Govt has decided to ban Ansarul Shariah: minister

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday said the government would soon impose a ban on Ansarul Sharia, a terrorist group involved in an attack on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader in Karachi, and also get enforced Madaris reforms in the country.

Talking to the media here, the minister said the mastermind of the attack had been arrested and other culprits would be arrested shortly as the law enforcement agencies were following them. Ahsan Iqbal said that it was a major breakthrough and the government was committed to breaking the entire network of the group.

He said that director general Rangers had briefed him about the incident and so far developments in this regard.To a question, the minister said that every political party had political freedom, including the MQM-Pakistan, but no violent group or party would be allowed to spread anarchy or chaos in the country.

While expressing deep sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the Awami Markaz fire incident, Ahsan Iqbal said that he had sought an inquiry report of the incident.Meanwhile, Ahsan Iqbal told the Senate’s Committee on Interior that the government would implement the National Action Plan (NAP) effectively and protect young minds from extremism.

The meeting of the Senate’s Committee on Interior and Narcotics was held here on Wednesday under Chairman Senator Rehman Malik. The minister told the committee that it was decided in the meeting that all the chief secretaries of the provinces would meet once in a month and chief ministers would sit together after two months for better implementation of NAP. Ahsan Iqbal said all recommendations of the committee members and the general public would be welcomed for proper implementation of NAP.

He said that China, Russia and the European Union had supported Pakistan after the policy statement of US President Donald Trump. “Even in the United States, there was support for Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war against terrorism. China did not take any u-turn in the BRICS Summit,” he told the committee.

While chairing the meeting, Rehman Malik strongly condemned the brutalities against the Rohingya Muslims and asked the international community to play a role to stop the worst kind of inhuman brutalities. He said it was heartbreaking to witness the worst kind of human rights violations.

Rehman Malik stated that the world was conspiring against Pakistan and that militants from Burma were trained by Pakistan. He notified that Qari Jamil was a member of al-Qaeda, whereas al-Qaeda was projecting a wrong image of Muslims. “It is a tragedy that a handful of al-Qaeda terrorists try to represent the Muslim community of the world,” he said.

He emphasised that CIA was the one which trained Burmese militants during the Afghan war along the Indian border and it was Indian Prime Minister Modi’s plan to derail Pakistan and the Muslim community of the world.

Rehman Malik said that the recent fire, which broke in the Awami Markaz building in Islamabad, was a clear indication that these kinds of high rise building were without any fire security and served as a hazard for the public.

He said that no fire safety measures had been taken in the past nor would be taken unless some strict actions were taken against the owners as buildings were constructed without fire safety measures. “A law should be made which makes it mandatory for owners to follow the fire safety measures and maintain the high rise buildings semi-annually,” he insisted. He also said that it was because of these kinds of incidents that people died or got burnt as no preventive measures were taken beforehand.

Rehman Malik also highlighted that currently there was no law by which negligence for such measures was punished. So it should be our priority to do so, he said.He further added that buildings like the Prime Minister’s House or President’s House are secure, safe and well maintained where VIPs come and go whereas other buildings were not regulated. He emphasised that around the world, countries had safety commissions whereas in Pakistan there was no regulation whatsoever.

On the matter of amendment in the suicide bill i.e. omission of Section 325, Rehman Malik said that people committing or willing to commit suicide was a national issue and getting worse by each day. Mentally ill and distressed individuals are vulnerable, easy to manipulate and can be used as a tool for creating violence and unrest in the society, he added.

He said that killing oneself cannot make a person Kafir/non-Muslim and it is between Allah and that person, adding that intentions of a person who has committed suicide cannot be known unless investigated properly. Although, Islam has discouraged suicide but those who attempt but fail to take their life, must be examined and treated if need be.

Rehman Malik stated that a person who is already in acute depression must not be punished or put to jail but rather a commission shall be made to monitor his mental condition, thus he/she must be subjected to proper psychological treatment.

He also emphasised that suicide must not be made a fashion. And online games like Blue Whale must be completely banned and blocked from Pakistan. Malik said that among several problems in Pakistan, one for which there is no law is witchcraft. He also said that witchcraft should be banned from Pakistan for good.

Moreover, Malik also talked about providing fundamental rights to transgenders. He stated that the PPP government had for the first time issued CNICs to transgenders. He highlighted that the Mughals used to appoint transgenders to positions of trust and authority, unlike today where well-educated transgenders are denied jobs. He further said that it is our duty to give transgender a respectful status and a law must be made to protect them from public harassment.

Malik further emphasised that character assassination of politicians and their family members on social media shall be stopped immediately and social media bullies must be punished. He said, “I am not here to put conditions on social media but bullying politicians especially females and their children is a matter of serious concern. Maryam Nawaz Sharif is our daughter but in social media wrong things were put against her.” He also said that people pay others to bully politicians and to produce fake content against them for bad publicity.

In addition, Rehman Malik said that the Thailand Money Laundering case shall not be forgotten. It is the criminal negligence on the part of the ambassador and he must be stopped from going abroad as an ambassador of Pakistan to any country until he clears himself of all the charges. Proper investigation within 30 days shall be completed because it’s a matter of Pakistan’s reputation.

Malik further said that the deputy director of CDA should be protected under the law as false allegations calling him Qadiyani were put just because he objected to employees from using the CDA cafeteria for other purposes. “Strict and immediate actions shall be taken against those who falsely accused the deputy director of CDA as Qadiyani and tried to encourage students of nearby hostels via social media to teach him a lesson,” he said.