A new review examining Pakistan’s counterterrorism policy has documented multiple financial and policy decisions associated with the PTI governments, including public funding for Darul Uloom Haqqania and the reported release of up to 100 TTP prisoners during the 2021 peace process.
The report identifies Rs300 million allocated to Darul Uloom Haqqania in June 2016, with later reporting stating that the amount had been released. It also records a further Rs275 million reported as being processed in February 2018 and Rs80.16 million released in April 2022 during PTI rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The 2016 allocation was publicly defended by Imran Khan as part of an effort to bring religious seminaries into the mainstream and introduce reforms.
Contemporary reporting confirms that the KP government allocated Rs300 million to the Nowshera-based seminary, while Khan defended the decision as an education and reform initiative.
The later Rs80.16 million release was reported by The Express Tribune in April 2022. The report said the funds were released for construction of academic blocks under an agreement between the provincial government and the seminary. It also noted that the government had previously provided substantial funding.
The review separates these funding decisions from the federal government’s 2021 negotiations with the TTP.
According to the report, the government announced a ceasefire with the TTP on November 8, 2021, after negotiations facilitated by the Afghan Taliban. AFP reported in December that up to 100 TTP prisoners had been released during the preceding days.
The TTP subsequently announced an end to the ceasefire on December 9, accusing the government of failing to meet its commitments.
The report argues that the significance of these episodes lies in the safeguards attached to them. It says a proper policy audit would require records showing who authorized prisoner releases, who was released, what conditions were imposed and whether those conditions were monitored.
For the Haqqania funding, it identifies sanction orders, expenditure certificates and evidence of promised educational reforms as records needed to assess how the public money was used.
The review therefore presents the funding decisions and prisoner releases as separate, documented components of a wider policy record rather than treating them as identical forms of concession.
Its broader argument is that negotiations with terrorist groups require enforceable conditions, monitoring and accountability, particularly when concessions are made before a durable settlement has been reached.
