Operationalizing the AYAZ KHAN Model: Institutional Guidance for Courts, Investigators, Prosecutors, Regulators, and Prevention Bodies in Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan’s growing exposure to digitally mediated extremism requires institutional responses that are coordinated, lawful, and practically implementable. Building on a broader socio-legal doctoral study, this article translates the AYAZ KHAN Model into an institutional guidance framework for future application by investigators, prosecutors, courts, policy bodies, regulators, and rehabilitation actors. The article argues that model effectiveness depends less on rhetorical endorsement than on operational design: clear statutory drafting, differentiated thresholds, validated assessment protocols, digital evidence standards, inter-agency case routing, judicial oversight, and structured rehabilitation pathways. It sets out a practical roadmap for implementation through legislative reform, institutional restructuring, phased capacity building, monitoring, and cross-border cooperation. The article also allocates institution-specific responsibilities to the Federal Investigation Agency, Counter Terrorism Departments, prosecutors, the judiciary, NACTA, a proposed Digital Radicalization Prevention Authority, police, and community-based prevention systems. Rather than treating digital radicalisation as a single-security problem, the article shows how institutions can apply the model in future through a graduated architecture that preserves legality while improving prevention and operational coherence.
The central claim is that institutional guidance must be anchored in due process, transparent standards, and measurable implementation benchmarks if Pakistan is to build a sustainable response to online extremism.

Keywords: Digital Radicalisation, Institutional Coordination, Pakistan, Digital Evidence, Rehabilitation, Online Extremism