In the one month since the horrendous attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan is critically reexamining and restructuring its counterterrorism narrative and mechanisms.
On December 16, 2014, six Taliban militants attacked the Army Public School in Peshawar, killing 145 people, including 132 children. The siege lasted for six hours, and all attackers were killed. The brazen and violent nature of the attack sent shockwaves throughout Pakistan, and in the international community. Public bloodlust overshadowed any previous outrage over the hundreds of terror incidents the country has faced in well over a decade of the conflict. The attack marked the beginning a massive restructuring of the internal policies by both the military and civilian governments, bringing about a monumental change in the national security policy. The military began bombardment of Taliban hideouts and increased the military footprint in the tribal belt on the same day.
On December 17, 2014, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called an All Parties Conference (APC) in Peshawar. Backroom diplomacy and strategic dialogue, fueled by the catalyst of the scale of the tragedy, brought all political parties on board. On the same day, PM Sharif lifted a near decade long moratorium on the death penalty for convicted felons in the Pakistan judicial system. This caused a backlash with human rights groups, as the lifting of the moratorium implied that all convicted inmates would be hung. On December 19, 2014, the first two were hanged in Faisalabad.
Over the next few days, several high-level meetings, involving both the civil and military leadership, take place. On the night of December 24, 2014, in a televised national address, PM Sharif laid out the National Action Plan for combating the menace of terrorism, a 20-point agenda that included the establishment of military courts to prosecute “jet black terrorists”, steps to ban promulgation of all hate speech and paraphernalia, improving counterterrorism command and control mechanisms, including enacting NACTA, hunting proscribed and terror organizations, and steps against religious persecution of any sect, religion or creed. The full list is below. This also marked a turning point where the thin red line between good and bad Taliban was increasingly blurred, if not eradicated altogether.
- Execution of convicted terrorists will continue
- Establishment of special trial courts for two years for speedy trial of terror suspects
- A commitment to ensure that no armed militias are allowed to function in the country
- Strengthening and activation of NACTA
- Countering hate speech and extremist material
- Choking financing for terrorists and terrorist organisations
- Ensuring against re-emergence of proscribed organisations
- Establishing and deploying a dedicated counter-terrorism force
- Taking effective steps against religious persecution
- Registration and regulation of madrassas
- Ban on glorification of terrorism and terrorist organisations through print and electronic media
- Administrative and development reforms in Fata with immediate focus on return of IDPs
- Dismantling communication networks of terrorist organisations
- Tangible measures against abuse of internet and social media for terrorism
- Zero tolerance for militancy in Punjab
- Taking the ongoing operation in Karachi to its logical conclusion
- Empowering Balochistan government for political reconciliation with complete ownership by all stakeholders
- Dealing firmly with sectarian terrorists
- Formulation of a comprehensive policy to deal with the issue of Afghan refugees, beginning with registration of all unregistered illegal refugees
- Revamping and reforming the criminal justice system, to strengthen counter-terrorism departments including granting of powers to the provincial CIDs to intercept terrorist communications
On January 2, 2015, a second APC was conducted, to consolidate the political leadership on the 21st constitutional amendment and pave the way for two-year term military courts in the country. An unprecedented amount of political capital was spent on uniting most under one umbrella and putting a strong foot forward. On January 3, 2014, two bills were introduced in the National Assembly, the 21st Constitutional Amendment Bill and revisions to the Army Act of 1952. On January 6, 2015, both bills were passed in both the national assembly and the senate. Leaders from Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s faction of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), Jamaat-e-Islaami (JI) and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI), perhaps predictably, refused to vote. Political analysts, activists and the media labeled this a ‘soft coup’.
On January 14, 2014, PM Sharif chaired a meeting to get comprehensive briefings on the implementation of the National Action Plan. He was given the following information. FIRs have been registered against 341 persons involved in hate speech, out of which 251 have been formally arrested while 41 shops disseminating hate material closed. Action has been taken against nearly 1100 persons on the misuse of loudspeakers. Madaris are also being closely monitored so that spread of terrorist ideology can be checked, while 95 proscribed organizations have been identified in Punjab which are still engaged in spreading terrorism and extremism. 180 miscreants have been picked up so far from various parts of Islamabad while 48 of them have been formally arrested. Similarly in Punjab 14000 suspects have been picked up out of whom 780 formally arrested and are under investigation. 14 convicted terrorists have also been hanged by the government in various parts of the country.
The FBR has also been directed to choke funding of extremist and proscribed organizations, while the Ministry of IT is directed to block and band websites and social media platforms being used for militancy, terrorism and spreading fear. PM Sharif also instructed to take strict actions against those found in glorification of terrorism and spreading hatred in any way.
On January 15, 2014, it was revealed that the government plans to outlaw the Haqqani Network and Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a move that security analysts call a paradigm shift in Pakistan’s national security policy. This also confirms the government’s commitment to hunting down all extremist elements in the country, and not distinguishing between them in any way.
January 16, 2015 is the one month anniversary of the attacks, and protests are being organized by Pakistanis in various cities of the country, and several cities around the world.
“by Zeeshan Salahuddin, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Research and Security Studies.”