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Qazi Isa commission decries lack of reliable data about seminaries
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: In its report on the Aug 8 krazed killer attack on the Civil Hospital, Quetta, the Justice Qazi Faez Isa inquiry commission has underlined the need to make the country’s premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence...the Pak military intelligenceagency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir... (ISI), accessible to the public. Even the people wishing to convey information to the spy agency about suspicious activities have no means to contact it, according to the report.
The Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Intelligence and the National Security Agency of the United States have all provided their contact particulars on their publicly reachable websites. The Military Intelligence Section 5, Secret Intelligence Service, National Counter Terrorism Security Office and the Counter Terrorism Command of the United Kingdom have also provided their contact particulars on their websites, according to the report. The commission said that it wrote letters to the government functionaries, seeking information and answers to certain questions. Subsequently, responses were received from the Establishment Division, Finance Division, ministries of interior, religious affairs, states and frontier regions, Federal Investigation Agency, ISI, National Counter Terrorism Authority and office of the National Security Adviser. But none of the responses was on a letterhead. All of them were on plain pieces of paper which didn’t mention any address, email account or even a post office box number. The responses from the governments of Balochistan  ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard 2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers 3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... and Sindh followed the same pattern. The report said the commission, which was constituted by the Supreme Court, faced considerable difficulty in ascertaining the whereabouts of the ministries, government departments and agencies. One could only sympathise with the poor citizens who might have to interact with these organizations. "If such nebulousness serves a purpose it could only be to remain aloof and unapproachable and therefore unquestionable and unaccountable," the commission regretted. The commission also expressed surprise over the role of the Frontier Corps ...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and a..the Antwerp-based Salafist organization that had campaigned to introduce Sharia law to Belgium before single-handedly making Belgium the highest per capita supplier of jihadis to Syria in Europe. There was a big trial in Antwerp in 2015, but most of those convicted were in absentia...nti-smuggling operations.... (FC) and said it was not clear exactly what its role in Balochistan was and whether it had policing powers. The report also cited the "confused response" at the highest level, as the chief secretary and commandant of the Ghazaband Scouts of FC said the FC had policing powers whereas the federal interior secretary stated that no such powers had been given to the corps. Referring to the education boards of seminaries (wifaqs), the commission said it wrote letters to five of them -- namely Wifaq-ul-Madaris-al-Salfia, Wifaq-ul-Madaris-al-Arabia, Wifaq-ul-Madaris-al-Shia Pakistain, Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Pakistain and Rabita-ul-Madaris-al-Islamia -- and their association Ittehad Tanzeem Madaris. The commission asked them about any mosque or madressah having direct or indirect links with the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... , Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami or any other organization banned under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. The commission received responses from all the wifaqs stating that a total of 26,465 seminaries were affiliated to them. They said they were committed against the spread of hatred and extremism and stated that if any madressah affiliated to them indulged in wrongdoing they would proceed against those running it. The Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Ahle Sunnat Pakistain, however, spoke of the difficulty in monitoring each madressah, and said the state was responsible for doing so. Surprisingly, the ministry of religious affairs said the total number of registered seminaries stood at 11,852, adding that data from the Wifaq-ul-Madaris-al-Arabia was still awaited. The commission regretted that the ministry did not possess even basic data about the seminaries nor did it appear to have the ability to obtain it. As per the information provided to the commission by the wifaqs, there were 26,465 seminaries in the country. There is no central depository of the basic data, including the number of seminaries and their particulars, nor is the ministry, or any other authority in Pakistain, even now attempting to obtain and collate it, according to the report. Posted by: Fred 2016-12-19 |
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