Malik grilled in National Assembly over public rallies by banned outfits

Interior Minister Rehman Malik came under harsh attack in the National Assembly on Friday by none other than his own cabinet colleague Sheikh Waqas Akram for the government's failure to prevent the banned outfits from holding public rallies freely.
Malik had nothing to say in response but to blame law of the land for being incapable to check the activities of such organisations as well to prosecute the members of those outfits. A bill in this regard had been pending with the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice for the last two years, Malik reminded the House and called for expediting work on the bill.
Sheikh Waqas, who is also the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, raised the matter on a point of order while referring to the assurance given by the Interior Minister to a recent cabinet meeting regarding the activities of the banned organisations. Malik had told the cabinet that he would write letters to all the provinces especially Punjab to prevent the banned outfits from their activities under Difa-e-Pakistan Council, he recalled.
"I was shocked to know that the same banned organisation is holding a public rally in Karachi Company, Islamabad," he pointed out and also grilled the Interior Minister for inability of the law enforcing agencies to prevent the rally. "This is really a shame for both the Interior Minister and the law enforcing agencies who are unable to prevent a small group from undertaking illegal activities," he said and tagged Malik as "liar". Waqas also termed the war on terror a "drama".
Under law of the land, he pointed out that no banned outfit could hold a rally and movement of the members of these organisations to public places are punishable. He further said that the law did not allow the banned outfits to display their flags and publish pamphlets.
Responding to the criticism, Malik assured the House that he would check if any proscribed outfit was holding a rally. He added that the outfits would not be allowed to utilise any forum for their activities. He, however, said that the organisations had changed their names and the existing law needed to be rectified to fix the problem.
In this connection, he said a bill suggesting amendments to 4th schedule was pending before the Senate Standing Committee due to lack of consensus on some points. Malik urged the Chair to constitute a committee comprising all the political parties to expedite work on the bill.
Meanwhile, PML-N's lawmaker Sahibzada Fazl-e-Karim also lashed out at the federal as well as the Punjab governments for allowing the banned outfits to continue their activities unchecked. He said that the terrorists had not only challenged writ of the government but also made mockery of law of the land.
Karim particularly criticised the Punjab government saying that it did not allow Sunni Ittehad Council to hold a public meeting at Minar-e-Paksitan but regretted that the banned organisations under Difa-e-Pakistan Council were free to run their activities in the entire province.
Later, talking to media persons outside the parliament house, the Interior Minister said that murder of the grand daughter of late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, was not an ordinary incident and the conspirators would be taken to task. He termed the incident an attempt to disrupt peace in Balochistan. He said that an external hand was involved in disrupting the province's peaceful atmosphere. He also pointed out that TTP leader Fazlullah's presence in Afghanistan and his role in the lawlessness could not be ignored.