PRIME Minister Imran Khan declared on Monday that his Government has zero tolerance against terrorism and called for swift prosecution of terrorists to set an example.
Chairing a meeting of the apex committee on the National Action Plan (NAP) in the federal capital, he emphasized that a multi-pronged approach and vigorous implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) were required to thwart the threat of terrorism.
The firm statement of the Prime Minister is reflective of the national resolve against terrorism, which is still posing a serious threat to the country’s peace, security, progress, unity and harmony.
It is a matter of record that Pakistan defence forces and other relevant institutions and agencies have fought a long drawn war against all forms of terrorism right from 2003.
The Wana operation, operation Sherdil, operation Rah-e-Raast, operation Bia Darghalan, operation Rah-e-Nijaat, operation Zarb-e-Azb and the on-going operation Raddul Fasaad helped break the backbone of terrorists and brought peace and security to otherwise troubled areas.
It is safe to surmise that the defence forces successfully tackled the internal threat of terrorism despite resource constraints and various challenges but Pakistan continues to face the threat of terrorism from externally- based and foreign-sponsored groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh (ISIS-K).
Pakistan repeatedly raised the issue of foreign-sponsored terrorism and cross-border attacks on the Durand Line with the then occupation forces in Afghanistan and the (then) Kabul Government so that the war against terrorism is brought to its logical conclusion but the problem remains to date due to non-cooperative attitude of other leading players in the counter-terrorism campaign.
It was expected that things would dramatically change with the assumption of power by Taliban in Afghanistan but terrorist attacks in Balochistan and the recent suicide bombing at a mosque in Peshawar bear testimony to the fact that the required level of cooperation was not forthcoming.
In this backdrop, the remarks of the Prime Minister about more coordination among different agencies, allocation of more resources by the provinces and realization on the part of the judiciary about the need for swift disposal of terrorism cases assumes greater significance.
In fact, the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers have full powers to move towards realization of these goals and this can be done by close monitoring of the implementation process and removal of irritants on priority basis.
