Why is this sudden spurt in terrorist activities across the country? The government does not have any plausible answer to this question. The historic successes achieved through the Operation Zarb-e-Azb have bred complacency in the Cabinet Division of the incumbent government. All the ministers appear to be clueless. As pointed out by one of
Business Recorder op-ed writer, Saida Fazal, "The overarching problem is lack of will on the part of the ruling PML-N to do the needful. The 20-point political consensus-based National Action Plan (NAP) was to go into action in January 2015. Two years on, much of it remains unimplemented. It called for ensuring proscribed organisation did not remerge under new names, and sectarian terrorists were to be dealt with firmly. But leaders of various banned organisations continue to be allowed to stay active by inventing new identities for their organisations."
The situation requires a firm resolve on the part of the PML-N government in particular. How ironic it is that it is still reluctant to hand over policing powers to Rangers to carry out operation in Punjab. It appears that the government is still not serious insofar as the challenge of terrorism in the country is concerned.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017
