SBP, agencies asked to work much harder

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and federal enforcement agencies to take effective steps towards eliminating terrorism financing, official sources told Business Recorder. Prime Minister gave these directions to the SBP and law enforcement agencies during the federal cabinet meeting on 24 August after a detailed discussion on the National Action Plan (NAP) – 6 days before Dr. Asim Hussain, former Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources and a close aide of former President and Co-Chairman PPP, Asif Ali Zardari, was given into the custody of Rangers.

The federal cabinet was informed that NAP was finalized with the consensus of all political parties within a period of five days in the aftermath of the attack on Army Public School, Peshawar; and all federal ministries /divisions as well as the provincial governments were expected to steer it. It was emphasized that every cabinet member should own it and become a catalyst for its implementation; and that there was no place for armed non-state actors in the country.

The cabinet was briefed that the previous government had indiscriminately issued thousands of arms licences for prohibited and non-prohibited bore weapons which had become a menace now; and that this government had not issued a single new arms licence and had made great efforts towards verifying the ones issued earlier. Furthermore, around 80,000 CNICs had also been blocked.

Before the finalization of the NAP, the war on terror was being fought without a specific policy direction or coordination. Now the situation had greatly improved. In June, 2013, there were on average 4 to 6 blasts in the country on a daily basis. In 2010, there were 2061 incidents of terrorism; the number came down to 695 in 2015, and this included even relatively small ones. There were only 6 incidents in which more than ten persons had died. This was a great improvement.

The cabinet was apprised that both the army and the civilian sides were working together in eliminating terrorism. The army operation in Swat and South Waziristan in 2009 had resulted in a huge backlash in other parts of the country leading to bomb blasts and deaths. However, the situation had been different this time, when the armed and civilian forces jointly tackled the situation after the Zarb-e-Azb. This was possible due to the NAP that had allowed the sharing of information between the army and civilian intelligence agencies as well as with the Ministry of Interior and provincial governments.

The cabinet was further informed that there had been more than 62,882 combing operations in which 70,085 persons were arrested. During these operations, army remained in the background, and police nabbed the terrorists. As for armed militias, 1,114 terrorists had been killed and 883 arrested. In the deweaponization drive, 500,212 weapons had been confiscated.

The cabinet was apprised that the restoration of capital punishment had proved a massive deterrence in reducing the instances of terrorism; that a total of 211 executions had been carried out so far in the country. An additional deterrent had been the establishment of military courts which had ensured speedy disposal of terrorist cases. So far, 73 cases had been transferred to the military courts, 46 were under-trial and 28 had been decided, while eight were under process in the Interior Division.

The cabinet was briefed that the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) had been working in the right direction. However, it had severe capacity constraints; was without proper financial and human resources, and had only three officers working round the clock without any additional monetary incentive. Still, the Authority had shared around 1600 pieces of information with the provincial governments, and had forewarned about the Bannu jail-break, the Wagah border blast and the Safoora Goth incident. It was necessary to strengthen NACTA by building its capacity and investing in its resources.

The sources further stated that the Cabinet was also given an update on the steps taken to curb hate speech and sectarianism. It was noted that no policy on hate speech existed in the previous government; that this government, despite a weak legislative cover, had made great efforts to tackle this problem; and that 1901 and 6333 arrests, respectively, were made for hate speech and misuse of loudspeaker, 71 premises were sealed and 3,319 books, pamphlets, etc., containing hate material were confiscated. FIA recovered Rs. 251.27 million on account of illegal transfer of money, which included terrorist financing; this was still a weak area and needed a significant improvement.

The cabinet was informed that 61 organizations had been included in the list of proscribed organizations, while one was on the watch list. Their geo-tagging had been completed in the Punjab and ICT. Action against militias had started in one province but should be initiated more vigorously in others. It was mentioned that media had been engaged and agreed not to glorify terrorists through interviews and messages on social media. However, there was a need to issue written guidelines to PEMRA on the subject.

