The law and the minister
After being put on the mat by a fellow cabinet member for giving liberty to the banned outfits for holding rallies across the country, the interior minister cleverly shifted the blame to the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice for not having furnished its recommendations on the proposed legislation aimed at taking action against such elements.
The National Assembly sitting on Friday saw Minister of State Sh Waqqas Akram scathingly criticise Rehman Malik for lying before the cabinet that provincial governments were violating the law by letting “Pakistan Defence Council”, a conglomerate of banned outfits, hold public meetings. He was right to make a point that it could not have organised its show in Islamabad on Friday without the interior ministry’s permission.
The state minister, who’s reportedly on the hit-list of the defunct Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, took a strong exception to frequent public appearances of the leaders of the banned outfits. After Akram PML(N)’s Sahibzada Fazl Karim also referred to the Fourth Schedule and other relevant clauses of the Constitution under which the people belonging to such organisations could not go to public places, let alone lead rallies and hold meetings. But the fact that it is happening on government’s watch should be a cause of concern.
The Defence Council of Pakistan is hardly doing any service to the nation except providing a toehold to Sh Rashid Ahmad, Hamid Gul, Ijazul Haq and others of their ilk for their political survival. A section of media also cannot escape the blame for promoting these so-called leaders by letting them propound extremist views in talk shows. Both Ahmad and Haq need to do much explaining for their roles in the Lal Masjid incident.
That having been said, the interior minister should stop making lame excuses and get the senate standing committee to refer the bill to the house sooner rather than later. Further delay in carrying out legislation on the issue will cause problems for the country when its efforts to combat the growing scourge of extremism are viewed with suspicion by the world at large.