Daily Times

The prime minister, it seems, has given a free hand to the Interior Minister Chaudary Nisar Ali Khan to probe and expose those behind leaking the story that resulted in putting Cyril Almeida’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL). The interior ministry also said that it is monitoring the movements of some of the employees of the Prime Minister Office who are suspected to have leaked the story to Almeida.

Almeida’s name was taken off the ECL due to severe criticism both from international and national journalistic circles. Almeida has made it clear in a follow-up story in Dawn “A week to remember” that he had received the story earlier but he didn’t send it for printing until he had triple-checked the sources. He had also mentioned in the original story that “all declined to speak on the record and none of the attributed statements were confirmed by the individuals mentioned.”

However, the drop scene is yet to come. The military has also expressed its concerns about the “false and fabricated” story and termed it a “breach of national security.” But how can a false and fabricated story be a breach to national security? Someone definitely needs to answer this question.

But a question that needs clear answers more than any other question is the one posed by the civilian government to the military in the so-called false and fabricated story i.e. what about the banned/militant organisations that are always said to have been supported by the state itself? These organisations have always brought a bad name to the country. Their actions have resulted in deteriorating Pakistan’s relationships with our neighbours. Although these organisations have not or never claimed any anti-state activity, but they are definitely acting as launching pads for many anti-state militants, which later join other militant organisations that are involved in anti-state activities.

A few days back, a news story informed that the Difa-e Pakistan Council (DPC), a conglomerate of organisations like the Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, is planning to hold a rally in Islamabad. Both these organisations, if not banned, are blamed to have been linked with militant organisations like the Lashkar-e Taiba and Lashkar-e Jhangvi, respectively. So if the state is serious about controlling militancy of every kind then it must do something about such organisations. The National Action Plan clearly mentions that action will be taken against such organisations that are involved in militancy of any kind.

Since the Prime Minister Office and the military sources all have termed Almeida’s story as false and fabricated, the civilian government should not exhibit any hesitation to take action against such organisations. The military leadership has, at times, held meetings with the civilian governments, both federal and provincial, and has asked them to play their due role in controlling militancy in the country under the National Action Plan.

I strongly believe that it is high time the civilian governments, both at the federal and the provincial levels, stepped up their efforts to control militancy in their respective domains. It would not only take off the blame that they are not serious in pursuing the National Action Plan, but will, more importantly, also improve the overall security situation. It would also improve our relationship with the neighbouring countries, especially those that blame us for harbouring militancy.

This particular news item, true or false, has once again highlighted the narrative of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ terrorist. The National Action Plan also calls for across the board action against every militant organisation in the country, and therefore, even if an organisation was considered a strategic asset in the past must now be controlled.

It is time to move forward and focus on the economic growth and overall development of the country. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will presumably change the fate of this country and will bring prosperity for the whole country. However, in order to make this multi-billion dollar project a success for the whole country, we must get over with the problem of militancy once and for all.

The government needs to clean its own house before putting bans on people who play an extremely important role of informing the masses. More importantly, the problem of militancy should be dealt with once and for all so that there is no need to ‘fabricate’ such stories.

The writer is a development consultant. She tweets at @GulminaBilal and can be reached at coordinator@individualland.com