By Muhammad Luqman
In a countrywide swoop, Pakistani law enforcement agencies have arrested 44 members of proscribed organizations operating in the country, said State Minister for Interior, Shehryar Afridi on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference in the capital, Islamabad, the minister said the government launched a major crackdown against proscribed organizations on Monday and it would continue for two weeks.
The minister said the action against the organizations banned by UN Security Council was Pakistan’s own decision and it was not taken with any outside pressure and advice.
“Pakistan’s policy is very clear against terrorism and extremism. Pakistan will not allow anybody to use its land for any ill purposes,” said the minister.
The campaign was approved during a high-level meeting held in the Ministry of Interior this month, which was attended by all representatives of all provincial governments, a statement by the interior ministry said.
According to media reports, earlier Tuesday, the Pakistan government had issued an order to streamline the procedure for implementation of UNSC sanctions against designated individuals and entities.
“Over the years the sanctions regime of the United Nations Security Council has evolved. A key measure of these sanctions regimes is ‘assets freeze’ under which states are required to freeze or seize the assets of designated entities and individuals as soon as they are designated by the relevant UNSC Sanctions Committee,” the Foreign ministry said in a statement.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Muhammad Faisal told media that “from now onwards, all kinds of assets and properties of all banned organizations will be in the government’s control.”
Pakistan’s government has recently banned UNSC proscribed Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its charity, Filah-e-Insaaniat Foundation (FIF).
