Jihadis with illegal arms to face action: Moin
Jang/The News

LAHORE: Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider on Thursday said the government would crack down on the arms' cachets of Jihadi groups if any such illegal weapon accumulation was tipped off.

Talking to newsmen at the inauguration of Bab-e-Azadi at Wagha Check-post, the minister made it clear the government would in no circumstances make any compromise on the drive for the recovery of illegal arms.

He said: "No one is above the law. If a Jihadi carries a weapon, he will be taken to task. Even Jihadi organisations are not supposed to carry or display a weapon.'' He added if Jihadi organisations had any cachets, the government would take strict action under the law. "There is one rule for the recovery of arms across the country. Nobody is exempted from the ban on display of weapons, not even the Jihadi forces.''

To a question, the interior minister said the Jihadi organisations were cooperating with the government. "We have asked them not to display arms nor establish training camps nor set up stalls outside mosques with banners for raising Jihad funds. There is an improvement in this regard. I have already stated the Jihadi organisations are obeying the law.''

However, Moin said the government could not stop them from raising funds through decent means in the noble cause of helping Kashmiri refugees. "If somebody wants to donate to it, the government could not impose restrictions. Neither could it be effective. However, the government will not like banner display, which sends a negative signal to the world.''

He said the government and Jihadi organisations saw eye to eye with each other on the issues which could have a negative or positive impact on the image of the country. "There is no dispute between the government and the Jihadi outfits as both have evolved a joint strategy, that is, the Jihadis have agreed not to display arms nor to violate the law." Referring to arrests of Jihadi workers in Karachi for raising funds in a provocative manner, he said it was an isolated incident.

Regarding utility of imposing a ban on already underground Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan (SMP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangavi (LJ), the minister said the action was aimed at giving a strong message that the government would not tolerate sectarian violence. "The government has succeeded in extracting vital information on sectarian militant outfits from a PO Dilawar, with a headmoney. Dilawar dropped important cues during investigations with regard to murders in Karachi. "Similarly, we have also succeeded in Punjab,'' the interior minister said.