Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Tuesday rejected the allegations of the Sindh government on the National Action Plan saying it was unfortunate that a national security issue had been used for political point scoring without any substantive grounds and ignoring the ground reality.

A spokesman of the interior ministry said in a statement that the 20-point National Action Plan was a collective responsibility of the Federation and Federating Units with major points falling into the administrative domain of the provincial governments. About the reported statement regarding glorification of terrorists in the media, the spokesperson regretted the statement and said that it was a matter of record that the independent and free media of the country had shown great responsibility and maturity vis-à-vis glorification and promotion of terrorism. As a result of the interior minister’s meeting with representative bodies of media i.e. APNS, CPNE, PBA and PFUJ, the independent media gave a commitment to blackout terrorists. It is a matter of record that the media abided by that commitment.

The spokesperson said that the accusation against the federal government accusing them of allowing banned organizations to hold rallies and hold meetings openly and feely was factually incorrect. He said that the policy of the federal government towards proscribed organizations was very clear and no proscribed organization was allowed to hold rallies or public meetings.

The spokesperson pointed out that for the first time in the history of the country, the present government has put in place a robust mechanism for proscription of organizations and individuals besides maintaining a digital database of such organizations and individuals. The spokesperson said that checking of activities of the proscribed organizations and individuals and initiation of action for any violation was a provincial responsibility.

“I wish the Sindh government would take into consideration the record of both the Federal and the Sindh governments from 2008-2013 vis a vis proscribed organizations and their cohorts,” continued the spokesperson. With regards to objections raised over the functionality of NACTA, the Spokesperson said that from a merely dormant organization existing only on paper, NACTA was now fully operational and supplementing state security institutions. For the first time since its inception, practical steps were taken by the present government to make NACTA fully functional.

It is a matter of record that during the tenure of the previous government NACTA was housed in a rented building with hardly any human resource and sufficient funds to operate. Under the current government, not only were funds released to NACTA but the issue of infrastructure and human resource was also resolved. The spokesperson said that at present, 104 officers were working in NACTA performing various duties that fell under the mandate of its authority. He said that the budget of the organization for the year 2016-17 stands at Rs 1,450 million which clearly manifested the resolve of the federal government to make NACTA a vibrant organization.