Responding to statements of Chief Minister Sindh and Spokesman for the Sindh Government, reportedly made during the meeting of Apex Committee in Karachi, alleging the federal government of not fulfilling its responsibilities vis-à-vis implementation of National Action Plan, the Spokesperson of the Interior Ministry has said that it is quite unfortunate that a national security issue has been used merely for political point scoring without any substantive grounds and ignoring on-ground facts.
The Spokesman said that the 20-point National Action Plan is a collective responsibility of Federation and Federating Units with major points falling into the administrative domain of the provincial governments.
About the reported statement regarding glorification of terrorists on media, the Spokesperson regretted the statement and said that it is a matter of record that the independent and free media of the country has shown great responsibility and maturity vis-à-vis glorification and promotion of terrorism. To remind, as a result of Interior Minister’s meeting with representative bodies of media i.e APNS, CPNE, PBA and PFUJ, the independent media gave a commitment to blackout terrorists. It is a matter of record that media proved true to its commitment.
The Spokesperson said that the accusation against the federal government alleging them of allowing banned organizations to hold rallies and meeting openly is factually incorrect. He said that the policy of the federal government towards proscribed organizations is very clear and no proscribed organization was allowed to hold rallies or public meeting.
The Spokesperson pointed out that for the first time in the history of the country the present government has put in place a robust mechanism for proscription of organizations and individuals besides maintaining digital database of such organizations/individuals. The spokesperson said that checking the activities of the proscribed organizations/individuals and initiation of action for any violation is a provincial responsibility.
I wish Sindh government takes into consideration the record of both the Federal and the Sindh governments from 2008-2013 vis a vis proscribed organizations and their cohorts, continued the spokesperson.
With regards to objection raised over functionality of NACTA, the Spokesperson said that from a merely dormant organization existing only on papers, NACTA is now fully operational and supplementing state security institutions. For the first time since its inception, practical steps were taken by the present government to make NACTA fully functional.
It is a matter of record that during the tenure of previous government NACTA was housed in a rented building with hardly any human resource and sufficient funds to operate. Under the current government, not only the funds were released to NACTA but the issue of infrastructure and human resource was also resolved. The Spokesperson said that at present 104 officers are working in NACTA performing various duties that fall under the mandate of the Authority. He said that the budget of the organization for the year 2016-17 stands at Rs. 1,450.000 million which clearly manifest the resolve of the federal government to make NACTA a vibrant organization.
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