The government needs to purge every terrorist out
The government, it seems, needs to be pushed by the army again and again to do what constitutes its own part of the job in putting an end to extremism and terrorism. It has done little to activate the special courts set up under the PPA, there is yet no significant move to curb terrorist funding and the seminaries have yet to be cleansed of the extremist elements and supporters of terrorism. What is more, the PML-N government chose to get some of the sectarian hate mongers elected on its ticket during the 2013 elections. To crown it all, it subsequently chose JUI-F, which has a good number of such figures in its fold, as an ally at a time when the country is fighting an existential war against the religious and sectarian terrorists.
Mufti Kifayatullah arrested for making a hate speech on Thursday is a former JUI-F MPA. He was invited by his soul mate PML-N MPA Ilyas Chinioti to deliver the speech at the so-called “Istehkam-e-Pakistan Conference”. Kifayatullah allegedly glorified Malik Ishaq and criticised the widely hailed operation Zarb-e-Azb. This is a strange way to bring “istehkam” or stability to the country. JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman has meanwhile asked the government to refrain from imposing ‘curbs’ on ulema and seminaries which he calls, with a crooked logic, violation of basic rights. This is the first defiance of the NAP under which a number of hate mongers have been nabbed during the last few months. Any weakness shown by the government would encourage others to chime in.
The government’s go-slow policy in the implementation of the NAP has to be replaced with prompt action. The ruling party needs to purge itself of those with prominent sectarian tenancies. It won’t do maintaining, like Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, that they are no more doing what they used to do once. A thorough and all out operation has to be conducted against those spreading hatred irrespective of whether they are associated with mosques or seminaries.
