Military courts: Magistrates for Malir, Malakand still not nominated

Senate panel expects military courts to start functioning sometime next week

ISLAMABAD: A counter-terrorism official informed a panel of the upper house of parliament on Wednesday that the government has not yet named magistrates for military courts in Malir and Malakand even though it expects the courts to begin hearing cases of hardcore terrorists sometime next week.

The nomination of the two magistrates for the military courts, is still ongoing, Hamid Ali Khan, national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), told a Senate panel.

“We hope the military courts will start functioning next week,” he told the senators who were discussing the issue of foreign funding to madrassas in Punjab. The composition of military courts, however, in Lahore, Sheikhupura, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Kohat, Karachi and Peshawar have been finalised, he explained. Already, the military has received a dozen cases where military courts will kick off the hearing.



“Ten of the 40 most wanted militants’ cases have already been sent for military courts in Punjab,” said IG Police Punjab Mushtaq Sukhera, who admitted that 147 madrassas were receiving foreign funding.

These madrassas, whose record was shared with only two members of the Senate Standing Committee on Rules of Procedures, have been declared kingpins of militancy in the country, revealed one of the members after the meeting. “We could not share names of these seminaries. It’s our obligation to save our national secrets. Now it’s agencies’ job to start crackdown against them,” he told The Express Tribune.

The Punjab police chief also revealed that over 700 dangerous terrorists, who were involved in various terrorist attacks, were arrested. Law enforcement agencies have rounded up 61 suspects, a majority of them have affiliation with banned organisations who were receiving foreign funding through ‘hawalas’, ‘hundis’ or direct cash, he added.

Some 34 cases have also been sent to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for further investigation, he informed the committee. Sukhera failed to appear before the committee which summoned him to explain his position on contradictory reply on the issue of foreign funding to seminaries to the Senate.

Over 660 clerics were picked up on charges of delivering hate speech as part of the ongoing crackdown against militants, Nacta chief told the senators. Some 61 shops selling hate material were sealed, he said.

Law enforcement agencies rounded up 29,000 suspects after questioning some 283,000 people allegedly involved in suspicious activities, he briefed the committee. Over 13,000 suspects were arrested in the operation, he added.

Mushtaq Sukhera also revealed that around 85% of the surveillance process of seminaries was completed whereas in some cases we learnt that people were bringing money in the shape of cash, hundi and hawalas.

The Nacta chief says, “Frankly speaking, we don’t have a complete record of seminaries so far and for this purpose we have prepared a 19-point pro forma for madrassas”.

Lal Masjid-affiliated seminary sealed

Law enforcement agencies have sealed a seminary affiliated with Lal Masjid in the Rujhan, said the Punjab police chief. The seminary was sealed last week because it was training students for jihad and spreading hate material.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2015.