ISLAMABAD: While terrorism incidents in the country have fallen from a highof 2,060 attacks in 2010 to just 750 in 2017, the government has hammeredout a set of guidelines to tackle extremism and to counter non-traditionalthreats.
The National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), tasked with counteringextremism and implementing the 20-point National Action Plan (NAP), hasworked on creating the National Counter Extremism Policy Guidelines (NCEPG).
The document, officials hope, will provide a long-term mechanism to addressviolent extremism and organized terror by outlining an effective andinclusive role for different state and social agencies.
“The guidelines will be the cornerstone of the country’s response tonon-traditional threats and to deal with extremist ideology,” explainedNACTA National Coordinator Ihsan Ghani.
Ghani said that the draft had been prepared in consultation with academics,clerics and the media after an 18-month-long strenuous effort following amulti-disciplinary policymaking model.
The guide, he said, envisages a framework for formulating policy responsesby the federal and provincial stakeholders to counter violent extremism.
It, however, requires a whole-of-government and society approach toformulate and implement these guidelines.
“The national narrative depicts a consensus and resolve of our nation forits future progression and describes Pakistan’s true values,” Ghani said,adding that the guidelines cover sectors such as service delivery, people’sengagement, education reforms, enabling environment, rehabilitation,reintegration and renunciation and also the promotion of culture.
The guidelines also include projects for promoting the welfare ofminorities and strengthening women rights, inter-provincial culturalinteractions and cultural industrial hubs, entrenching democratictraditions and values.
NACTA, he said, believes that these guides are the bed-rock for joininghearts and minds and effectively puts an end to the supply line ofextremism by engaging the ‘war of ideas’.
“A whole-of-society and government approach is the spirit of CONNECT, wherepeople and government come together to deny space and air to terrorists andextremists,” he explained.
Ghani said that the objective of the guide is to connect people to otherpeople and to the government while ending isolation.
He hoped that it will lead to the development of integrated communitieswhich are less vulnerable to the influence of terrorist elements.
Moreover, these policies would not be static, implement-and-forget, ratherthey will be actively monitored and evaluated to correct course as and whennecessary by the concerned stakeholders.
“Our sacrifices are innumerable, our losses painful, our history is writtenwith brave blood, and our resilient society stands together to counter andbanish extremism from our environment and our lives,” he maintained.
“I hope the everyday ‘life in fear’ is replaced with a life of hope andprosperity for our state and society which is possible through a mind-shiftby joining hands together by state and society,” he said.
The national coordinator also highlighted that NACTA was working ondeveloping the terrorist profiling system.
*Tackling modern platforms*
With modern platforms such as social media networks providing an idealnetwork for terrorists to propagate extremism, Ghani said that thegovernment has also worked to address that.
“As part of its ongoing Tat’heer drive, NACTA has launched a mobileapplication available on Google and Apple stores which enables citizens toanonymously report extremist content, hate speech, banners, activitieswherever they notice them in their areas and also on Internet,” he said.
Moreover, he said that “Surfsafe Online Portal has already been inauguratedto enable citizens to report extremist content online freely, securely andanonymously and be part of this national cause curbing terrorism andextremism sprawling through the internet.” – APP