In the counter-terrorist operations, police was the face of the government, followed by Rangers and the army, which was third in the ring of defence. Despite this importance, the Interior Division was facing great problems in financing its Counter-Terrorism Force through the Federal PSDP.

The cabinet was informed that there was little progress in implementing the FATA Reforms Commission Report, which had been presented to the Governor, KPK. Another step of this government was the verification of 97.9 million SIMs within a period of three months, while another 5.1 million were blocked. UNHCR was incentivizing the repatriation of Afghan refugees. However, many, after taking the money, returned to Pakistan through the porous border.

The cabinet was also briefed about the implementation of the NAP at the provincial level. It was pointed out that 739 arrests had been made in the Punjab, and 242 cases were registered; while in Sindh, the number of target killings had come down by 48%, murders’ by 37%, acts of terrorism by 46%, and robberies by 32.3%. Similarly, 15,612 weapons had been recovered. In Balochistan, 549 ferraris had given up arms, and Rs.3 billion would be spent on the rehabilitation of ferraris.

The Interior Division highlighted the need for revamping different statutes to

strengthen the hands of the law enforcement agencies. These included the Pakistan Penal Code, the Protection of Pakistan Act, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Qanun-e-Shahdat, the Anti Terrorism Act, and the Police Act etc.

The following summed up the status of National Action Plan:

The Prime Minister summed up the discussion by stating that actions taken against terrorists had been unparalleled in the history of Pakistan; and that the government had initiated the Zarb-e-Azb with the consensus of all stakeholders, including political parties. He observed that Chief of the Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif, had visited the forward positions of Pakistan army, and Chief of the Air Staff had personally participated in an aerial operation; and that there had been significant achievements in the Zarb-e-Azb and Karachi operations. The military courts were established with consensus and the Supreme Court of Pakistan had also endorsed them. This had ensured speedy trial of terrorists and awarded punishment to those found responsible for the acts of terrorism. There was no room for sectarianism in Pakistan and such organizations would not be allowed to work in the country. Now the government had also started acting against them. He desired that the whole country should be de-weaponized.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the Karachi operation was aimed at making Karachi a city of peace, which would benefit the country as a whole; that different nationalities lived in Karachi and the operation should not be made controversial. Action against criminals should not be deemed as action against a single political party. Rather than resigning from the assemblies, MOM should try to resolve issues on the floor of the house. He pointed out that the Karachi operation would not be abandoned at any cost. He also appreciated the efforts of Abdul Qadir Baloch, Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions, and Chief Minister, Balochistan for trying to integrate dissident Baloch elements into the national fold.

The Prime Minister added that there was a need to improve the image of Pakistan at international level; that economic development was only possible with the good image of a country; and that if this government succeeded in cleaning up mess left behind the previous governments, it would be a matter of great pride for the Pakistani nation.

After a detailed discussion, the cabinet took the following decisions: (i) the NAP should be implemented in its true spirit and with vigour. All relevant Ministries/Divisions should play their role in its implementation; (ii) Interior Division should formulate a draft policy for de-weaponisation in the country, and. consultations should commence with all the provinces and relevant stakeholders;(iii) Madrassa reforms should be undertaken in consultation with the provincial governments and other stakeholders; (iv) State Bank of Pakistan and federal enforcement agencies should take effective steps towards eliminating terrorist financing; (v) relevant ministries/divisions should make appropriate amendments in laws for effective implementation of the NAP; and (v) NACTA should be provided with requisite resources to make it fully operational and effective as an organization.

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SATISFACTORY                                       SLOW


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SIMs                                           Madrassa


Execution                                         PEMRA


Armed Militia                       Terrorist Financing


Speedy Trial Courts                                FATA


Hate Speech, Combing Operations                 Afghans


Karachi Operation                      Legal Amendments


Counter Terrorism Force                           NACTA


Militancy in Punjab               Religious Persecution


Glorification of Terrorists         Sectarian Terrorism


Proscribed Organizations Balochistan


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