Babar opposes policy of 'favouring' some militant groups

Until the state abandons its policy of favouring some militant groups that seek to target countries in the region and curbs hate speech, the fight against militancy will remain elusive. This was stated by Senator Farhatullah Babar while taking part in discussion on the National Action Plan (NAP) on a motion moved by Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Senator Sehar Kamran in Senate on Monday.
Questioning the policy of blocking UN move to impose sanctions against the head of a banned militant outfit, he said that such diabolical policies raised serious questions about Pakistan's intentions and policies. He said that activists challenging state narrative on militancy and national security are silenced through a vicious hate campaign on social and electronic media. Today hate speech flourishes while dissent with state narrative is not only silenced but also punished covertly without recourse to law, he said, adding 'this is a new and most disturbing trend.'
"The government must come out clean on the priorities it has in the fight against militancy. Are we going to fight only those militants who are targeting our citizens or are we also going to fight also those whose target is across the borders?" he asked.
Speaking on the motion, State Minister for Interior Engineer Balighur Rehman painted a rosy picture of his party's government in improving the security situation in the country. "We'd seen bomb blasts, hate speeches, killings and other such things before we came into power, but we controlled things for which, we give credit to all political parties as this was achieved through National Action Plan (NAP)," he added. He said that there is a huge difference between the law and order before 2013 and now, adding, "We launched an across the board action against the terrorists, hate speech, and those who did not want peace in the country." He also claimed that due to improvement in security situation, the economy is on upward trajectory which is again mainly due to successful implementation of NAP. "There is always room for improvement, but the interior ministry implemented almost all the points of NAP which was its responsibility," he added.
Baligh said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has specially directed his Security Adviser Nasir Janjua, a former military general, to monitor NAP, which reflects that the government is making all possible steps to ensure its implementation. According to him, the government has also released Rs 1.4 billion against the demanded budget of Rs 1.8 billion by National Counter-Terrorism Authority [NACTA]. A number of recruitments have been made while numerous others are under way to provide manpower to the authority, he added. "Some 250,000 complaints were received on the exclusive helpline 1717 which was set up to successfully track down those involved in terror activities and hate speeches. A number of arrests have also been made and substantial hate materials have been confiscated," he declared.
Balighur-Rehman said counter-terrorism force has been established in Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir to check militancy in the country. He said hundred percent mapping of religious seminaries has been completed in Punjab, Sindh and the federal capital while KP and Balochistan are also in the process of completing it. He said Karachi operation was also launched after taking all the political forces into confidence. He said across the board action is being taken against terrorists which will continue till elimination of last terrorist.
Taking part in the debate, Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi said that the government miserably failed to implement a consensus plan to counter the menace of terrorism, adding the NACTA is seen nowhere, while seminaries which are producing terrorists are operating without any check. "There used to be a narrative of good and bad Taliban which proved to be a failure of the government, and now they have come up with another slogan of good and bad banned organisation, which shows the government had no vision or policy to deal with terrorists," he lamented.
In an obvious reference to Islamabad High Court (IHC) order that banned Valentines Day celebrations in Islamabad, Sassue Palijo of PPPP said that there is a ban on Valentines Day, while banned outfits are wandering around scot-free. This prompted Senator Nehal Hashmi, a ruling party senator, to retaliate who said why Pakistanis should celebrate Valentines Day, as this is their tradition, adding those who love Valentines Day must not impose their ideology on others. He also criticized Senator Babar who said China should not have vetoed the issue of Masood Azhar, the founder and leader of the UN-designated terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad, saying the fellow senator should not have spoken the language of Narendra Modi.
Senator Hamdullah of JUI-F demanded that the government should hold a probe into the allegations levelled by Inspector General of Sindh Police AD Khawaja who had said that the abettors and supporters of terrorists are sitting in the Parliament. "The Supreme Court had also maintained that three political parties were supporting the terrorists and now the IG also confirmed it, so there should be a probe and the responsible people should be taken to task," he added. Senator Shahi Syed of Awami National Party took in on the PPPP and MQM, saying why there was no peace in Karachi when PPPP was in power, adding those involved in Baldia Town factory massacre are roaming around scot-free.