Pak. plans law to check militant outfits

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MAY 19. The military Government is once again attempting to take some tough measures to tackle sectarianism and extremist outfits even as tension continues in Karachi over the killing of a top Sunni leader on Friday.

Reports from Karachi said for the second day in a row, there were incidents of mob attack on vehicles despite tight security ahead of the funeral of Maulana Saleem Qadri, president of the Sunni Tehreek, and five others who were killed along with him.

The Karachi police chief has been quoted as saying that the police suspected an unidentified dead men as one of the assailants. However, political affiliation or connections had not been established. About 50 people had been rounded up as investigations continued into the killings.

On the day the sensational murder took place in Karachi, the Pakistan Interior Minister, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Moinuddin Haider, was busy presiding over a high-level meeting in Peshawar on measures to tackle sectarian and religious violence. The Minister told a news conference that the Government was giving final touches to a law on controlling militant wings of sectarian groups. He hinted that the government would not hesitate to ban some of the well-known sectarian outfits.

Lt. Gen. Haider asserted that the Government was determined to implement the law on sectarianism. He conceded that the activities of some of these organisations had adversely affected Pakistan's image.

The Minister said the proposed law would prohibit ``fiery and provocative'' speeches by the clergy. It would have provisions to punish those who print such literature and regulate the use of loudspeakers. He claimed that the de-weaponisation policy, initiated by the Government, evoked positive response and claimed there had been a fall in ``aerial firing and open display of arms and ammunition''.

Though the Minister was categorical in his assertion about the achievements of the military government on de- weaponisation and other measures on tackling extremism, there are few takers to the claim. There is a perception that the military government, for whatever compulsions, has not been able to make much headway in taming the extremist religious and militant groups.

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Section  : International
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