ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Thursday his ministry wasn’t the only state institution responsible for effective implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP).

“After formulation of the NAP, I was asked by the prime minister to take the charge of its coordination which I resisted because of my preoccupation with my ministry’s affairs. However, on the prime minister’s insistence I assumed the charge,” he explained in the National Assembly the background of how he was made focal person of this plan.

“Please don’t mix the role of the interior ministry with that of the NAP because the two are entirely separate entities. As a focal person I am not running away from giving you a brief on the plan for which I need some time,” Chaudhry Nisar said in response to opposition lawmakers’ criticism of poor implementation of the NAP.

The minister said the four provinces, administrative regions and key federal ministries were part and parcel of the NAP and as coordinator the interior ministry was always ready to play its due role.

But the opposition lawmakers weren’t satisfied with his explanation. Dr Shireen Mazari of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf wondered that being custodian of internal security, “how the interior minister can absolve himself of the key responsibility of implementation of NAP”.

PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar said that since every single file relating to the internal security passed through the table of the interior minister, he just couldn’t excuse himself from responding to questions about the NAP.

Former interior minister Aftab Sherpao said: “If Chaudhry Nisar doesn’t mind, I myself don’t agree with his argument because the interior division is involved in all 20 points of the NAP one way or the other.”

And interestingly, the same was reflected in a written executive summary of a report presented by Chaudhry Nisar in the house on the achievements of his ministry since he took over its charge. “The ministry is an integral part of the operation Zarb-i-Azb, combating terrorism and violent extremism. It has synergised internal security and law enforcement for the implementation of the NAP through its key organisations, Nacta and NCMC,” the report said.

Taking the ownership of the NAP, it said: “The ministry remains focused towards improving and improvising necessary operational and strategic aspects of NAP and Karachi operation.”

Dr Mazari said developing a counter-narrative against extremism and militancy was a key part of the NAP, but nothing had been done on that front. Similarly, she said, what about the National Counter-Terrorism Autho­rity and Joint Intelligence Directorate. “I don’t see anything happening on that end as well”.

The PTI lawmaker called for changes in syllabi of schools in both public and private sectors to build a counter-narrative.

Mr Sherpao said: “I am not asking to develop Nacta on the line of the US homeland security department, but at least take it to a level from where it can investigate routine cases of terrorism.”

Sahibzada Tariqullah of Jamaat-i-Islami praised the interior minister for addressing the issue of pending passport applications and bringing non-governmental organisations under control. “I must accept it on the record that during the previous government getting a passport was an uphill task, but under the present minister, the problem has been solved to the best possible way.”

The opposition lawmakers did admit that the interior ministry had performed well, but said that until it mainstreamed religious seminaries, set up a fully functional joint intelligence directorate and brought banned organisations under its complete control, its performance would be challenged at various forums.

The interior minister will wind up the discussion on Friday for which he had already got question-hour and calling-attention notices scheduled for the day suspended through a motion.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2015