ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minis­ter’s Office released on Friday yet another instalment of figures, claiming the arrest of over 10,000 suspected terrorists under the National Action Plan, without divulging any background information on the detainees or their purported networks.

The press statement did not carry any additional information on how and when the government intends to prosecute the 10,616 people, who it says, “have been arrested under various charges in 14,886 raids conducted throughout the country since Dec 24, 2014”.

When asked, a spokesperson for the PM’s Office said the figures had been received from the interior ministry and that they had refused to comment on the minutiae of the information being passed on. The interior ministry — being the focal department that oversees the implementation of NAP — had collected this information from the provincial home departments, he said.

“On the face of it, this appears to be an exercise in bureaucratic overdrive to please the PM,” Imtiaz Gul, a security analyst who had written extensively on militarisation in Pakistan, told Dawn. “Merely releasing the figures doesn’t matter until the government explains how it’s going to frame and prosecute them, which, considering the number of arrests made so far, seems a gigantic task for the law-enforcement apparatus of the country.”

Adequate prosecution of terrorism suspects has been a major grey area in the past. Military courts have been set up to address this concern, but the statement doesn’t specify how many of those arrested will be tried through the special courts.

Questioning the veracity of the numbers and the government’s seriousness in dealing with terrorist networks, another national security expert told Dawn, “Many banned organisations continue to operate with different names, which the PM, when launching NAP on Dec 24, said wouldn’t be allowed to happen”. He also cited recent news reports on the controversy surrounding the banning of the Haqqani network and the Jamaatud Dawa, as well as the government’s continued silence on the issue, as a proof of a lack of resolve on the state’s part.

Although Jan 15 release issued by the PM’s Office claimed that operatives of 95 banned organisations were active in Punjab alone, the interior minister has yet to issue a fresh list of banned organisations. As of Friday, the Interior Ministry led by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had no designated spokesperson to respond to press queries.

Giving further details, the press statement said that security agencies conducted 9,413 operations in Punjab, 1,577 in Sindh, 2,724 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 39 in Balochistan, 336 in Islamabad, 720 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), 21 in Gilgit Baltiststan (GB) and 56 in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Those arrested included 1,934 from Punjab, 1,533 from Sindh, 6,038 from KP, 460 from Balochistan, 505 from Islamabad, seven from AJK, 10 from GB and 129 from Fata.

For the misuse of loudspeakers, security agencies arrested 2,035 people, including 1,806 in Punjab, 169 in KP, one in Balochistan and 59 in Islamabad. In all, 1,256 public address systems were also confiscated over misuse.

Overall, 540 cases have been registered over the distribution of hate material, including 455 in Punjab, 34 in KP, four in Balochistan, 46 in AJK and one in GB. Law-enforcement agencies also arrested 405 people and sealed 41 shops on similar charges.

The government also claims to have deported 3,416 Afghan refugees, including 2,844 from KP, 195 from Balochistan, one from Islamabad and 376 from Fata.

The FIA has registered 18 cases against those who transferred money through the hundi/hawala method, arresting 24 people and recovering Rs71.5 million. Three cases have also been registered over suspicious transactions and three people were arrested. The agency also registered five money laundering cases and registered as many people on these charges.

In all, 161 actionable calls were received on the anti-terror helpline 1717, including 105 from Punjab, 18 each from Sindh and KP, five from Balochistan and 15 from ICT.

The press release particularly emphasised that 1,250 intelligence-based operations were also conducted throughout the country. When asked, a government official explained that this means that intelligence agencies led the operations.

According the statement, 25.5 million SIMs have been verified so far, including 8,747,777 Telenor, 7,055,753 Mobilink, 4,186,141 Zong, 3,544,538 Ufone and 2,005,789 Warid SIMs.

Separately, Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the PM House on Friday morning. A two-line press statement said that “matters relating to the implementation of the National Action Plan for combating terrorism and extremism came under discussion.”

Published in Dawn February 7th , 2015

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