"We must fight this war together and eliminate this threat," Bilal Azhar Kayani
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00:00Mr. Bilal, I would like to hear your opinion on this.
00:03The attack in Bannu, which was failed,
00:07it is obvious that the security forces were successful,
00:10but 13 innocent citizens were martyred,
00:1232 were injured,
00:145 security personnel were martyred,
00:1716 terrorists were killed.
00:20One thing here is that in such numbers,
00:22the terrorists did not reach there.
00:24This means that their facilitators are still present,
00:28who are facilitating them in some way,
00:31on the basis of which they were able to reach there.
00:33After that, it is obvious that our security forces had expertise,
00:36because they failed the attack,
00:38but still, what work is being done on this aspect,
00:41and what is being done now?
00:44Look, Mr. Satti, there are two things in this.
00:46One, you saw that on the forum of the Apex Committee,
00:49where the Prime Minister is also there,
00:51the Army Chief is also there,
00:52the CMs of all four provinces are also there,
00:55there too, the war against terrorism is being raised,
00:59and we are seeing again and again,
01:01that the forces of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan,
01:04are showing their full commitment,
01:06and especially the forces of Pakistan,
01:08that you are seeing,
01:09that how this wave of terrorism has come,
01:12in that, again and again,
01:14they are winning against these terrorists,
01:17when such occasions are coming,
01:19and they are also being martyred,
01:21but certainly,
01:22we have to end this threat,
01:24which has resurfaced,
01:26we have to end it together,
01:28as it was done in the era of Nawaz Sharif,
01:30as a result of Radl-ul-Fasad and Zarb-e-Azb.
01:33Now, I don't want to go into that debate,
01:35that after that, how,
01:37why, and because of which policies,
01:39between 2018 and 2022,
01:41in the era of the PTI government,
01:43which policies opened the door for terrorism again.
01:47But today, I think,
01:48especially in KP,
01:49which is the front line in this war,
01:51against terrorism,
01:52in that, where the forces of Pakistan,
01:54and the loyal law enforcement agencies,
01:56are playing their role,
01:57I think the KP government,
01:59and the law enforcement agencies there,
02:01will have to make sure,
02:02that this becomes their number one priority,
02:04and such things don't become a priority,
02:06which we have seen in the last 24-26 days.
02:08Let's hope so,
02:09that obviously everyone will have to take their own route.
02:11I think everyone will have to fight this war together,
02:13and only then will we end it,
02:15with a united front.
02:16Yes, Senator,
02:17by the way, this is the need of the time,
02:19because we have always fought,
02:20whenever there has been an incident of terrorism,
02:22or overall,
02:23sometimes there are indicators,
02:25as to how they are penetrating,
02:27or flourishing again,
02:28even on the other side of the border.
02:30So, the kind of responsibilities you are talking about,
02:32that the KP government should play its role,
02:34and the law enforcement agencies there,
02:36should play their role.
02:38So, what are your thoughts?
02:39Is there a lack of commitment from that side?
02:41Yes, I will give you my own opinion,
02:44because I have been a member of the
02:48Kaima Committee,
02:50and was the chairman of it.
02:52So, who is better than you?
02:54Although my field is law,
02:56and after that I got into human rights,
02:58but I also taught myself a lot about this,
03:00on the job,
03:02and also explained about this.
03:04And apart from that,
03:06our party's stance on this is also very clear.
03:08I will shed light on both.
03:10Okay.
03:11The incident of Bannu,
03:12and apart from that,
03:13the other,
03:14and especially regarding February,
03:16this report came out,
03:18that the civilian casualties,
03:20or the martyrs,
03:22were more than the security personnel,
03:24and in comparison to January,
03:26they were more than twice as many.
03:28There were 20 civilian casualties in January,
03:31and 55 in the month of February.
03:36Okay.
03:37When the situation in Pakistan is going on,
03:39and the way,
03:40first of all, I want to emphasize the difference,
03:43which Mr. Kiani just mentioned,
03:45the situation in Pakistan,
03:47which has been going on for at least two decades,
03:50if not more than that,
03:52there are two ways to counter it,
03:54and there are two prongs to it.
