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Punjab to swoop on 17 banned outfits

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Punjab to swoop on 17 banned outfits

Monday, July 05, 2010

Monitoring Report

RAWALPINDI: The Punjab Home Department has set up task forces comprising police officials at the district level to crack down against 17 banned organisations following the suicide attacks at the Data Darbar in Lahore.

The task forces will comprise officials from the CID, the Special Branch and the Anti-Terrorism Squad. They have also been advised to establish close contacts with intelligence officers in the districts to exchange information with regard to 17 banned organisations.

An official of the Punjab Home Department told the BBC Urdu Service that orders had been issued to launch crackdowns on secret hideouts of banned outfits and arrest those connected with them immediately.

The task forces have been asked to trace out those who had been financing the banned organisations and their other funding sources and take action under the Anti-Terrorist Act. Headed by District Police Officers (DPOs), the task forces will submit their reports to the Punjab Home Department.

The 17 outfits, which were banned by the Home Department, Punjab, include Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah Sahaba Pakistan, Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Tehrik-e-Jafriya Pakistan, Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi, Millat-e-Islamiya Pakistan, Khudamul Islam, Islami Tehrik Pakistan, Hizb-ut-Tehrir, Jamiat-ul-Ansar, Jamiat-ul-Furqan, Khair-un-Naas International Trust, Islamic Students Movement (ISM), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Jamaat-ud-Daawa.

Besides, the Sunni Tehrik has been placed under observation. Among the banned outfits, nine belong to the Deobandi sect, three to Shia sect and three belong to the Ahle Hadith. The BLA is a nationalist organisation, while the ISM is a students’ organisation.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is not included in the list issued by the Punjab government while according to Interior Minister Rehman Malik,the TTP and al-Qaeda, in collaboration with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba, were active in other parts of the country, especially in the Punjab.

A cold war is underway between the federal Interior Ministry and the Punjab government due to the failure of the organisation working under the ministry in providing information about the activities of the extremist organisations and both are accusing each other in this regard.

According to an official of the Punjab Home Department, the departments working under the Interior Ministry do not give any specific information about the possible extremist acts. He said the ministries usually provided general information about a possible extremist act in a city and specific information was very rarely imparted.

Concerning suicide attacks at the Data Darbar, the provincial Home Department said that it had not received any information in this regard from the federal Interior Ministry while the federal Interior Ministry said that it had issued a warning letter two days before the incident in which it was conveyed that the terrorists could target Imambargahs or the shrines in the province.

It is pertinent to mention that about 4,000 persons were kept under surveillance for their alleged links with the extremist organisations under the Anti-Terrorist Act Schedule-4 and these people were bound to inform their respective police stations about their movement.
 
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Banned outfits not to be allowed under new names

Madrassa reforms planned; no move to curb media freedom; PM to convene national conference on security soon

By Asim Yasin

ISLAMABAD: The federal and provincial governments on Monday resolved to stop the banned outfits from operating under any other name with rigorous monitoring of activities of all such organisations.

“There would be no dialogue with terrorists and barbarians who are attacking the shrines of Sufi saints. But the government is ready to talk to those who surrender to the writ of the state,” said Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira while addressing a press conference here on Monday along with Interior Minister Rehman Malik after a high-level meeting on the law and order situation chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Chief ministers, provincial chief secretaries and top senior security officials attended the meeting. The meeting decided to undertake a comprehensive review of the national policy against terrorism, activate the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), to make anti-terrorist laws more effective and to carry out Madrassa reforms.

It endorsed the idea of convening a meeting of top political leadership of the country to devise a national strategy to deal with terrorism. “The prime minister will soon convene a national conference to refine and update the national policy against terrorism. Leaders of all political parties within and outside parliament would be invited to the meeting, the date of which would be fixed after consultation,” the minister announced.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik ruled out any military action in the Punjab, saying the provincial government would take whatever action was needed against terrorists. In reply to a question regarding lack of coordination between the Centre and the provincial governments, especially the Punjab, the minister said there was complete coordination and all tools of federal and provincial governments were cooperating with each other. “We are working together against terrorism,” he remarked.

