Government failed to deal with banned outfits

The federal government has so far made no concrete efforts to deal with banned militant organisations that have openly continued their activities under the cover of Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC). For the last several weeks, Difa-e-Pakistan Council, which also comprises two banned organisations Siaph-e-Sahaba Pakistan (Lashkar-e-Jhangvi or Ahle Sunnat Waal Jamaat) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (Lashkar-e-Taiba), has continued its activities in various parts of the country.
The DPC has organised public rallies in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan and is also planning to hold a rally in the federal capital. The Council has also organised corner meetings in Islamabad but the government has so far failed to devise any strategy to curb the activities of banned organisations operating under the umbrella of DPC. Sources said the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior discussed the matter of the banned organisations and constituted a sub-committee under the convenor-ship of Sheikh Waqas Akram.
They further said the Interior Ministry had written a letter to provincial governments to check the activities of banned outfits. He said the Interior Ministry had also released a list of 31 banned organisations. The list also showed that different militant outfits are operating under a new name - Jaish-i-Muhammad and Khuddam-ul-Islam are two names of the same organisation. Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Tehreek-e-Jafria Pakistan have changed their names to Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan and Islami Tehreek, respectively.
The organisations on the list are al Qaeda, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi, Jamiat-ul Ansar, Jamiat-ul-Furqan, Hizb-ut-Tehrir, Khair-un-Naas International Trust, Islamic Students Movement, Lashkar-e-Islam, Haji Namdar Group, Balochistan Liberation Army, Balochistan Republican Army, Balochistan Liberation Front, Lashkar-e-Balochistan, Balochistan Liberation United Front, Balochistan Musallah Difa Tanzeem, Al Akhtar Trust and Al Rasheed Trust. Similarly, People's Aman Committee of Karachi, Shia Tulaba Action Committee, Markaz Sabeel Organisation and Tanzeem-e-Naujawanan-e-Sunnat of Gilgit-Baltistan are included.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik had given an assurance in National Assembly that the government would not allow the proscribed organisations to stage sit-in in Islamabad under the cover of DPC and also promised strict action to be taken if DPC tired to violate the laws. Two cases had already been registered against banned Sipah-e-Sahaba leaders Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi and Dr Khadim Hussain Dalo for addressing a public gathering at sector G-9, he said.