ISLAMABAD, July 19: Police on Tuesday arrested over 100 clerics and students of seminaries during a country-wide crackdown launched for confiscating hate material and detaining elements sheltering militants, police sources said.
The operation against suspected militants in different parts of the country started after sunset and continued till late night.
The crackdown was launched 12 days after the London blasts in which three of the four suicide bombers were said to be Britons of Pakistani origin who visited the country recently.
Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told Dawn the action had been taken against people involved in publishing hate material, making provocative speeches and sheltering militants.
Responding to a question, the minister said the government was ready to face the backlash for the action taken against hardline religious organizations and their leaders.
A high-level security meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday in the interior ministry in which law-enforcement agencies’ future line of action would be decided. The meeting will be presided over by the interior minister and will be attended by representatives of the four provinces.
According to police sources, many security personnel and students of seminaries received injuries during clashes.
In several places, police resorted to baton-charge and fired teargas shells to disperse students of Madressahs protesting against the crackdown. The students pelted police parties with stones, causing injuries to police personnel and members of the general public.
Several public buildings and private vehicles were damaged during the clashes.
President General Pervez Musharraf had convened a high-level meeting two days ago which was attended by heads of law-enforcement agencies and called for launching a campaign against publication of hate material and extremist literature and collection of donations by religious organizations.
In Islamabad, over 40 people were rounded up, including Mufti Ibrar, personal secretary to the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
About eight seminaries were raided in Islamabad, including Madressah Jama-i-Hafsa commonly known as Lal Masjid which is said to be the strongest of the Deobandi sect, Jama-i-Farooqia, Madressah Jama-i-Umar, a Madressah in Rana Market and one seminary in sector I-8/3.
According to some students of Madressah Jama-i-Hafsa where about 6,000 students are enrolled, a police party headed by SHO Aabpara police station reached the seminary and asked some students to call the incharge of the Madressah, Maulana Abdul Aziz, and his brother Ghazi Abdul Rashid.
They said the incharge of the Madressah invited the police officer to come inside and discuss what he wanted to do. However, the SHO was reluctant to enter the seminary and asked the Maulana to come out.
After some time, the police party entered the seminary to arrest the head of the institution and detained seven students. However, Maulana Abdul Aziz and his brother had by that time escaped from the place.
A police party tried to arrest some women teachers but girl students resisted them and thwarted their plan.
Police resorted to a baton-charge and students hit back.
Later, students of the Madressah staged a demonstration, chanting slogans against US President George Bush and President Musharraf.
The police contingent headed by SSP Islamabad Liaquat Khan, which was standing near the Islamabad Hotel some half a kilometre away, fired teargas shells when the students tried to attack them. The clash continued till the filing of this report.
Mohammad Asghar adds from Rawalpindi: Law-enforcement agencies took into custody at least two activists of the banned Tehrik-i-Jafria organization, security sources said.
Law-enforcement personnel also started questioning teachers and students of seminaries and checking printed material.
A senior police officer said that they had been taking all possible measures for protection of churches since the London bombings. The number of police guards deployed on church duty had been doubled and surveillance of other places of worship had been strengthened.
Asif Shahzad adds from Lahore: Police aided by other law-enforcement agencies picked up on Tuesday over 30 members of banned groups in a crackdown launched on the outlawed organizations in Punjab.
Police sources told Dawn that the raids were conducted in Lahore and elsewhere in the province. Eleven people were arrested in Lahore, six in Khushab, three in Faisalabad and the others in Multan and D.G. Khan.
Lahore police chief DIG Tariq Saleem told Dawn that the operation had been launched in line with the directive of President Musharraf. “We have made some important arrests,” he said.
He said nobody would be allowed to misuse mosques and seminaries.
Seven offices of the banned groups, which had been found working under changed names, were sealed and a large quantity of hate literature was seized.
The arrested men belonged to the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Jaish-i-Mohammad, Harkatul Mujahideen and Hizbul Tehrir.
Police have registered about 20 cases against administrators of mosques and seminaries on charges of misusing loudspeakers and promoting hate literature.
The raids were continuing in the province till late night.
Saleem Shahid adds from Quetta: Police rounded up on Tuesday over 30 suspect extremists in connection with their involvement in terrorist attacks and in the killing of a principal of a private school.
According to police sources, special teams headed by senior officers raided many areas in the provincial capital.
“Yes, police have picked up over 30 suspect extremists during the operation conducted in different areas of Quetta,” Capital City Police Officer Salman Syed told Dawn. He said that the operation was continuing and more arrests were likely.
The suspects taken into custody mostly belong to banned organizations and include some important activists who were wanted in different case of terrorism.
The police officer said all steps were being taken to curb the new wave of sectarian attacks in Quetta in which an educationist was killed and a doctor was injured.
Reports reaching here from Kohat said that police conducted raids in some places for arresting activists of banned organizations and detained at least four suspects.
Shafiq Ahmed adds from Peshawar: Law-enforcement agencies plan to launch a crackdown on militant outfits throughout the NWFP from Wednesday, a senior police official told Dawn.
“We have not received the green light yet but we have made full preparations and the operation is beginning from Wednesday morning,” the official said.
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