ISLAMABAD: After criticism from various other quarters, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior also expressed its dissatisfaction over the performance of the provinces with regard to the National Action Plan (NAP), meant to combat terrorism and extremism.

The committee, which was keen to learn about progress on NAP made by the provinces, has called the chief secretaries and inspectors general of all provinces to its next meeting.

Also read: Implementation of NAP a shared responsibility: govt

“Chief secretaries and IGPs should come with the complete record and details regarding implementation of NAP,” committee chairman Rehman Malik said.

The committee noted with concern that Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz was challenging the writ of the government, but no action was being taken against him.

Mr Malik said that if Maulana Aziz wanted to enforce what he called ‘Shariat’, he should move the Supreme Court instead of creating a law and order situation in the federal capital.

“Since Maulana Aziz leads prayers in the mosque as a government servant, it should be the duty of the government to take action against him,” he said.

Talking about NAP implementation, the Sindh IGP told the committee that his force had solved at least 100 mega crime and terrorism cases, including the Safoora Goth carnage.

He claimed that criminal activities in Karachi had been curtailed and no cases of kidnapping-for-ransom had been reported in recent days. The number of targeted killings had also declined from 10 to one or two daily.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IGP told the committee that his force was on the front lines of the fight against terrorism and urged members to approve KP’s demand for Rs66 billion to meet future security challenges.

At this, Rehman Malik formed a committee consisting of the secretaries of interior, finance, as well as the KP chief secretary and the home secretary, to ascertain how much the provincial police actually required.

But the finance secretary informed the committee that the centre had not received any such request from the province.

The committee approved the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) Amendment Bill, 2015, under which the National Aliens Registration Authority (Nara) was to be merged into Nadra.

The committee also took up the issue of the closure of Bol TV network and allowed the management of the aborted TV channel to express its point of view.

Bol TV representatives termed the government action against their organisation, including the cancellation of its licence, “unjustified”.

The FIA DG also gave a briefing regarding the investigation into the alleged fake degree scandal that Bol’s parent company Axact was embroiled in.

After hearing both sides, the committee directed FIA to prepare a fresh petition against Bol TV and to compensate its management where any injustice had been done.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2015