Interior ministry notifies ban on JUI-F's ‘militant wing’

Published October 24, 2019
The federal cabinet had earlier this week approved a summary seeking a ban on Ansar-ul-Islam. — AFP/File
The federal cabinet had earlier this week approved a summary seeking a ban on Ansar-ul-Islam. — AFP/File

The interior ministry on Thursday issued a notification announcing a ban on the “militant wing” of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

The proscription of Ansar-ul-Islam, which the ministry referred to as a "private militia/Razakar Force" of the JUI-F, comes days before the Maulana Fazlur Rehman-led party is slated to lead an anti-government 'Azadi March'.

According to the notification, the federal government had "reasons to believe that Ansar-ul-Islam is capable of functioning as a military organisation, in violation of the prohibition contained in Article 256 of the Constitution".

The ban was imposed after approval by the federal government and obtaining the consent from all four provincial governments under Article 146(1) of the Constitution, which allows the federal government to delegate any of its powers to the provinces, conditionally or unconditionally, with the consent of the provincial governments.

Through the notification, the federal government through the Ministry of Interior has "entrust[ed] the provincial governments the power to take appropriate actions under Section 2 of the Private Military Organisations (Abolition and Prohibition) Act, 1974, against Ansar-ul-Islam".

The authority will include, among others, "the power to abolish/ban the said organisation and take further steps against them on ground" in order to complete the action, the notice said.

A summary seeking a ban on Ansar-ul-Islam was approved by the federal cabinet earlier this week, sources in the cabinet division had said.

Opinion

Editorial

Close the gap
Updated 16 Jun, 2025

Close the gap

Our imbalanced scorecard in the main shows that power development and prosperity reflect the shallowness of political claims.
Fiscal malfeasance
16 Jun, 2025

Fiscal malfeasance

IT is galling that, even in these times of economic distress, when hardship has pushed millions of ordinary...
Rochdale conviction
16 Jun, 2025

Rochdale conviction

THE recent conviction of seven men in the Rochdale grooming gang case is a hard-won moment of justice. The men, ...
Deepening conflict
Updated 15 Jun, 2025

Deepening conflict

Some media reports say that the US had shipped hundreds of missiles to Israel before the attack on Iran.
Some strides
15 Jun, 2025

Some strides

THE PTI government in KP is not known for sound public service delivery in a province whose economy has been ...
Air India tragedy
15 Jun, 2025

Air India tragedy

THE black box of the ill-fated Air India flight AI171 has been recovered, and that should reveal in the coming days...