Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday presented an interim report to President Asif Ali Zardari on action against targeted killers, outlaws and miscreants in Karachi, informing the president about the number of criminals rounded up in targeted operations by the Rangers and police personnel in parts of Karachi on the basis of information gathered by intelligence agencies and informers of police.
A source privy to the details of the meeting confided to Pakistan Today that the president expressed satisfaction on the measures taken by the law enforcement agencies to return peace and normalcy in the port city.
The source said Malik also briefed the president that the operation against the miscreants was conducted in such a transparent and indiscriminate manner that no political party had been able to lodge even a single complaint against the law enforcement agencies which reflected that all parties were satisfied and only hardcore criminals had been targeted in the operation in a pure professional manner.
The minister was quoted as saying that the targeted operation had yielded the desired results as criminals had been arrested and all stakeholders were satisfied.
Stage set: Malik also told the president that the stage was now set for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to rejoin the federal and provincial governments as most of their complaints had been redressed, the source added.
Complaint: “The minister lodged a formal complaint to the president against Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, stating that despite the baseless blames levelled against him, he did not react to any of the accusations made by Mirza, adding that the reason was his commitment to the cause of the PPP. He also requested the president to form a judicial commission to probe all the allegations Mirza had levelled against him,” the source said.
Malik said Mirza was involved in provoking the people of Lyari against him despite the fact that Lyari was a stronghold of the PPP, the source said, adding that the interior minister told the president that there was an urgent need to de-weaponise Karachi for the good of the inhabitants of the port city.
“However, the minister in his presentation made to the president said his ministry had devised a mechanism to streamline the possession of licenced weapons and any effort to purchase new arms and licences should be discouraged,” he said, adding that the minister proposed that all arms licences should be cancelled once and for all and new licences should be issued with a high fee and with a foolproof responsibility mechanism in place as it would help the government bag a large amount in revenue as well as streamlining the arms data across the country.
“The interior minister briefed the president that the Printing Corporation of Pakistan had been directed to provide complete record of total number of arms licences printed by it and issued to the federal and provincial governments since 1947. He also told the president that his ministry had proposed that all fake arms licence holders be tried under law,” said the source, adding that the minister told the president that the Interior Ministry had decided that the FIA would enquire the total number of arms licences issued over a period of ten years starting from year 2000.
Gilani: Later, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani called on Zardari and both leaders discussed the law and order in Karachi, talks with the MQM and the flood situation in interior Sindh and south Punjab as well as the government’s response to the calamity-hit areas.
The president emphasised that all necessary measures be taken to maintain peace in Karachi and action against extortionists must be taken regardless of their political affiliations.
He said all possible measures should be taken to provide relief to the flood-affected people in various parts of the country mobilising all available resources at the federal and provincial levels.
Zardari called for urgent medical attention to dengue patients asking for measures to prevent the disease from assuming epidemic proportions.
Briefing the prime minister on his recent visit to China, the president said he emphasised enhanced connectivity between the countries of the region as the key to prosperity and development of the region.
He said the China Eurasia Expo was a timely and laudable initiative of the Chinese government to build economic bridges between East and the West.
The president said during the meetings with his Afghan, Tajik and Russian counterparts in Dushanbe, there was unanimity of views on taking practical and effective steps on speeding up the process of developing long-term cooperative programmes, establishing communication networks, increasing trade and economic activities and to promote cooperation in the fight against militancy besides other menaces such as the drug trafficking. Zardari said mutual consensus on extending cooperation in various areas including energy, infrastructure development and regional trade was a positive development that bode well for the socio-economic prosperity of the region.
