Last weeks terror attack on one of Pakistans most popular Sufi shrines,Lahores Data Darbar,resulted not only in pain and anger but also action on part of the people and the government alike.
Dawn reported on July 5: The Ulema said suicide attacks were against the teachings of Islam and vowed to foil any plot to fan sectarian violence in the country. The resolution was passed at a meeting of the Ulema with Interior Minister Rehman Malik. The Punjab government was,expectedly,at the receiving end,reported Daily Times: Senior religious scholars have accused the Punjab government of harbouring terrorists in Sindh as such elements are freely conducting their activities in the urban areas… Another report in the paper stated that minutes before Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif was supposed to visit the attack site,panic gripped the Data Darbar area as two religious groups scuffled and started aerial firing while one of them tried to forcibly enter the other ones mosque located in a street near the shrine.
Inadequate proscription
Shahbaz Sharifs government proscribed terror outfits allegedly based in his province,reported Daily Times on July 5: The Punjab Home Department has decided to launch a crackdown on 17 banned organisations in the province and formed task forces at the district level to oversee the operations… Each task force will consist of CID,Special Branch and Anti-Terrorist Squad officials,while the district police officer would supervise the force and report to the Punjab Home Department… Outfits like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan,Lashkar-e-Tayyaba,Jaish-e-Muhammad,Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan,Tehreek-e-Jafariya Pakistan,Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi,Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan,Khudamul Islam,Islami Tehreek Pakistan,Hizabut Tehreer,Jamiatul Insar,Jamiatul Furqan,Kherun Nas International Trust,Islamic Student Movement,Balochistan Liberation Army and the Jamaat-ud-Dawa are have been brought under the scanner.
However,in this long list,the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is conspicuous by its absence,The News pointed out on July 5: according to Rehman Malik,TTP and al-Qaeda,in collaboration with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba,were active in other parts of the country,especially in the Punjab. A cold war is underway between the federal Interior Ministry and the Punjab government… According to an official of the Punjab Home Department,the departments working under the Interior Ministry dont give specific information about the possible extremist acts… the ministries usually provided general information about a possible extremist act in a city and specific information was very rarely imparted. Dawn added on July 6: Jamaat-ud-Dawa of Hafiz Saeed has not been restricted like the others,but Saeed and his two associates have been barred from travelling abroad. Their accounts have been frozen and they will not be able to get arms licences.
Conference on terror
PM Yousaf Raza Gilani held a meeting with all CMs on the deteriorating law and order situation in Pakistan. Daily Times reported on July 6 that the government offered to hold talks with militant groups provided they lay down arms and accept the writ of state… The News added: The federal and provincial governments resolved to stop banned outfits from operating under any other name with rigorous monitoring of activities of all such organisations.
The idea to hold such a moot at the national level was Nawaz Sharifs,when he spoke to the PM soon after the Data Darbar attack. But in his follow-up on the idea,as reported by Dawn on July 9,his words failed to match action: Within a week of having proposed a national conference on security,Nawaz Sharif has written a letter to PM Yousuf Raza Gilani suggesting ways to make the proposed conference more meaningful. And after having the letter faxed over to the PM,the PML-N leader,who,along with his party is under fire for their ambivalent stand on terrorism,flew out of the country without making public a date of return. The incident does not offer much reassurance to those hoping for more commitment from the countrys second largest party.
Nikah redefined
The Punjab government sent out a notification,reported Daily Times on July 9,to the effect that: the government has made it compulsory for brides and grooms to provide identity cards of their parents and witnesses of their marriage,along with a blood test report declaring both partners free from any disease. It has also made it compulsory for the parents of the bride and groom to sign the nikah form. Similarly,passport-size photographs of the couple would be attached to the form along with the exact dates of birth of the bride and groom.
