Promoting peace: K-P govt bans hate literature

DPOs requested to form vigilance committees

PESHAWAR: On Friday, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Home and Tribal Affairs department issued a provincial ban on all hate, sectarian and extremist literature as well as radical speeches.

Hate and objectionable literature, often in the form CD videos, is known to be currently available in Peshawar’s black markets as well as areas dominated by Afghan migrants. The ban on sale and distribution of hate material is to go into immediate effect as part of the counterterrorist crackdown in the wake of the Army Public School massacre last month in Peshawar, according to an official dispatch.

Accordingly, any provision of hate literature has been outlawed and is subject to confiscation by the police force. Furthermore, district police officers have been requested to form vigilance committees to eradicate the dissemination of books, pamphlets, CDs and other similar material which could be disruptive to provincial peace.

Public hate booklets from religious militant groups including al Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Islamic State are currently known to be circulating in Peshawar. In particular, various Afghan-heavy communities in the city are vulnerable including Qissa Khwani, Khyber Bazaar and Shamshato Camp. The material is distributed in multiple languages including Pashto, Dari, Urdu, English and Arabic.

The government asked police to perform regular checks of shops, bazaars, markets and business centres and raid them if necessary to eliminate all extremist-bent material. Hate literature has also been recovered from mosques, where material is often placed during Friday prayers to reach greater numbers.

It has also requested police to prohibit provocative speeches of khatibs, ulemas and other speakers at mosques.

The government’s move to eradicate extremist material through confiscation is welcomed by the larger community which fears terrorist activity. Periodical reports of the DC-led vigilance committees will be reviewed by the provincial government to quell regional extremism. The elimination of militant graffiti was not addressed.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2015.