KARACHI: A mechanism for implementing the National Action Plan to deal with terrorism was formulated at a meeting presided over by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah at CM House on Thursday.

The meeting constituted an apex committee which would act as a supreme decision-making executive body to deal with security issues, including terrorism. The apex committee, to be headed by the chief minister, would refer the cases to the federal government where the interior ministry would finally decide which cases should be sent for trial to the military courts.

The four-hour meeting was attended, besides high officials concerned, by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Corps Commander Gen Naveed Mukhtar, information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sikander Mandhro, the chief secretary, home secretary, Rangers director general Bilal Akbar, IG Police Ghulam Haider Jamali and representatives of other law enforcement agencies.

Briefing the media in his office at Clifton, the information minister said the meeting was given a briefing on the mandate given to the four provinces by the federal government of the cases falling in the category of religious and sectarian terrorism.

He said that a counterterrorism force consisting of 1,000 trained personnel would be raised which would be at the disposal of the provincial government. He said the new constitutional amendment measures being taken under the NAP were aimed at improving law and order and eliminating terrorism from the country.

Mr Memon said the chief minister had asked all the subcommittees and departments concerned to prepare a list of cases at the earliest for forwarding to the federal government for trial in the military courts.

According to the mandate, he said, no provincial government would be entitled to send cases directly to the military courts. He said the chief minister had asked the officials concerned to present all those cases at the next meeting of the apex committee which could be sent as a model to the federal government.

The minister said the cases of the Oct 18 Karsaz bomb blasts, the attack on the Mehran base and the attack on Karachi airport, and other cases falling in the category of terrorism, could be sent to the federal government for trial in the military courts.

He said in Sindh there were 375 condemned prisoners whose appeals were either pending with the Sindh High Court or the Supreme Court, except for one which was pending with the GHQ.

He said of the 3,000 cases of extortion and targeted killing, sent for trial to different courts, only 50 cases had so far been decided. The government had decided that all those cases of serious nature falling in the category of terrorism would also be referred to the federal government for sending them to the military courts.

The minister said the apex committee headed by the chief minister and comprising 13 members included the ministers for information and parliamentary affairs, the corps commander, chief secretary, Rangers DG, IGP, divisional commissioner, sector commander of the ISI and joint director general of the IB Sindh.

Mr Memon said the NAP was based on 20 points while its 14 points would be implemented by the apex committee of the provincial government. Those points, he said, were action against armed militias, countering hate speeches and extremist material, choking financing for terrorists organisations, effective steps against religious persecution, registration and regulation of madressahs and Karachi targeted operation, dealing firmly with sectarian terrorists, Afghan refugees, establishing and deploying a dedicated counter-terrorism force, speedy/army courts, revamping and reforming the criminal justice system, a ban on glorification of terrorism and terrorists organisations in the media.

For implementation of the provincial action plan, four subcommittees would be formed. They would be intelligence, execution, legal and media committees. The convener of the intelligence committee, comprising seven members, would be the sector commander of the ISI and it would make recommendations to the apex committee, share intelligence and identify the threat spectrum.

The convener of the execution committee would be the home secretary. Besides monitoring progress on the operational framework and its timeline, that committee would deal with the business community and other stakeholders and coordinate with the federal government.

The convener of the legal committee also would be the home secretary which would identify the cases to be transferred to the military courts and forward them to the apex committee for further action. That committee would address legal and administrative issues of the military courts and the condemned prisoners and expedite disposal of all pending cases while the convener of the media committee would be the Sindh information secretary. It would act as an advisory body on all media-related issues to the apex committee and shape environment for furthering the cause of a counter-terrorism campaign.

The minister said that soon the provincial government would carry out legislation requiring tenants and buyers to seek NOCs from the local administration, gas company and electricity department, strengthen legislation on hate speech and extremist material, use of loudspeakers, monitoring of printers and publishers and SMS, emails websites and social media.

He said the government had also decided to begin a crackdown against illegal immigrants and Afghan refugees, and civil society had been asked to extend cooperation in getting their employees working in any capacity with the deputy commissioners and hire their services only after verification.

He also said that the meeting was informed that in Sindh there were 270 private security companies with 60,000 guards and their details would be assessed.

The minister further said that the government had a list of 500 targeted killers and 450 criminals involved in extortion cases, and steps would be taken for their arrest and trial.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2015

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