Do they really care?

Yet another devastating suicide bombing, this time in Lahore- the city's third in the last five months-left 26 people dead and at least 51 others injured, many critically. The Prime Minister issued a ritual condemnatory statement, but could not make time even for the usual visit with the wounded. The next day he was off to the Maldives, leaving it to the CoAS and the Punjab Chief Minister to do that. Soon enough, it was business as usual. One wonders if our rulers really care. In fact, there is an unmistakable lack of seriousness in combating terrorism. It was back in January 2015, following the Peshawar Army Public School carnage, that all political parties sat together and formulated a 20-point National Action Plan (NAP). More than two years on, the plan remains largely unimplemented because of exigencies of power. There is zero progress, due to religious parties' vehement resistance, on registration and regulation of religious seminaries, a vast majority of whom are breeding grounds of violent sectarian extremists. Sectarian terrorists and terrorist organizations were to be firmly dealt with, also ensuring against reemergence of proscribed organizations under new names.
Yet Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has not only been hobnobbing with leaders of certain banned sectarian organizations, as noted by the Justice Qazi Faez Isa inquiry commission report on terrorist attack in a Quetta hospital that claimed 70 lives, he also advocates that they be treated leniently, saying the proscribed sectarian organizations should not be equated with 'pure terrorists', conveniently ignoring the fact that they are banned because they have been involved in acts of terrorism. The attitude shows that either he has a soft spot for these elements or wants to appease religious parties out of political considerations. NAP had good reason to urge zero tolerance for militancy in Punjab. But the provincial government did next to nothing to address the issue nor would it allow a Karachi-like Rangers operation in the province. After the February 13 terrorist attack in Lahore that took 12 lives, the paramilitary force was reluctantly called in though not fully empowered to do the needful. Finally, in the wake of a string of terrorist attacks the military announced the launch of its countrywide urban counter-terrorism operation, Ruddul Fasaad. The Prime Minster later owned the operation, and at a meeting with the Army chief gave directions for speeding up implementation of NAP. That though did little to erase the impression that his government had failed to do its job, letting the soldiers to deal with internal security. In abdicating its responsibility, the government created yet another opportunity for the military to step into civilian space.
It continues to ignore various NAP goals in addition to the ones mentioned earlier. Revamp and reform of the criminal justice system stays consigned to the cold storage. The proposed administrative and development reforms in Fata remain bogged down because its ally JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman is against mainstreaming the tribal areas through integration into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA) was to be strengthened and a dedicated counter-terrorism force established. But the Finance Minister wouldn't release the required funds for the purpose as his priorities lay elsewhere. In Punjab, ruled by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif generally described as an efficient administrator, there is little to inspire public confidence. A while ago, he had a launched a Rs 13 billion Safe City Project with a soft loan from China for the installation of 8000 CCTV cameras. After Monday's suicide bombing it turned out that although the project was to be completed last year, only 1500 cameras were in working order, and just a pole sans camera stood at the place of the suicide bombing. The next day, the CM presided over a meeting of his cabinet, of course, to express displeasure over the missing cameras. He also called for co-ordination among all agencies responsible for ensuring law and order for effective steps to cope with terrorism. But until the meeting the province had an acting IG Police despite the Lahore High Court's repeated directives to make a regular appointment so the new officer could properly address the various law and order challenges. An acting IGP was deemed more useful as he would be expecting to get the coveted job in return for dutifully following the wishes of his political boss rather than keeping the public interest uppermost in his mind in the performance of his functions.
Meanwhile, his law minister and spokesman Rana Sanaullah has been pointing the finger at the usual 'foreign hand' for the latest atrocity, saying the suicide bomber came from Afghanistan. He made that claim without necessary investigations. The bomber might have come from there, but he could not have acted alone. His handlers and facilitators, as in all previous instances, surely were local people. The minister needs to answer for the presence of these people. As for the Afghan connection, the TTP which claimed responsibly for the attack, is known to have safe havens in the neighbouring Afghan provinces. There is enough evidence too to suggest these terrorists are backed by both the Afghan intelligence agency, NDS, and India's RAW to carry out attacks in this country. Kabul keeps accusing Pakistan of sheltering the Haqqani Network, believed to be behind recurring suicide bombings and assaults in Kabul as well as other cities. The day the TTP struck in Lahore, 26 people were killed in a car bomb explosion in Kabul. Two months earlier, more than 150 lives were lost when a truck bomb exploded in the Afghan capital. This must not be allowed to go on. Exchange of recriminations is a zero sum game. The way forwards is for both countries to make good faith efforts to address one another's concerns. That though is easier said than done considering the complexity of the issues involved, and interests of outside powers. Still Pakistan needs to do all it can to improve relations with the Kabul government. Trading accusations only helps terrorists killing innocent people on either side of the Durand Line.
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