ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Thursday took serious notice of the worsening law and order situation in the country, and directed the federal and provincial governments to take effective measures to eradicate the menace of terrorism and to curb crime.

“The president is quite worried about the increasing crime rate in the country, especially the cases of terrorism, extremism, sectarianism and street crimes,” federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told journalists after a high-level meeting on law and order held at the Army House.

“The president directed the heads of security departments in federal and provincial governments to curb the menace of terrorism, extremism and sectarianism, and termed them root causes of deteriorating law and order situation in the country,” the minister said.

Mr Sherpao said that keeping in view the sensitivity of the coming month of Muharramul Haram, the president directed the federal and provincial governments to work out a comprehensive strategy to maintain law and order during the holy month.

The president also ordered a complete ban on the sale of hate literature outside mosques and use of loudspeakers in mosques other than for Azan.

The meeting was attended by Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah, Additional Interior Secretary Qamar Zaman, National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) Director-General Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema, Chief Secretaries, Home Secretaries and Inspectors-General of Police of the four provinces and representatives of intelligence agencies.

The president observed that the menace of terrorism could be eliminated by force but not extremism.

“We have to change the mindset of the people to wipe put extremism,” he said.

The president ordered the four provincial governments to curb mounting street crimes and deal sternly with cases of mobile, purse and car-snatching.

“Similarly, crimes against women, kidnappings for ransom and cases of robbery must be stopped,” he said.

The president told police heads of the four provinces and Islamabad to improve the image of their department and make it public-friendly. He said police personnel should not harass the people and adopt a behaviour which would strengthen their confidence in the department.

APP ADDS: The president reiterated the government's commitment to maintaining the writ of law across the country and directed the provincial governments to ensure that the places of worship were not used for spreading hatred, sectarianism and extremism.

President Musharraf underscored the need for targeting the sources that spread hate material and to sternly deal with the printers, publishers and the distributors of material used for fanning sectarianism and extremism, including CDs, pamphlets, brochures and booklets.

The president said that extremists and sectarian organisations involved in collection of funds must also be checked and the encroachment of the public lands by some in the guise of constructing places of worship should be dealt with strictly. He said the students of religious seminaries should not be exploited by vested interests for agitation activities.