WASHINGTON - Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Thursday reaffirmed Pakistan’s determination to wipe out terrorism, and offered a 5-point strategy to deal with the menace.
In remarks he made at the White House Summit on ‘Countering Violent Extremism’, he said that violent extremism was an affront to core human values and threatened all societies.
Nisar welcomed the Obama administration’s initiative to convene the meeting, which is being attended by representatives of 60 countries, and said it could lay the basis for forging common ground against the common enemy of violent extremism.
The interior minister presented a five points strategy at the summit meeting which could form the conceptual bedrock of a global action plan in dealing with violent extremism.
The five-point action plan dwells on strengthening local communities, winning the trust of mainstream peace-loving majority, building resilience in local communities against radicalisation, addressing the push factors driving people to extremism and focusing on education to promote tolerance and communal harmony.
Recalling the incident of terrorist attack on Peshawar school, Nisar stated that Pakistan not only understood the challenge but also empathized with other nations facing inhuman and mindless acts of violence. Despite the high odds, the minister informed an audience of world leaders, the people of Pakistan remained steadfast in their resolve to defeat the menace of terrorism.
Sharing Pakistan’s recent actions in this regard, the interior minister said the operation Zarb-e-Azb and Pakistan’s National Action Plan were tangible and concrete demonstration of comprehensive and determined law enforcement actions being taken by government.
Earlier, President Barack Obama addressed the opening session of the Summit and outlined his own strategy to empower local partners and community leaders to prevent violent extremism. Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Susan Rice steered the various sessions of the day-long ministerial segment of the summit at the State Department.
Addressing the summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon warned leaders against ‘discarding our moral compass’ and giving into fear, as he called for ;cool heads and common sense’ to deal with what may very well be “the greatest test our human family faces in the 21st century.”
“Let there be no doubt,” the secretary-general proclaimed to a room full of high-level delegates attending the Washington summit on countering violent extremism, “The emergence of a new generation of transnational terrorist groups including Da’esh [or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] and Boko Haram is a grave threat to international peace and security.”
The secretary-general said no cause or grievance can justify the ‘unspeakable horrors’ that terrorist groups are carrying out against innocent people, the majority of whom are Muslims. Women and girls, he added, are particularly subject to systemic abuses – rape, kidnapping, forced marriages and sexual slavery.
“These extremists are pursuing a deliberate strategy of shock and awe – beheadings, burnings, and snuff films designed to polarize and terrorize, and provoke and divide us,” the UN chief added, commending UN member states for their political will to defeat terrorist groups and at the same time, urging them to stay “mindful of the pitfalls.”
He outlined what he called four imperatives to deal with violent extremism. First, the world must look for motivations behind such ideologies and conflict. While this has proven over and over again to be a “notoriously difficult exercise,” it is vital to realise that poisonous ideologies do not emerge from thin air – oppression, corruption and injustice fuels extremism and violence.
“Extremist leaders cultivate the alienation that festers. They themselves are pretenders, criminals, gangsters, thugs on the farthest fringes of the faiths they claim to represent. Yet they prey on disaffected young people without jobs or even a sense of belonging where they were born. And they exploit social media to boost their ranks and make fear go viral,” Ban said.
Second on the list of essentials to combat extremism is promoting human rights. The Secretary-General warned against “sweeping definitions” of terrorism that too often criminalise the legitimate actions of opposition groups, civil society organizations and human rights defenders. “Governments should not use the fight against terrorism and extremism as a pretext to attack one’s critics. Extremists deliberately seek to incite such over-reactions. And we must not fall into those traps,” he said.
Third, preventing violent extremism requires a multi-pronged approach. While military operations are crucial, they are not the entire solution. “Bullets are not the silver bullet,” Mr. Ban said, emphasising that while missiles may kill terrorists, good governance kills terrorism.”
“Human rights, accountable institutions, the equitable delivery of services, and political participation – these are among our most powerful weapons,” the Secretary-General stressed.
Combating extremism must start in the classroom, he added. Education must play a decisive role and children must be taught compassion, diversity and empathy.
Finally, the fourth priority is recognising that violent extremism is a global challenge. It transcends borders. No single country can defeat terrorism. Rather all country must come together – ‘join hands’– to win the battle against violent extremism.