LAHORE: Some 410 ‘suspects’ have been arrested so far and five killed in one of the raids conducted by law-enforcement agencies across the province in the aftermath of the Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park suicide blast in Lahore.

The figures were presented by Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah in the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday. He said the operation (against terrorists and their facilitators) had been intensified.

On Tuesday, the law minister had put the figure of arrested suspects at 216, disclosing another 194 suspects were detained across the province on Wednesday in fresh raids.

“The law enforcement agencies operations (against militants) were underway even before the Lahore blast but now they have been intensified,” Mr Sanaullah said, adding that based on intelligence reports search operations were being launched in different parts of the province.

“People may face problems (because of the search operations), but there is no other way to reach suspected terrorists and their facilitators. Such people are living among us. We have to identify them and arrest them. War against terrorism is our struggle for survival and there is no other option but to win it,” he said.

Rana Sanaullah further said the government had adopted a “zero tolerance” policy against terrorism. “This is neither of the government nor of opposition’s operations against terrorism, rather it is a consensus operation and all are on board. On this issue nobody has difference of opinion,” he clarified, dispelling the impression that the Punjab government did not want to involve the army and rangers in the all-important operation against terrorists, their handlers and facilitators.

Earlier, the house adopted a resolution, unanimously condemning the Lahore blast, expressing grief and solidarity with the victims’ families. The house also offered fateh and observed one-minute silence for the victims of the tragedy.

The resolution demanded ‘intensified across the board operation’ against terrorists and their facilitators. It said the people of Punjab were fully backing their army, police and other law enforcement agencies in eliminating terrorism from the country.

Opposition Leader Mahmoodur Rashid said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif should have come to the house and apprised the members of the facts (about the incident).

He said thousands of people would visit Gulshan-i-Iqbal park daily but there was not enough security on the blast day neither any walk-through gate. He said that he had brought the matter into knowledge of the authorities concerned but neither the Gulshan-i-Iqbal nor any other park under Parks and Horticulture Authoruity (PHA) in the city got security.

“On the occasion of Easter red alert should have been declared at the public parks,” he said and demanded the National Action Plan should be implemented in letter and spirit.

Jamaat-i-Islami MPA Waseem Akhtar said the government needed to take action against terrorists and their facilitators with full force and the house must be informed about the government action.

Published in Dawn, March 31th, 2016