November 17, 2003	Monday	Ramazan 21, 1424

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LAHORE, Nov 16: Over 60 offices and seminaries of the three outlawed militant organizations have so far been sealed in Punjab in the ongoing crackdown launched on Saturday evening, with their leadership terming the action unwarranted.

Except for Lahore where the operation has been completed with the closure of seven offices and seminaries, the operation is going on in other parts of the province. “It is over as we have met the directions we got,” SSP Lahore Aftab Cheema told Dawn.

Of the sealed offices, he said, four belonged to the outlawed Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan, two of Khuddam-ul-Islam and one of Islami Tehrik Pakistan. No one has been arrested.

Sources said focus of the operation revolved around efforts to apprehend Maulana Masood Azhar of the banned Khuddam-ul-Islam, previously known as Jaish-i-Mohammad. The police sources quoting intelligence reports believe Maulana Azhar could be somewhere in Sialkot.

Bahawalpur DPO Sikandar Hayat told Dawn by phone that police conducted raids for the arrest of Maulana Azhar “but he does not seem to be at his native town.”

He said nine offices and seminaries of the three groups had so far been closed in his division. He denied allegations levelled by Maulana Azhar’s family of trespassing and inhuman treatment during the raids. “This is absolutely wrong. We used women police in all the raids and never entered anywhere forcibly.”

However, Maulana Azhar’s brother Mufti Abdur Raof alleged that the police violated law and exceeded all limits during the raids. “They (the police) violated the sanctity of our homes and mistreated our family members.” He said neither he nor any other member of his family had any idea about Maulana Azhar. “He is travelling somewhere either in Punjab or Sindh. I don’t know exactly.”

Mufti Raof said the decision to ban the organization was wrong. He said the council of the banned group would meet soon to decide its future strategy.

Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan was planing to move courts against the sealing of its offices and seminaries. “It is our constitutional right. Our supreme council is analyzing the situation and we will soon challenge the decision,” acting chief of the outlawed group, Maulana Ahmad Ludhyanvi, said by phone from his native town in Kamalia, Toba Tek Singh district.

He said the decision to ban his party was regrettable. “We cannot understand as to why the ban was imposed especially at a time when we are working on a different agenda, which is political.”

Maulana Ludhyanvi suggested establishment of a tribunal headed by a serving army general to learn the differences between his party and the banned Islami Tehrik Pakistan. This tribunal may include judges, lawyers and religious leaders from all schools of thought and “any decision by it will be acceptable to us.”

No one from the senior command of the outlawed Islami Tehrik Pakistan was available for comments, but a meeting presided over by Allama Riaz Hussain held at Jamia Al-Muntazar condemned the arrest of Allama Sajid Naqvi. “Our community is concerned over the situation and we demand an immediate release of Allama Sajid Naqvi,” Mr Hussain said.

Besides the seven closures in Lahore and nine in Bahawalpur, 13 offices and seminaries were sealed in Gujranwala, 11 in Dera Ghazi Khan, four in Sialkot, five in Faisalabad, one in Jhang, two in Muridke, four in Sahiwal and as many in Multan.

The police sources meanwhile said the Punjab IGP was scheduled to hold a meeting of all the district police heads to review the situation on Monday (today).

Our Peshawar Bureau adds: The city police on Sunday launched a crackdown on banned organizations in the provincial capital and sealed the local office of Khuddam-ul-Islam of Maulana Masood Azhar, senior officials said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (operations) Inam Ghani told Dawn the police sealed the office of Khuddam-ul-Islam located in the cantonment area.

“Only the office of the organization has been sealed. No office-bearer of any militant or sectarian group has been arrested in the city,” he added.

The SSP said other banned organizations Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan and Islami Tehrik Pakistan had no offices in the provincial metropolis.

He said the police had sealed the offices of former Tehrik-i-Jafria Pakistan and Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan in January 2002, and the relaunched groups were not allowed to open offices in the city.

The federal government placed a ban on three sectarian and militant organizations on Saturday and directed the law enforcement agencies to seal their offices.

Officials said a couple of days back police did not allow activists of Khuddam-ul-Islam to set up a donation camp in Hashtnagri, a congested locality of the provincial metropolis.

However, Jamaat-ul-Dawa, which had been put on the watch list, has set up a donation camp in cantonment area since the first of Ramazan, collecting donations.