Daily Times

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday said that the government has decided to “revive” the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and was reviewing the National Action Plan to counter terrorism in Pakistan.

In a speech at the National Assembly, she noted that terrorism is once again on the rise in the country. “But we need to note some things here. “In the last four years, not a single meeting of NACTA, which is chaired by the prime minister, was held. In 2014, Nawaz Sharif had prepared Pakistan’s first national security policy,” she recalled.

Marriyum said the incidents of terrorism were resurfacing in the country due to negligence exhibited by the PTI government in implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) during its four-year tenure. She said it was unfortunate that even not a single meeting of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) was chaired by the Prime Minister during the last four years.

The minister said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, under Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, in its last tenure had given the country first-ever National Security Policy, besides finalizing the NAP in collaboration with all stakeholders including provinces, following the Army Public School tragedy. “The NAP was got approved from the Parliament in collaborating with all federating units, all security and law enforcement departments. It has been completely ignored during the last four years (of PTI government),” she said. She regretted that a person (Imran Khan) kept showing stubbornness, arrogance and ego on national issues like terrorism, water and polio, and did not seem appropriate to consult with federating units on such an important matters. Marriyum said the center had the role in the matters related to policy-making and law enforcement agencies, but the provinces had the vital role and a set procedure in the NAP to prevent the incidents of terrorism.

Due to these measures taken under the dynamic leadership of the then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, she said there was a significant reduction in the incidents of terrorism during the last tenure of PML-N government. A complete road-map on modern lines was given to get rid of terrorism, but “it’s financial and coordination work remained at halt (in the last four years).”