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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Target killing cases could be sent to military courts: PM

Asks PPP, MQM to join hands for restoration of peace; praises Sindh CM for improvement in law and order in Karachi; pats him on shoulder

By our correspondents
January 31, 2015
KARACHI: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said on Friday that cases of target killings in Karachi could be sent to the proposed military trial courts for speedy disposal.
The prime minister stated this at the Sindh Governor House where he chaired a high-level meeting to review the law and order situation after reaching Karachi just one day after the city observed a strike called by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) against the extrajudicial killing of a party activist.
The PM expressed the resolve at a meeting to eliminate the terrorists who had been responsible for causing lawlessness in the city while dubbing such criminals as enemies of the country. Before chairing the session at the Governor House, the PM, while meeting the aggrieved family members of three slain activists of the MQM i.e. Sohail Ahmed, Faraz Alam and Rehan, directed the Sindh government to launch a thorough judicial-level inquiry to look into the complaints of the Muttahida regarding unabated incidents of extrajudicial and custodial killings of the opposition party’s activists.
Later, while on a visit to the Karachi Stock Exchange, the prime minister told media persons that inspector-general of Sindh Police had been ordered to present his investigation report regarding the recent incidents of killing of MQM activists within 30 days.
The PM also held a separate meeting with Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan and Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and urged them to play their due roles for maintaining political harmony in Sindh. He said the two main political parties of Sindh i.e. the Pakistan People’s Party and MQM should resolve their mutual differences through talks and work together for restoration of peace. He said the Centre had the desire that political issues in the province should be settled through mutual consultation.
Besides the PM, the meeting to review the law and order situation of the city was attended by the Sindh governor, CM, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Sindh ministers Nisar Khuhro, Murad Ali Shah, Sharjeel Inam Memon, Sindh chief secretary, chiefs of Sindh Rangers and Sindh Police, leaders of MQM Qamar Mansoor, Haider Abbas Rizvi, Babar Khan Ghauri, leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Saleem Zia and others.
The premier said at the meeting that soon new laws would be passed through parliament for complete implementation of the newly-adopted National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism.
The PM said the NAP didn’t just belong to a single political party or to his government alone as all the concerned political parties were signatories to the NAP. He said that all the concerned political parties had waged a collective struggle for getting passed from parliament the 21st Constitutional Amendment and changes in the Pakistan Army Act. He said that lawmaking had been done for implementation of the NAP while more such laws in this regard would also be adopted through parliament.
He said that justice would be done in the cases of slain workers of the MQM and investigations would be carried out to ascertain those responsible for such incidents of killings.
He said that no person regardless of his affiliation with the administration, government or any political party would be spared if investigation found its involvement in the killing of MQM workers. The PM said the meeting chaired by him had held threadbare discussion on the situation in Karachi and resolved that no society could progress without fulfilling due requisites of justice.
He said the targeted operation against criminals in Karachi had been launched after consultation with representatives of all the concerned political parties. He said the ongoing targeted operation in the city had been getting positive results.
Nawaz said that he was very much pleased in the past when reports had come in regarding a possible alliance between the ruling PPP and MQM in Sindh. He said that both the PPP and MQM should go forward in collaboration with each other and resolve their mutual issues amicably. He said all the political parties should play their due role for an improvement in situation in Karachi.
The PM reportedly expressed annoyance as criminal charge-sheets of terrorism cases in the province were being submitted in trial courts after considerable delay, which could impede the process of disposal of such terrorism cases.
He said the government and law-enforcement officials who had been showing negligence in investigation in criminal and terrorism cases should be placed under suspension and in their place eligible officials should be appointed.
The PM said that challans of terrorism cases should be submitted to anti-terrorism court within 15 days of registration of such cases. The PM directed the Sindh government to bring reforms in its prosecution department.
The PM said the federal Interior Ministry, Sindh government’s Home Department and law-enforcement agencies of the province should enhance collaboration and coordination with each other for strict implementation of the NAP.
The meeting decided to establish a top-level committee to look into the complaints of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the city during the ongoing targeted operation in Karachi. This committee would be constituted soon after consulting Chaudhry Nisar.
The meeting also resolved to raise at the earliest an anti-terrorism force in Sindh for which necessary training would be provided by the Pakistan Army while the federal government would assist the provincial government in raising the required force.
The meeting resolved to continue the ongoing targeted operation in Karachi while speeding up its pace and not sparing at all the terrorists and criminals active in Karachi along with their patrons from political quarters. Cases of such terrorists to be nabbed in Karachi would be instituted under the Anti-Terrorism Act and Pakistan Protection Act. The meeting decided that coordination committees would be constituted at the district level comprising officials of law-enforcement agencies, district administration and provincial government for local level implementation of NAP.
Earlier, CM Qaim Ali Shah briefed the PM that his government had devised a 14-point action plan besides setting up five sub-committees under the provincial apex committee for implementing the NAP against terrorism. A legal committee has been working on provincial level for scrutinising the terrorism cases registered in the province.
The CM said that over 50 terrorism cases of most heinous nature, after their due scrutiny by the legal committee, would be sent by the Sindh government to the federal government for their onward recommendation to be tried in the proposed military trial courts in the province.
The prime minister lauded the chief minister for his efforts to improve law and order in Karachi.At his earlier separate meeting with the PM along with the governor, the CM reportedly demanded a special grant from the federal government for conducting a targeted operation in Karachi and maintenance of peace in Karachi. The premier directed the federal finance minister to meet the CM on his demand of special grant.