News
Friday, October 11, 2013
‘Extraordinary’ laws needed to end ‘blood game’ in country: Nawaz* PM says new law will put an end to lacuna in existing laws that go in favour of accused who are released from courts due to lack of proper evidence
Staff Report
PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Thursday that extraordinary laws and decisions have to be taken to end terrorism in the country.
Prime Minister Nawaz stressed that the provinces should take even stricter and more effective measures to eliminate terrorism, as he added that his government would soon enact a special law to deal with terrorism cases. The proposed law, he said, would put an end to the lacunas in the existing laws that “go in favour of the accused”, as in such cases the accused get released on bail, and due to lack of evidences the prosecution prepares a weak case.
Nawaz was talking to the relatives of victims of Kissa Khawani bazaar explosion which killed scores. “In a country where security measures are weak extraordinary laws and decisions have to be taken to put the things on right track,” the prime minister said, adding that the government would not show “any weakness” in elimination of terrorism and would go all-out against terrorism. Nawaz visited Peshawar for the first time since he was sworn in as prime minister. During the daylong visit he also met relatives of the victims of the church suicide attacks and chaired a high-level meeting to review law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He announced a Rs 200 million fund for a trust to be set up by the Christian community to rehabilitate the victims of the devastating suicide bomb blasts at the All Saints Church on September 22 which killed 83 worshippers and injured 140 persons. The money for the trust would come from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and federal governments, Nawaz said, adding that each government would allocate Rs 100 million for the trust. “No compromise would be made on peace in the country,” the premier declared.
The prime minister said a special anti-terrorism force would be raised, and asked the provinces to take steps in this direction. The meeting on law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “necessitated the raising of the counter-terrorism force to effectively counter this menace along with a strong intelligence network,” Nawaz said. He said had the problem of terrorism haunting the country for the last 20 years been taken seriously in the beginning this “jinn” would not have taken such a dangerous position today, Nawaz said. “Unluckily, we do not have a trained force to combat the menace of terrorism and time has come to raise a special counter-terrorism force.”
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk