ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hinted on Monday that a countrywide crackdown against extremists and sectarian groups “hiding in our cities and villages” may be on the cards.

PM Sharif, who chaired a meeting convened to review the preparation of a national counter-terrorism plan, said: “Operation Zarb-i-Azb is under way in the tribal areas, while the other [operation] would be against the enemy hidden in our cities and villages”.

A multi-party conference convened by the government in the wake of the Peshawar tragedy had agreed to formulate a national plan of action against terrorism. A committee led by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was constituted to draft the plan. PM Sharif, meanwhile, visited GHQ last Friday to get input from the military on the proposed plan.

On Monday, the PM also spoke emphatically against sectarianism —the rare mention of a sticky subject in an official statement. Sectarian groups are commonly believed to be providing manpower, logistical support, and ideological backing to terror groups such as the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

“Terrorism and sectarianism is like a cancer for Pakistan and it is high time we got rid of this menace,” the PM was quoted as saying.

He further said that the government would not make a distinction between terrorists and those who supported them — an apparent reference to sympathisers and allies of groups such as the TTP.

The government’s resolve to target sectarian groups along with militant outfits was apparent from Mr Sharif’s pledge to bring to justice the perpetrators of Quetta’s Hazara Town and the Peshawar church carnage.

Expresses rare resolve to root out sectarianism

“Decisive action would be taken against terrorists who spilled the blood of innocent people in Hazara Town and the Peshawar church attacks,” he said.

The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) had claimed responsibility for the Hazara Town attacks in January and February last year, while Jundullah — a group affiliated with TTP — had taken credit for the deadly bombing of Peshawar’s All Saints Church in September 2013.

A senior security source, familiar with discussions on the national counter-terrorism plan, said that the PM was referring to a broader counter-extremism operation that was being planned.

“The threat is much larger and no longer limited to the tribal areas. We will have to go after terrorist sympathisers and abettors within society,” he said.

The source said that the action plan would be in addition to “hardcore kinetic operations”.

Criminalising hate material

Meanwhile, a joint working group formed to propose changes in the legal and administrative counter-terrorism framework, on Monday, finalised its draft recommending the enactment of a law to make the printing and distribution of hate material a cognisable offence.

The group, which consists of representatives from intelligence agencies, security experts and former bureaucrats, met here to put the final touches to a set of proposals. It also recommended banning religious and sectarian journals guilty of fanning sectarian disharmony and glorifying known terrorists, a participant of the meeting told Dawn.

It also proposed the enactment of an appropriate law which, if passed, would mean the blackout of terrorists from the media and TV channels and newspapers projecting their views will have to face action. The group also proposed that terrorists, their abettors and supporters be defined in the new law.

The group will submit its draft proposals to the anti-terrorism national action plan committee headed by the interior minister – which had been given a week’s deadline to come up with an action plan to effectively counter the menace of terrorism.

An official of the Interior Ministry said that some administrative decisions taken to deal with terrorism had already been implemented, but gave no details.

Answering a question, he said a proposal to hold cellular companies responsible for the issuance of SIMs that are used in terrorism, was being mulled. He said that consultations with cellular companies to develop an appropriate mechanism would take place soon. He said that cellular companies would be asked to block all SIMs issued without verification.

He said the cellular companies would also be asked to devise an appropriate policy for providing roaming facility on SIMs issued from Afghanistan, pointing out that such SIMs had been used in various extortion cases and threats were given in case of a failure to comply with the demands.

Published in Dawn December 23th , 2014