Separate laws to deal with terrorists,sectarian elements: Nisar

Says consultation underway to bring fast trial courts to try terrorists;

everyone knows what problem PPP has with him

RAWALPINDI: Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday said separate laws will be enacted for terrorists and people involved in sectarian violence. 

Talking to journalists here after meeting the newly-elected local government representatives, the minister said consultation with the opposition was underway for introducing fast trial courts to bring the terrorists to justice.

The minister said there was no report about any other person going missing from the federal capital except Professor Salman Haider. He said the law enforcement agencies were making all-out efforts to recover all the missing persons as soon as possible. He said the government has a clear policy on the missing persons. He said the security agencies were fulfilling their responsibilities. He said he himself was monitoring the case and taking reports on a daily basis. 

To a question, he said the independent committee probing the News Leak issue would submit its report in a few days. He said he had nothing to do with the News Leak committee as it was formed by the government and only notified by the Interior Ministry.

Chaudhry Nisar said no action was taken over the bogus identity cards during the previous regimes. He said there was no example of blocking fake computerised national identity cards (CNICs) in the past. He said the present government realised the issue and started country-wide re-verification campaign of CNICs. He said around 450,000 fake CNICs had been blocked during the last three-and-a-half years while over 32,400 passports were also revoked during the period.

Nisar said positive and constructive criticism from the media was welcome, but it should not be at the behest of opponents. He said the situation would be clear within the next few days. He said the Interior Ministry has prepared its reply regarding the Quetta Commission report, which would be submitted to the Supreme Court on January 17 or 18.

INP adds: Nisar said there was no room for proscribed terrorist outfits in the country. He said either the elements of these outfits are eliminated in operation or their cases are before the courts.

He regretted the criticism made on his statement regarding the sectarian outfits. He said his statement in the Senate is on the record and maintained that there was a difference between the organisations proscribed on sectarian lines and terrorist outfits.

The minister lashed out at his critics saying it was unfair to link everything to Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi, chief of the proscribed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ). He was referring to criticism from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for allegedly maintaining friendly ties with the ASWJ chief.

The minister said scholars Sajid Naqvi and Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi could not be linked to terrorist organisations but their organisations were still proscribed on sectarian basis. He asked what was wrong in saying the Shia-Sunni conflict dated back 1,300 years and was part of the Islamic history.

“Everyone knows what problems the PPP has with me,” the minister told journalists, adding that the PPP’s slanderous comments have no value. He said the PPP has not responded to his speech in the Senate.