All provinces, state institutions on one-page in fight against terrorism: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD July 24 (APP): The Minister of State for
Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage,
Marriyum Aurangzeb Monday said that all the provinces and
state institutions and government were on one-page in the
fight against terrorism, due to which all the major
initiatives including Operation Zarb-e-Azb, National Action
Plan, Operation Raddul Fasaad and Khyber-IV were launched and
have achieved tremendous success.
She said this while participating in a panel discussion on a
private TV channel in the backdrop of the terrorist attack in Lahore.
The minister observed that this kind of single-mindedness and
unity of thought was non-existent during the previous regimes. She
said that it was an unfaltering resolve on the part of
the present government to deal with terrorism which paved the way
for the ultimate action against the terrorist outfit and
their sympathizers.
The minister, with a view to corroborate her claim
about successes against the terrorist entities pointed out that
in 2013 the number of terrorists incidents per year stood at 2622,
which had now come down to 155.
She said that before 2013 the country was not properly equipped
to take decisive action against the terrorists due to the
absence of necessary infrastructure and policy framework. She said
that the PML (N) government evolved the National Action Plan (NAP)
with the consensus of all the stakeholders under which myriad of
steps on the administrative, legal and ideological level had been taken.
The minister of state said that prior to 2013, nobody
talked about seminaries, but the present government after taking
the Wafaqul Madaris into confidence has initiated a process
of their registration, evolving a common curriculum and bringing
them into the mainstream of the education system of the country.
Marriyum pointed out that the provinces had a greater role
in the implementation of NAP and in the regulation of the Madrassahs
within their territories.
She contended that the government had already covered a long way
in this regard and the change was quite discernible. She
said that continuity of the government and completion of its
mandated period was utmost necessary in the fight against terrorism
and the implementation of the policies choreographed to tackle the
menace.
The minister emphasized that terrorism was an
international phenomenon and tackling it required
collective, unflinching and integrated efforts besides
a counter-terrorism narrative evolved through the parliament
to give it the national ownership.
She said that the Prime Minister, after the installation of the
PML (N) government, had clearly indicated what policy Pakistan
was going to pursue with respect to its relations with Afghanistan
and USA, particularly in dealing with the scourge of terrorism.
Responding to a question by the anchor regarding the much
talked about resignation by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar
Ali Khan, the minister said that it was not appropriate to indulge in
speculation on the issue as he himself had given his reaction
on such rumours.
She said that he was a very senior leader of the
party who had his own opinion on certain issues and always came up
with very solid suggestions on different issues.
She said that Chaudhry Nisar was very much functional as interior minister and also in contact with the security agencies about the
terrorist attack in Lahore.
She said that the cabinet had a unanimous position on the Panama
Papers case and the connected developments.