International
Pak. meet to decide on banning more sectarian outfits
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
ISLAMABAD, JAN. 7 The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, is scheduled to preside over a high-level meeting of law and order agencies tomorrow to review the ongoing crackdown on `jehadi' outfits and take some concrete steps against sectarian organisations and extremist religious groups.
The meeting is expected to take a decision on banning some more sectarian outfits and on more steps to curb the `jehadi' outfits. Pakistan has been under tremendous pressure in the last few weeks to ban the two major militant outfits, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, but the Government has not been inclined to follow the example of the United States and the United Kingdom fearing a backlash.
Just before he went to Kathmandu last week, Gen. Musharraf had presided over a similar meeting of senior officials of the law and order agencies and the issue of ban on the LeT and the JeM figured. Senior officials emphasise that the Government should not be seen as acting under pressure from the international community.
``Any impression that the Government is playing to the international gallery and giving in to the demands from across the border could only prove to be counter-productive,'' a senior official said.
The contention is that the Musharraf Government was acting on its own even before the September 11 terrorist attacks on American cities and had stepped up the campaign on the extremist elements afterwards.
Meanwhile, reports said the authorities had arrested 42 activists of `jehadi' outfits in various parts of Punjab. Some hardcore activists belonging to various religious and `jehadi' outfits have been arrested and most of them belong to the Jaish-e-Mohammad. So far, more than 300 hundred such activists have been arrested in Punjab.
The Lashkar has, however, claimed that the arrest of `jehadi' leaders had not dampened the spirit of the `mujahideen' (holy warriors). In fact, they had stepped up their activities.
Last Tuesday's attack by a suicide squad on an Army camp in Himachal Pradesh ``causing several casualties'' was the first activity inside Indian territory following the U.S. ban on the outfit, it said.
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