PM speaks to rivals gently; no tension with army: Nisar

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif speaks gently to his opponents and the government has had good relations with the army over the past two years. The government, he said, had never developed tension with the army.
The minister said that he will invite the army chief, Gen Raheel Sharif, to a special meeting in Islamabad next month on counterterrorism achievements. The meeting will also be attended by all the chief ministers, while the prime minister will also partially participate in it.
“The government is committed to improving the law and order and security situation in the country,” the minister said. He said there was a significant progress in the course of the investigation into the attack that killed Punjab home minister Shuja Khanzada.
The interior minister said the security situation had improved in the country and he intends to present a report to the federal cabinet in this regard very soon. He said a meeting with administrators of all religious seminaries across the country would also be held next month.
He said names will be put on the Exit Control List (ECL) only on the orders of courts and blacklist of 52,000 people, prepared by the Directorate of Passports, abolished.
Addressing a press conference at the Punjab House on Sunday, he said that the ECL was used in the past for settling political scores but names will now be added on it only on the directions of the superior judiciary.
Nisar said the ECL was used for political reasons in the past but this will not be the case in future. He said the right of adding the names on the ECL had been taken away from the Directorate of Passports and the names will now be added only on the orders of the Supreme Court and high courts. He said the people added in the ECL will have the right to go into review. He said that the case will be taken to its logical end within three years but those misusing double passports will have to complete the sentence.
“The ECL is not a joke. Unfortunately, people are being barred to fly abroad over petty domestic issues,” he said. There was no rule or policy for putting people on the no-fly list, he said, lamenting that a respectable person with military background had been on the ECL since the 1980s.
“There are thousands of names on the ECL which have no justification, and hundreds are from as far back as 1985,” added Nisar.
“A large number of names are on the list from the 1990s, and these were added on a whim by previous ministers and governments. Once on the list, people were restricted from travelling,” stated the interior minister. The interior minister also said that there were more than 8,000 names on the ECL, which is unacceptable for a democratic society.
Nisar stated that along with his team, he has spent the past many months working towards the overhaul of the ECL. He said under the new policy, the interior ministry will maintain the ECL in future and those recommended by the Supreme Court, high courts, defence forces, sensitive agencies, NAB and FIA will be put on the ECL. However, recommendations of the NAB and FIA will be reviewed by a committee for further scrutiny.
“Names of individuals would now be put on the ECL on the recommendations of defence forces and intelligence agencies,” Nisar said, adding the Passport Control List would contain the names of those deported from other countries and having dual passports.
As an alternative to the blacklist, the interior minister said, a passport list is being generated to target those individuals using two passports and resorting to illegal use with the help of these.
“We will have the assistance of the NAB and FIA,” he said, adding that their recommendations will also be closely monitored by the interior ministry. “Whosoever gets their name on the list will be notified and will be given a month’s time to prove it wrong,” he said.
He said the government was also going to remove thousands of people from the ECL. He said now only 3,000 people are on the ECL. The minister said in the past, the ECL was massively misused. He said not the Nadra chairman but the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should be ashamed of coming up with fresh contentions and pack of lies on daily basis.
Responding to PTI’s rhetoric against the Nadra chairman, the minister said: “Why should the Nadra chairman feel ashamed when he speaks the truth.”
Nisar said intelligence agencies had rescued a Chinese tourist kidnapped last year in an area close to the insurgency-prone regions. The unidentified man was abducted in May last year from Daraban in KP near the border with Balochistan province and the South Waziristan tribal district, both of which are rife with insurgents.
“The Chinese tourist was recovered on Saturday night after a successful operation and is to be handed over to the Chinese embassy in Islamabad anytime soon,” Nisar said, without giving details.
Officials said the man was apparently travelling through the area by bicycle when he was seized last year. A faction of the TTP had said it was behind the abduction. But Nisar did not disclose from where and under what circumstances the tourist was rescued.
China is one of Pakistan’s main allies, investing billions of dollars in infrastructure projects including nuclear power plants, dams and roads.
Responding to a question, Nisar rejected the impression of tapping conversation of former ISI chief Gen (retd) Zaheerul Islam during the PTI’s Dharna, saying that a strong reaction was given by the government on the federal minister’s statement that no such incident occurred.
“I myself was present in the prime minister’s meeting with the DG ISI and nothing like this occurred,” Nisar cleared. He said that there was no conflict between the government and military hierarchy and there were good relations between them.
“The government, army and people of Pakistan are in a state of war and to create controversy against the army could damage the country,” Nisar maintained. “This is our army and its protection is our obligation,” the minister said, adding that security matters relating to the army and Rangers should not be politicised and it will not be a good precedent if the ISPR replies to statements of politicians.