03:56He mentioned one.
03:58So, there are two prongs,
04:00anti-insurgency,
04:02one is the prong,
04:04and the other is counter-terrorism.
04:06Counter-terrorism.
04:07In anti-insurgency,
04:08the extremists,
04:09the separatists,
04:10those who are running movements,
04:12those who are running militant movements,
04:14in Balochistan,
04:15or in Malaysia,
04:16or anywhere,
04:17against them,
04:18you do kinetic operations,
04:20that is anti-insurgency,
04:22in which you give air cover,
04:24use of force,
04:25you do kinetic operations,
04:27or IBOs,
04:29whatever.
04:30Okay.
04:31In counter-terrorism,
04:33the most important thing is
04:35your intelligence gathering,
04:37and your different civil and military agencies,
04:40and their opposite coordination.
04:42Okay.
04:43There is no doubt in this,
04:46that it is a commendable thing,
04:48that the way the security personnel
04:50have made it known,
04:51and have been making it known,
04:53and in the case of Bannu as well.
04:55There was a NACTA institute here,
04:57it was a directorate,
04:58it was a very good building,
05:00its role was to coordinate.
05:02I am sorry,
05:03I am interrupting you,
05:04but let me say one more thing.
05:05Everything that happened from 2018 to 2020,
05:08this is completely wrong.
05:10Let me tell you,
05:11all the travel advisories
05:13that were taken back to Pakistan,
05:15the safest country to travel to Pakistan,
05:18in terms of backpackers,
05:20in terms of hikers,
05:21in terms of tourism,
05:22British Airways restarted its flights,
05:24Virgin Atlantic restarted its flights,
05:27this whole system,
05:28The PIA was shut down,
05:29that is a different thing.
05:30That is a different thing.
05:31But I am just saying,
05:32one of the safest destinations,
05:34was between 2018 and 2022,
05:36in terms of tourism.
05:37That is why this is wrong.
05:39Syed Muhammad Ali,
05:40I just want to know one thing from you,
05:43our coordination,
05:44of course,
05:45Afwaj has its own role,
05:46and it is playing its own role,
05:47but in this,
05:48coordination is the key.
05:50If a threat comes,
05:51it should be perceived,
05:52and then everything should be forwarded.
05:54This was a NACTA institute,
05:55what is its role now,
05:56to what extent is it effective,
05:58as of now,
05:59and what other improvements are there?
06:01I just want an answer to this.
06:03Yes, absolutely.
06:04This is a very important
06:05and pivotal role of NACTA,
06:07and I will continue this
06:09by agreeing with the Senator,
06:11that I think,
06:12in simple words,
06:14a successful decision,
06:17which is the Hikmat-e-Amli,
06:19against terrorism,
06:20to get rid of it,
06:21there are three prongs of the Hikmat-e-Amli.
06:24One is the embassy prong,
06:25which has been restored,
06:26today,
06:27by the National Security Advisor,
06:29of the United States,
06:30and the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan,
06:32for the non-formal exchange of views,
06:34and to promote cooperation.
06:37The second prong is its kinetics,
06:41which is the role of our intelligence organizations,
06:44our law enforcement agencies,
06:46and the army of Pakistan.
06:49But the third,
06:50most important prong,
06:52which addresses those causes,
06:54on the basis of which terrorism
06:56grows externally and internally,
06:58that is a reality,
07:01that it exists in a psychosocial domain.
07:04And for that,
07:05all the civil institutions,
07:07whether it is the Federal Government,
07:09or the Provincial Government,
07:10their coordination is as important,
07:12as our religious scholars,
07:14our religious leaders,
07:16our political parties,
07:18our media,
07:20that until we don't make it a national effort,
07:23that we have to deal with terrorism,
07:25it will only work on the individual level,
07:28of the state or government,
07:30which will not yield durable and enduring results.