[image: PHOTO: MUHAMMAD UMAIR/EXPRESS]
ISLAMABAD: The new national security policy launched a day before thegovernment completed its tenure has revealed about the emergence of Da’eshin close proximity to Pakistan, which has raised new internal securitychallenges.
On Thursday, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal released National InternalSecurity Policy 2018-2023 at a press conference in the Ministry of PlanningDivision.“Threat of transnational terrorist groups has grown significantly in thepast few years as recent reports suggest that Da’esh is establishing afootprint in the Afghan provinces bordering Pakistan,” the report states.The report also adds that the potential for spillover in Pakistan with thesupport and collaboration of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its offshootsis not a possibility to be ignored.
Likewise it also adds that the situation has been compounded by the returnof battle-hardened militants from Syria and Iraq.“Secondly, there is adequate evidence that radicalisation and militancy isno longer limited to Madrassahs alone,” it says, adding that young peoplefrom relatively affluent and middle-class backgrounds, educated inmainstream universities and schools are also vulnerable to extremist ideasand narratives.In addition to that, terrorism is as much an urban phenomenon as rural, andneeds to be tackled as such.
Lastly, cyber space has emerged as a key domain for the spread of extremistideas, it concludes.*Achievements*
While talking about the achievements to curb the menace of terrorism andextremism, the report states that number of steps had been taken to choketerror financing, including the establishment of a National Task Force onCombating Financing of Terrorism—a coordinating body of over 20 federal andprovincial organisations.
Moreover, 66 organisations were proscribed with 7,966 individuals placedunder watch as of March 2018. Over 90 per cent geo-mapping of religiousseminaries (madrassahs) has been completed across the country while effortsto introduce wide-ranging madrassah reforms are underway.Steps were taken to accord special protection to places of worship ingeneral, and especially for those belonging to minority communities.
Interfaith and intra-faith dialogue has been facilitated while sacrilegiousliterature and speeches preaching hate against other faiths have beencurbed.There has also been a very considerable success in reducing sectarianviolence, the report remarks.
Security has drastically improved in Karachi, the financial and tradingheart of the country. The evidence for this is a 97 per cent decrease intarget killings, 87 per cent in the murder rate, 84 per cent in businessextortion and 72 per cent in bank robberies.Steps were taken to facilitate the return of Afghan refugees to theirhomeland.
Over 1.38 million Afghan refugees have been registered under the TripartiteAgreement for Voluntary Repatriation, the most extensive voluntaryrepatriation program recorded by the UNHCR.
Rehabilitation of internally displaced persons and revival of economicactivity in conflict-affected areas such as Federally Administered TribalAreas (Fata) is being prioritised. The constitutional amendment for themerger of Fata with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was approved.“Despite sporadic incidents of violence, the overall security situation inBalochistan has improved.”
*The policy*The policy states that “it is meant to be a federal framework for internalsecurity and will guide the security policy at all levels of governance.”
Recognising the enhanced role of provinces in policy implementation in thewake of the 18th amendment, the input of all provincial governments throughrespective home departments was obtained for the formulation of this policy.Many of the recommendations proposed in the policy fall within the domainof provincial governments.
Provincial governments are expected to devise their detailed strategies onvarious elements of the released framework by adapting it to their specificneeds, requirements and priorities.
The first ever National Internal Security Policy (NISP) 2014 was formulatedwith a four-year horizon, and NISP 2018-2023 takes forward the previouspolicy plan by incorporating both the lessons learnt and the updatedsecurity profile of the country, which has seen new dangers emerge.As a result, NISP 2018 now focuses on three main domains:
Administrative (strengthening the ability of the state to respond tosecurity issues); Ideational (challenging the ideological underpinnings ofextremist narratives); Socio-Economic (addressing the deprivations thatcreate breeding ground for security challenges to emerge).“The NISP has been developed as a tribute to secure the sacrifices made bylaw enforcement agencies of the military and civilian sides to secure thelife, prosperity and security of ordinary Pakistanis in combatting the waveof terror that had embattled Pakistan earlier.”
The announcement of NISP 2018 at this stage is also intended to provide aplatform to capture the learning process the state has undergone inanswering its festering security issues over the past decade, and toprovide any incoming national or provincial governments.
The implementing process of NISP 2018 allows flexibility for the newnational and provincial governments to amend this strategy according totheir own mandate and for emerging needs as they arise.
The NISP 2018 sees security as a product of achieving both peace and thedevelopment of the country. To achieve this, it has four broad objectives:creating structures for the enforcement of the rule of law.
To achieve the objectives and vision of NISP 2018-2023 the policy has a 6Rstrategy (re-imagine, reconcile, redistribute, recognise, regional approachand reorient facets of the state and how it interfaces with its citizens).The policy provides 120 measures however, key priority areas as well asthose required in the short, medium or long term have been identified tohelp efficient resource allocation.
An elaborate implementation plan has been developed that includes for thefirst time in any government policy, the indicators to measure progress.