KARACHI: Construction of mosques without NOCs banned
By Arman Sabir
KARACHI, July 26: A ban has been imposed on the construction of new mosques in the city with the exception of those having prior permission from the Sindh Home Department, Dawn learnt here on Tuesday.
Well-placed sources said that in a series of high-level meetings, which continued on Tuesday, it was decided that prior permission for the construction of a mosque was already a prerequisite and every police station had been directed to keep an eye on the construction of new mosques.
Besides, the SHOs of all police stations have been directed to collect all relevant data about imams and muezzins of every mosque in their respective jurisdiction. The data should contain information about their family background, native town, their length of stay in the city, and their affiliation with any of the religious or political parties or groups, if any.
The police had also been directed to call on the committee members of every mosque and learn about the mode of collecting donations.
“It should be ensured that only one donation box is placed in a mosque and no one was allowed to collect donations through any other means,” the sources said.
It was also decided that police officials would visit all madressahs in the city to check visas of foreign students studying there. If any foreign student is found with expired visa, he will be arrested for overstay and a case registered against him/her in accordance with the relevant laws.
The sources said that the police had also been given a task to update the profiles of those included in the category ‘A’ in the fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The police had already picked up 24 people belonging to different sectarian groups who were being detained under section 11-EEE of fourth schedule of the ATA.
The police had also been directed to monitor newspapers and magazines besides pamphlets, posters, banners, handbills, etc. and make sure that no “objectionable material” was published or distributed. If anyone found reporting, printing, publishing, or distributing “objectionable material or literature”, action would be taken against him/her as per law.
The sources said the government had also been considering strict enforcement of a ban on the display of licensed weapons. It was suggested that an FIR be registered under section 11-B of the ATA against those found displaying licensed weapons.
In the series of meetings, a grave concern was shown on the rise of street crimes and it was decided to establish at least 130 check posts across the city.
It was also decided that representatives from the public would be requested to sit with the police at those check posts to keep a check on police officials and make the process transparent.
The Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) had been asked to propose the names of citizens who would sit with the police in the check posts.
It was also decided that a complaint registered at any of the check posts would be considered as an FIR. After the establishment of all the sanctioned check posts, the number of police stations would be decreased.
Besides, all of the police stations had been directed to construct 16-feet by 12-feet visitor’s room with an attached bathroom for those visiting police stations.
Regarding the forthcoming local government election, the police had been told to convene a meeting of possible candidates and inform them about the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan. A video camera would be installed at every sensitive polling station and the camps of candidates would be pitched 200 yards away from polling stations.
