How shocking it is that as many as 95 banned groups are still active in Punjab. This seems to be a sardonic comment on the performance of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif who, a few years ago, had implied that he was keen to cut a deal with militants. How has he and his team allowed such a huge number of proscribed outfits to operate freely?
The implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) can, therefore, hit into some formidable snags because of presence of a slew of banned outfits in the largest province of the country. As pointed out by media, The Shahbaz Sharif-led government had failed to check the spread of such outfits, despite repeated reminders by the media about militants' presence in the province. The situation, however, suggests that not only has the Punjab government failed to check the mushroom growth of such organisation, it has, perhaps, helped multiply the number of militants in this province.