Over 2,000 clerics arrested for misusing loudspeakers

3,265 cases have been registered against clerics of various madrassa and mosques; 547 cases of hate speech were filed

ISLAMABAD: The government arrested more than 2,065 clerics were arrested for misuse of loudspeakers during recent crackdown across country as part of National Action Plan (NAP).

During a meeting to review progress on NAP, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was told that there were 3,265 cases of misuse of loudspeakers has been registered while equipment has been seized in 1,281 instances. He was further told that 547 cases had been registered for hate speech.

In total, as many as 218,220 suspects had been picked up in 16,344 operations by law enforcers. Of these, 12,462 people had been arrested. Despite the haul, officials found that only 140 of them had links with terrorists.

On this occasion the interior minister directed that the review meeting should be held on weekly basis so as to effectively monitor the progress.

The meeting was further informed that there were 60 organisations were banned while one organisation was on the watch list. The minister directed the interior secretary to coordinate with the ministry of foreign affairs and reconcile the national list with that of UN.

On enforcement of proscription regime, Nisar directed the interior ministry to further fine-tune the procedure of proscription and ensure that any proscribed organisations must not be able re-emerge with new names and nomenclatures.

The meeting was informed that a bill has been tabled in National Assembly which, if passed, would make possession of illegal mobile SIMs a cognizable offence. The bill has already been passed on to the concerned sub-committee. A process was also under way to enable Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block any unwanted activity on social media related to extremism.

In a bid to clamp down on terror funding, Nisar was told that a total of 26 cases have been registered and 32 people have been arrested for hawala, hundi.

Shedding light on the development of a nation counter-terrorism narrative, the participants were informed that a draft narrative has already been prepared and would be finalised once it is approve by the prime minister.

Commenting on the security of media houses in the country, the meeting was informed that the process was underway in the process while Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has established a Panic Button system which has already been installed in 10 media houses.

Security in ICT

During the meeting, the interior minister was informed that ICT had conducted a security audit of 76 important buildings. These buildings were then divided into yellow, green and red category vis-à-vis their security arrangements.

While reviewing positioning of Quick Response Force (QRF) in Islamabad, Nisar directed to put in place robust communication system at all important places in the federal capital to enable QRF to meet any emergent situation in a shortest possible time.

The meeting was informed that work on developing a comprehensive plan on relocation and repatriation of Afghan refugees was also underway and the provinces have been requested to identify new camps and requisite infrastructure.