Abstract
The aftermath of Operation Zarb-e-Azb witnessed a wave of terrorist attacks and
dispersal of elements which started targeting soft and vulnerable non-kinetic
social outlets leading to counter value collateral damage. While the purpose of
such strategy could have been a diversion of attention of the law enforcement
agencies away from the centers of the terrorist another aspect that needs to be
highlighted is the extent to which academic institutions are becoming vulnerable,
given their overall design and security outlet. Apart from deficiencies regarding
infrastructure, academic institutions also house a considerable diversity of
students and since education cannot be denied to any applicant or service to any
prospective employee, there may be an instance of diffusion of extremist or
terrorist elements, both as operatives and as collaborators. A major fissure in
counterterrorism strategy was revealed after the Army Public School Peshawar
attack and the Bacha Khan University attack. In both the cases, it was disclosed
that terrorists had received sufficient information and infrastructural knowledge
that allowed them relative ease of operation. Fight against such collaborators and
operative cannot be countered alone by military force , instead it requires other
softer programs like those of the Personnel Reliability Program (PRP) which is a
means to consolidate available data and information regarding any individual
working in an organization. It enhances outreach of the organization in verifying
inclinations and predispositions of any prospective individual aspiring to join said
institution. PRP in academic institutions would not be installation of a whole new
paradigm for it to be time consuming; rather it would be enhancement of personal
information collection procedure only to maintain consistent verification of oncampus activities as a means to further scrutinize not only miscreants but terrorist
prone elements. The object is to allow a database that can be verified with
NADRA, intelligence authorities and other law enforcement authorities without
physical intervention that can introduce caution and allow sufficiency of time to
prepare a response. Where security and infrastructural layout of academic
institutions is being currently revamped and enhanced, it would be futile if a
collaborator or a terrorist element from within the premises provides vital
information to terrorist factions in conducting their operations leading to severe
psychological and personal damage.
Iram Khalid, Rehana Saeed Hashmi. (2017) A NEW PARADIGM FOR COUNTERING TERRORISM: PERSONNEL RELIABILITY PROGRAMS IN PAKISTAN’S ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, Volume 54, Issue 2.
-
Views
939 -
Downloads
118
Article Details
Volume
Issue
Type
Language
