of those who were martyred. Malik said the involvement of the enemy countries could not be ignored in terrorist attack in Balochistan as such blasts were aimed at inciting sectarian clashes in the country to destabilise Pakistan.
While talking about the deficiencies in anti-terror laws, he said there was no definition of terror financing in the anti-terrorism act. He said, "We support the ongoing action against proscribed organisations but there is no punishment in the relevant law with respect to proscribed organisations." The proscribed persons were only placed on schedule-IV to restrict their movement, he said, adding he would present an amendment in the law in that regard.
Senator Sardar Shafiq Tareen said it was not for the first time that Shiite Hazara community was being targeted but they were under continuous attacks by the terrorists. "It is shocking that the people of Hazara community are being escorted by police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) to the markets and other places. For how long the situation would go like this?" he questioned.
While expressing concern over the Quetta blast, committee member Kauda Babar said, "Our neighbouring India and Afghanistan are involved in terrorism in Balochistan." He said the federal government should give tough response to those who were involved in these brutal activities. Senator Dr Shahzad Wasim said, "Our enemies are conducting terror activities to destabilise Pakistan; therefore, in the current situation there is dire need to give a message that the whole nation is united against our enemies."
Senator Azam Khan Swati said that detection of criminals and terrorist elements was not only the job of security personnel but it was also the responsibility of every citizen to keep an eye on the suspected people.
The parliamentary body directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to open offices in Mali, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique in order to facilitate overseas Pakistanis there.
Malik said he had received dozens of complaints from Pakistanis residing in Mali, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique that they were facing unavoidable problems in getting their computerised national identity cards (CNICs) and registering their children.
He said Pakistanis living there had to travel to other adjacent countries for getting those documents.
NADRA Chairman Usman Mobeen briefed the committee about the feasibility of opening NADRA offices in above-said countries. The online system to be made easier and such applicants could apply online for the CNICs, he added.
He said Pakistani CNIC was according to international standard and had 36 security features. The committee directed to depute the services of an employee in respective embassies of those countries to facilitate the Pakistani nationals there. The committee chairman expressed concern over the closing of NADRA offices in Balochistan which he had directed to open as the then interior minister.
Keeping in view the current security situation, Malik said that more security features might be included in the CNICs, adding he had already proposed the conduction of DNA test and mentioning of blood group.
The parliamentary body constituted a subcommittee headed by Senator Kalsoom Parveen to conduct meeting with the NADRA and formulate necessary recommendations.
Briefing the committee about the death of five persons in Qasr-e-Naz Karachi, a senior official of Sindh police said that soon after the incident the police rushed to the crime scene and initially along with Sindh Food Authority the death was investigated as a result of food poisoning and all the relevant persons have been taken into custody.
However, later on, some white powder was found in the room which was identified as phosphine. He informed the committee that the actual cause of death of the children and mother was the phosphine chemical which was used for the purpose of fuming in the room. He stated that so far nine people had been taken into custody and the police were further investigating the matter.
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