The federal government has established the National Peace Message Committee (NPAC), comprising leading religious scholars, representatives of minority communities, senior officials, and security institutions, with the mandate to counter terrorism, extremism, sectarianism, and hate speech by formulating a unified national narrative in line with the revised National Action Plan (NAP) 2021.
The Ministry of Information has constituted the NPAC as a sub-committee of the National Committee on Narrative Building (NCNB), notified earlier this month. The NCNB is a 20-member body including the federal information minister, provincial and regional information ministers from all four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as well as representatives of the armed forces, intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of IT, and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
According to the notification, the NPAC has been empowered to develop, disseminate, and review a national counter-extremism narrative through media, communications, and cyber networks. The Director General of the Internal Publicity Wing of the Information Ministry will serve as secretary of the committee, while Maulana Tahir Ashrafi has been appointed as its coordinator. The committee’s first meeting will finalize rules of procedure to be submitted to the NCNB for approval.
Religious scholar Allama Arif Wahidi told Dawn that the committee should be viewed as a continuation of the Paigham-e-Pakistan (2018) initiative, which was aimed at countering extremist ideologies at the doctrinal level. “While Paigham-e-Pakistan was a conceptual step, this committee’s task is to operationalize that vision and curb divisive forces within society,” he remarked, adding that implementation would also take place at the provincial level.
Maulana Tahir Ashrafi said the formation of NPAC reflected the government’s determination to adopt a comprehensive and effective strategy for peace. He noted that the effort sought to unify national initiatives and build a coherent message to confront religious, sectarian, and ideological extremism.
In a related development, the Senate Standing Committee on Information voiced concern that provinces continue to register cybercrime cases under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) despite amendments that removed their jurisdiction. During a briefing, the Director General of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) revealed that 10 journalists currently face cases under PECA, alongside 611 financial fraud and 320 harassment cases under investigation.
Lawmakers stressed that under PECA 2025, only the NCCIA is authorized to register such cases, rendering 378 cases filed by provincial authorities unlawful. Officials confirmed that all such cases stand invalid, prompting Committee Chairman Senator Syed Ali Zafar to direct that they be withdrawn immediately. The committee also resolved to form a sub-committee to review the issue further.
