October 12, 2008	Sunday	Shawwal 12, 1429

PESHAWAR, Oct 11: The NWFP police received directives to take action against foreigners including Afghan nationals, who were residing illegally in the province or working without work permits in mosques and seminaries, sources said.

Sources said that fresh directives had been issued to the police force in the wake of growing militancy and wave of extremism in urban and rural areas of the province. Police had been directed to arrest illegal aliens and hand them over to the Special Branch.

It is learnt that a large number of foreigners including Afghans, who did not possess work permits or legal status in Pakistan, had been functioning as prayer leaders and teachers in mosques and seminaries. Officials said that those foreigners could indulge in any kind of illegal activities and it was necessary to take action against them.

An official source said that the provincial police officer had recently asked all regional police officers (RPOs) and deputy inspector generals (DIGs) to take action against all aliens, who did not possess work permit, irrespective of their nationality and hand them over to the concerned authorities for further action.

Officials in NWFP Auqaf Department told Dawn that the federal government had also sought data about aliens who had been preaching and teaching in mosques and seminaries in the province.

“We have informed the federal government that our department has no data about prayer leaders and other people who are teaching in seminaries and mosques,” an official said. The Auqaf department, he said, maintained record of only 72 mosques across the province where Khateeb and prayer leaders were appointed regularly.

Unlike other countries, officials said, there was no mechanism or legal provision for the registration of mosques and appointment of prayer leaders. This was not mandatory to register a mosque as no department maintained records of mosques and prayer leaders, said an official.

He said that under the Society Act only religious seminaries were registered in the country and there was no such law to regularise mosques. He said that only Special Branch casually collected data about mosques and Khateeb in urban areas.

“Certainly there should be proper laws to manage affairs of the mosques like in other Muslim countries,” the official said.

Sources said that government registered seminaries in the province under the Society Act but record of teaching staff in seminaries was not maintained. They said that in a number of seminaries Afghan nationals had been teaching without work permits.

It is worth mentioning that despite presence of large number of illegal Afghans in NWFP the federal government had yet to extend the role of the National Alien Registration authority (Nara) to the province.

Sources said that provincial chief had also directed the concerned authorities to encourage people representatives, ulema and notables to select qualified Pakistani nationals of good character as Khateeb, prayer leaders in mosques and seminaries.

It has been decided that Special Branch should constantly keep check on activities of the employed staff and submit a consolidated report on each district to the central police office.