Deradicalisation in disarray

Published October 24, 2014
— AFP file photo
— AFP file photo

LAHORE: The counter-radicalisation, de-radicalisation and rehabilitation process for ‘former’ militants and jihadis initially run ‘effectively’ by the Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department as of 2012 has been shelved for the last two years or so by the Punjab government.

The discontinuity is linked to non-seriousness and least priority of the Punjab government to counter growing extremism and terrorism.

The CTD, which is being currently shaped with the Anti-Terrorism Force (ATF) comprising a dozen retired army officers and an army of corporals with latest gadgetry, is only focusing on intelligence-led arrests of militants wanted in high-profile cases. The other area needs to be strengthened in the wake of rise of new militant movements across the globe like IS which is said to be hiring people from Pakistan, especially Punjab.


Punjab ‘not serious’ about fight against militancy


Officials say where the PML-N government has failed to implement its counter-terrorism strategy (the de-radicalisation of former militants/jihadis is one of the functions of the strategy) approved in 2010 by revamping the Crimes Investigation Department, intelligence reports have alerted the CTD about potential threat of IS activities in the province as a new wave.

They say in the wake of availability of trained militants in Pakistan and announcements of withdrawal of US/ISAF forces from Afghanistan in the current year, it is feared many jihadis/militants will become jobless and can fall into the hands of terrorist outfits.

Officials further say there is a dire need to intervene in this area to put across a more moderate and viable alternative lifestyle option to this neglected section of society. And what can be done is re-start the de-radicalisation policy in letter and spirit.

Under the first component of the de-radicalisation & rehabilitation plan being supervised by a de-radicalisation committee working under the Punjab Security Board in 2011, the CTD imparted technical and vocational training to 311 participants in three batches between July 2011 and July 2012. Under the pilot project, the trainees, who were imparted technical training, religious discourse, ethical content, psychological counseling in collaboration with Tevta, were given stipend to support family and financial assistance for self-employment/micro business.

The CTD chaperones were to be placed to monitor the activities of trained militants and assess/reduce chances of recidivism.

About 110 trainees after completion of their three-month-training applied for financial assistance in the form of interest-free loans out of which 26 applicants were given Rs30,000 each against official announcement of Rs50,000 for self-employment purpose through the Punjab Small Industries Corporation in coordination with the regional officers of CTD. The government had earmarked Rs9.3 million for the task.

Sources told Dawn that up to 1,300 more militants/jihadis, who were supposed to be de-radicalised along with vocational training in different batches, could not be taken on board because of lacklustre response by the government and financial constraints.

They said future plans which included de-radicalisation of prisons population (second component) and counter-radicalication of seminary students also could not be initiated by the CTD.

Two de-radicalisation teams comprising psychologists, educationist/sociologist and religious scholar formed in 2010 by the provincial home department could not initiate visits of the central jails of Lahore and Rawalpindi in first stage.

Similarly, third component of imparting technical and vocational education to seminary students with the help of Tevta and PVTC hit snags. About 17 major seminaries of Deobandi sect across Punjab had agreed to start such training on their campuses/premises.

The CTD recommendations about the project also remained an unfulfilled dream for senior hierarchy and the provincial government. It had recommended increase in time period of training from three to six months with an approximate cost of Rs100,00 per trainee; enhancement of financial assistance from Rs100,000 to Rs300,000 per trainee instead of Rs50,000; establishment of technical/vocational training facility on the campuses of selected major seminaries; scope of de-radicalisation committees to all those Punjab jails where terrorists were confined; and exposure to the experiences of other countries that had successfully implemented de-radicalisation and rehabilitation programmes.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2014

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