Punjab govt’s handling of JeM raises eyebrows

ISLAMABAD: While the six-member team constituted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to investigate the Pathankot incident is set to meet for the first time today (Friday), serious questions are being raised on the performance of the Punjab government on controlling the activities of the banned organisation Jaish-e-Muhammad (JM) despite the fact that a year has passed since the initiation of the National Action Plan.

Sources told The News that the investigation team, in addition to visiting Pathankot in India, will also carry out intense investigations in Pakistan and will also thoroughly probe all the arrested top JeM leaders and its activists. Sources said that the investigation team will be given access to all arrested leaders when it will be required.

Jaish-e-Muhammad was banned by the federal government on January 14, 2002 (exactly 14 years ago) through the notification F.7/26/2001-Poll-I(3) following international pressure to act against terrorist outfits after 9/11. After his release from the Indian jails in December 1999 as a result of negotiations between the Indian government and hijackers of the Indian Airline flight IC-814 in Afghanistan, Masood Azhar was initially a free man in southern Punjab city of Bahawalpur. He used to visit and address massive gatherings in Punjab and Sindh (especially Karachi) without any resistance from the then government. He established the Jaish-e-Muhammad in 2000. However, after the JM was declared a proscribed organisation in 2002, Masood mostly remained in custody of law enforcement agencies (or under house arrest in Bahawalpur) but his organisation continued functioning underground. Offices of his organisation set up in different seminaries in different cities also continued to function.

However, after December 16, 2014 Army Public School (APS) Peshawar attack, the National Action Plan was announced and its implementation was started. For the first time, a serious action against almost all the terrorist organisations was witnessed. The provincial governments were tasked to arrest or restrict the movements of leaders of banned organisations and to seal all their offices. However, apparently the JM was an exception as an official press release from the Prime Minister's Office on January 13, 2015 declared that some leaders of the JM have been arrested and its offices have been sealed after information regarding the Pathankot attack was shared. The release reads, “Based on the initial investigations in Pakistan, and the information provided, several individuals belonging to Jaish-e-Muhammad have been apprehended. The offices of the organisation are also being traced and sealed.”

It is believed that the top JM leadership was in the custody of law enforcement agencies for the past many years. After sealing different JM offices in Bahawalpur and in some other areas, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Punjab, also sealed a JM seminary “Madrassa Abdullah Ibn-e-Maalik” in Daska city of Punjab on Thursday. According to the Punjab government officials, this Daska seminary was one of the main hubs of JM activities and believed to be the main financier of the banned outfit. However, this was sealed only on Thursday after functioning openly during the last whole year when the NAP was being implemented.

The Punjab government officials argue that the JM could not become the focus of anti-terror operations as it was not ‘active’ and the main focus of actions under the NAP was against sectarian and pro-Taliban organisations. Punjab Home Minister Rana Sanaullah, however, told the media that the current action against the JM seminaries was because of suspicion and so far the government does not have any actionable evidences against this banned outfit. The statement of Sanaullah reflects the government’s approach towards acting against proscribed organisations as he still needs evidence to restrict the activities of banned outfits.

The Pathankot incident investigation team set up by the prime minister comprises four civilian and two army officers including Rai Tahir, AIG CTD Punjab (Convener), Salahuddin Khan, AIG CTD KP, Azeem Arshad, Director IB Lahore, Dr Usman Anwar, Director FIA Lahore, Brig Noman Saeed, ISI, and Lt Col Irfan Mirza, MI. The team will meet today (Friday) and will define ToRs and future strategy to ascertain the facts. The team will probe all the persons arrested in connection with the Pathankot attack.