ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the lawyers’ supervisory body, expressed serious concerns on Saturday about the failure of the government and law enforcement agencies to implement the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism and religious extremism.

Presided over by Vice Chairman Dr Farogh Naseem, the 215th meeting of the council also asked Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali to take suo motu notice of the Quetta attack and ascertain who was responsible.

Concerns regarding the slow implementation of NAP were expressed against the backdrop of the chief of army staff’s frustration with NAP’s poor progress, after Gen Raheel Sharif publicly stated that the military’s gains during the Zarb-i-Azb operation were being lost.

“It is the considered view of PBC that the Quetta incident has exposed the inefficiency of our federal and provincial governments and law enforcement agencies and now a blame game has been initiated to cover up the tragic incident of Quetta,” the council’s resolution stated.

Suo motu proceedings might also ensure that a pre-emptive strategy was devised whereby law enforcement agencies were mandated to extend holistic and perpetual security to courts, judges and lawyers in the provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory. Such measures should also be periodically followed up on, the resolution said.

In view of the Quetta attack, the PBC shortened its agenda by unanimously resolving to suspend the transaction of business, and instead passed a resolution urging the federal and Balochistan governments to immediately release a special package to the families of the dead, and to the injured.

The council also took notice of “mudslinging” by various political leaders and spokespersons of the respective governments.

The resolution said the council members received news of the Quetta blast with great shock and dismay, and it was its considered view that the loss of Balochistan’s advocates was irreparable, creating a void unlikely to be filled in the near future.

The PBC appealed to the legal fraternity, including provincial bar councils and bar associations, to remain united and fight together to meet the challenges that would arise from the August 8 incident.

The meeting also noted that Balochistan lacked basic medical facilities, due to which dozens of injured people had to be shifted to Karachi, and called on the provincial government to immediately set up trauma centres.

“The Quetta incident has exposed the lack of hospital facilities in the provinces; the federal and the Balochistan governments are called upon to establish state of the art hospitals and clinics in Quetta and far-flung areas of Balochistan,” the resolution said.

The council, the resolution regretted, had witnessed apathy on the part of the federal and Balochistan governments in handling the aftermath of the attack.

It said it was painful to note that to date, no positive efforts had been made by the concerned governments and agencies to identify the culprits behind the Quetta blast and initiate proceedings for the determination of the motives behind the attack and the identification and apprehension of culprits.

The resolution urged the federal and provincial governments to expose and apprehend the culprits behind the attack before Friday, August 19.

In case of failure, the resolution warned that the PBC and all other provincial and Islamabad bar councils and associations would hold a public demonstration before Parliament House on Monday, August 22, between 11am and 1pm.

The resolution also called for immediate steps for poverty alleviation in Balochistan, to develop the province economically and socially.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2016