Extraordinary situation demands tough decisions against terrorists: PM
ISLAMABAD; By, Asghar Ali Mubarak
The Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Wednesday said that the government will not hesitate to take tough decisions against terrorists and will fight against those destabilizing the country.
“Extraordinary situation in the country demands hitting hard against terrorists and the nation expects tough decisions by the leadership,” the Prime Minister said in his opening remarks at the meeting of parliamentary leaders, held here at the PM’s House.
The political and military leadership met on the seventh day after the committee formed by the Prime Minister concluded its deliberations to formulate a future strategy against terrorists.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stressed the need for taking solid measures against terrorism, which he called as the “cancer” impacting the growth and development in the country.
“We will hit hard against the terrorists and will not spare even the last of them,” he categorically said.
He said the country’s leadership with the support of all political parities should fulfill this responsibility upto the expectations of the nation.
“If we take lame decisions, the nation will not forgive us,” he said and added that the nation had paid a very heavy price in fight against terrorism.
The Prime Minister thanked the parliamentary leaders for showing unity and supporting the government at challenging time, particularly in the wake of the Peshawar incident that claimed lives of 134 children.
Terming the attack on Peshawar school as “gruesome incident”, he said no religion permits killing of innocent children.
He recalled that the efforts of dialogue with militant groups proved in vain and the government kept patience for long while giving them a chance for peace. However, he said, after the terrorist attack at Karachi airport, Operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched which was going on very successfully.
He said elimination of terrorists should not limit to the Operation Zarb-e-Azb, but all those with the mindset of harming the country should be taken to task.
Sharif said the new leadership in Afghanistan was also keen to cooperate with Pakistan in wiping out terrorists. He mentioned his meetings with Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, where the leadership of both countries agreed not to let their soils be used against each other.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Army Chief General Raheel Shareef briefed the participants of the meeting about the current security situation.
Chaudhry Nisar said 10,000 army personnel were deployed in different cities under Article 245 to counter terrorist activities.
He proposed enhanced capacity-building of police and providing them modern weaponry to enable them effectively fight terrorism.
He mentioned that a police force comprising 5,000 jawans would be formed – of them 1,000 to be deployed at the capital and 1,000 each in four provinces.
The Interior minister said civil-military cooperation was important in complete elimination of terrorism.
He also stressed the need to blackout the terrorists on media, who were using it as a platform to instigate the general public through their provocative statements and threats.
He also mentioned un-registered mobile phone SIMs as a problem which were being used by the terrorist network.
General Raheel Sharif briefed the participants about his meeting with the Afghan and ISAF leadership, who he said, assured of their full support to Pakistani forces.
He said Pak army had launched several operations against the terrorists, of which 2,100 were killed in Zarb-e-Azb and Khyber One. He said 190 jawans of Pak army were martyred in fight against militants.
Those who attended the meeting included Khyber Pukhtunkhwa’s Governor Sardar Mehtab and Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak, AJK’s leader of opposition Raja Farooq Haider, Pakistan People’s Party’s Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Sherry Rehman, Aitezaz Ahsan and Rehman Malik; Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Dr Shireen Mazari; Jamaat-e-Islami’s Siraj ul Haq and Fareed Paracha,
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Awami National Party’s Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and Afrasyab Khattak, Mutahida Qaumi Movement’s Farooq Sattar, Babar Ghouri and Rasheed Godail; Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s Abdul Raheem Mandokhel, FATA’s Abbas Afridi and Ghazi Gulab Jamal, Qaumi Watan Party’s Aftab Sherpao and Pakistan Muslim League (Q)’s Mushahid Hussain.
Federal ministers and Director General ISI Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar and Director General ISPR Maj Gen Asim Bajwa were also present.
