ISLAMABAD  -  Former Senate chairman and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stalwart Raza Rabbani on Friday suggested a way forward to deal with the deteriorating security situation in the country amid troubling reports that terrorists were expanding their outreach and influence, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Quoting a security report of Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), the seasoned political in a statement said the increase in operational outreach was limited not only to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan but extends to Sindh and Punjab, where attacks have been carried out against foreign nationals. In October alone, 48 terrorist attacks were reported across 28 districts in four provinces, resulting in 100 deaths and 80 injuries, reads the report. In the wake of terrorists’ expansion through operational outreach across the country, it is essential for all political parties, be they in the government or opposition, to stop self-centric and rhetorical politics and focus on the growing menace of terrorism, Rabbani said. He proposed that the relevant stakeholders should brief an in-camera joint sitting of the Parliament, on the ingress of insurgents and the foreign hands involved in their support. The joint sitting should elect a Parliamentary Committee on National Security, with representation of every political party in both the houses. The committee should be given a detailed briefing by the intelligence agencies as also on the operational steps being taken to combat terrorism, former chairman Senate underlined. After the briefings, it should suggest modifications, adjustments or recommendations to the National Action Plan for countering terrorism, already in place. The alterations proposed by the Committee on National Security should be debated in a joint sitting and adopted with or without amendments. The panel should keep under review the developing internal and external situation. Furthermore, ex-Senator Rabbani said the Committee of the Whole of the Senate should initiate a “national dialogue” on the demands and grievances of the people of KP. “It should not only make recommendations but oversee the implementation of the said recommendations made after a thorough debate and hearing of all the stakeholders.” He underscored that the Committee of the Whole should review the status of the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan and such other initiatives taken by successive governments for the province. “It should also initiate a dialogue with all nationalist forces, which remain within the constitutional framework, and address their genuine grievances and also ensure its implementation by the government and other stakeholders.” Rabbani said the Committee of the Whole should review its previous resolutions / recommendations made in connection with missing persons and ensure implementation of the same. It should restart dialogue with families of missing persons and stakeholders and to achieve consensus solution of the same, local authorities may also be involved in facilitating and providing data regarding the enforced disappearances in question. He said hasty amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 are not a lasting and political solution to these intricate and sensitive political questions that confront the Federation. “The Federal Government must realize that sweeping these issues under the carpet is fraught with serious dangers for the Federation given the internal political instability and the developing geopolitical situation in the region,” he concluded.