ISLAMABAD: The National Action Plan (NAP), the nation’s comprehensive counterterrorism strategy developed in the wake of the 2014 Army Public School attack, is being implemented, and the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) has been urged to order the federal and provincial governments to see to it, The News reported on Wednesday.
The petition highlights the non-implementation of NAP despite a national consensus on the matter, and it was submitted under Article 184(3) of the Constitution by advocate Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmed Khokhar on behalf of Balochistan’s Shuhada Forum’s Patron-in-Chief, Nawabzada Jamal Raisani.
The plea asks the court to order the federal and provincial governments to start legal, justice, prosecution, and police reforms in order to develop a quick and active criminal justice system and to ensure that the Police Order, 2002 is implemented nationwide in its entirety.
It is important to note that a 20-point National Action Plan (NAP) for combating terrorism and extremism was developed by the Ministry of Interior and the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) after consultation with relevant parties. Later, in December 2014, the parliament accepted the idea.
Productive measures were implemented as a result of the initiative, such as establishing the state’s writ in the recently united districts (which were formerly federally administered tribal areas) and conducting several counterterrorism operations, such as Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014 and Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad in 2017.