When asked about the investigations into the recent terrorist attack on the Data Darbar in Lahore, the interior minister said he could not comment on the process of investigations as it was still on and one of the terrorists had been identified. “But the origin of all suicide attacks could be traced to Fata,” he said and added that there was an al-Qaida-Tehreek-e-Taleban-Lashkar-e-Jhangvi nexus.

Qamar Zaman Kaira said the prime minister gave instructions for activation of the National Counter Terrorism Authority. “It will review the past and present strategies against terrorism and suggest recommendations for the future. Ministries of interior, religious affairs and education would also give their input in this comprehensive process,” he added.

He said the Authority would also identify the rootcauses of terrorism. He said some of the causes included poverty, backwardness, price-hike, unemployment and disease. “Commitments by foreign donors are maturing and resources would be provided to the provinces to take measures for the resolution of the problems that people are facing,” he added.

The information minister said the prime minister also gave instructions that necessary amendments in the Anti-Terrorism Act should be introduced soon to bring the perpetrators of crime to book.

He said the prime minister had asked the interior ministry and intelligence agencies to ensure that credible information on terrorism was promptly passed on to the provinces. He has asked the interior ministry to improve the system for the purpose and create any new set-up, if needed, for the purpose.

The meeting resolved to carry forward the policy of dialogue, deterrence and development but made it clear that dialogue would not be held with those who were playing with the lives of the people and damaging the image of the country. “They will first have to surrender before the state and then negotiations could be held with them,” he added.

The information minister said the meeting decided that the federal government would provide necessary resources to the provinces and law enforcing agencies for capacity building of police and counter-terrorism forces.

He said the prime minister also gave instructions for carrying out Madrassa reforms after consultation with all stakeholders. In reply to a question, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said there were no differences between the Centre and the Punjab over the menace of terrorism and there was total harmony between the federal and provincial governments.

Rehman Malik told a questioner that the banned organisations recruit people and dispatch them to Fata for training and terrorist activities. Asked about the reports of government intentions of putting new curbs on the media, the information minister categorically stated that there was no plan to place any curbs on the media.

He said the government was undoing the restrictions put by General (retd) Pervez Musharraf on November 3. “We have already declared the November 3 action of Musharraf as a black law and in his first address, the prime minister promised to undo these laws. Following the prime minister’s directions, we have sent the draft of the new law to the standing committee and now it will be presented to the National Assembly,” he said.

When asked whether the government felt comfortable with the media, he replied in affirmative barring some sections of the media. He did not elaborate.In reply to a question regarding some statements of chief minister Punjab against the interior minister, the information minister did not agree with the questioner and claimed that Shahbaz Sharif had appreciated the briefing of the interior minister.

Earlier, presiding over the high-level meeting, Prime Minister Gilani called upon all the law enforcement forces at the federal and provincial levels to redouble their efforts with timely sharing of information, coordinated actions and vigorous pursuance of lawless elements.

The meeting started with offering of Fateha for the shuhada of Data Darbar suicide attack. They also prayed for the early recovery of those injured in the blast.In his opening remarks, the prime minister reiterated that neither the federal nor the provincial governments could deal with the menace of terrorism alone. It has to be confronted collectively with the help of the Army and law enforcing agencies.

He said the recent acts of terrorism in Lahore were a matter of great concern for the entire nation. “As a first step, we would like to convene a national conference to formulate a national policy on terrorism,” he added.

He further said that all the major political parties of the country, whether they are in parliament or outside, would be requested to participate in the conference. The prime minister said that the attack on the Mazar of Hazrat Data Gunj Bukhsh had caused countrywide resentment and indignation and every section of the society, political parties and religious organisations had expressed their abhorrence over the incident. He urged the nation to forge unity against these elements who were killing innocent citizens, damaging schools and hospitals and desecrating mosques and shrines.

He said the media, particularly the electronic media, should be fully involved in this war against terrorism. He advised the Ministry of Interior to coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to achieve this objective. After being hit hard in Fata and Khyber Puktunkhwa, the prime minister said, the terrorists were now seeking refuge in the urban areas of the country. They are spreading violence through sectarian hatred. Lahore has been the target of terrorists for the last many months, he said. The prime minister said the attack on the Mazar of Hazrat Data Gang Bukhsh was one of the most heinous and barbaric incidents in which 49 lives were lost and 142 people were injured.
 
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