Pak. to get tough with Taliban supporters

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 31. Amidst growing unrest over the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, the Musharraf Government today decided to come down heavily on elements sowing seeds of disharmony through inflammatory and derogatory speeches.

A high-level meeting of the security agencies presided over by the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, took stock of law and order situation in the light of the protest demonstrations being organised by pro-Taliban elements in different parts of the country and decided that ``no one would be allowed to preach sectarian hatred or promote extremism''.

The Cabinet was briefed by the Interior Minister, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Moinuddin Haider, about the latest developments on the blockade enforced by pro-Taliban tribesmen on the Karakoram Highway (silk route) and the progress of investigations on the killing of 17 Christians in a Bhawalpur church two days ago.

The Musharraf Government has succeeded in persuading the tribesmen, who had blocked the Karakoram Highway in protest against the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan, to lift the blockade. While reports in a section of the Pakistani press said that the tribesmen had agreed to suspend their agitation for a week, the Press Secretary to the President, Maj. Gen. Rashid Quereshi, said that there was no truth in the reports.

The blockade by the tribesmen combined with reports of people in parts of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Baluchistan wanting to march to Afghanistan with their weaponry to join the Taliban was proving to be a major embarrassment to the military government.

Fortunately for the Musharraf Government, the situation was defused following the refusal of the Taliban militia to allow the entry of the armed persons into Afghanistan. The Taliban urged them not to enter Afghanistan on the plea that at the moment it had enough men to take on the U.S. might.

The Cabinet meeting presided over by Gen. Musharraf took strong notice of misuse of loudspeakers in certain mosques and directed the Interior Ministry and the provincial governments to ban use of microphones in mosques. They could only be used for Azan (call for prayers) and Khutba-e-Juma (Friday sermon).

An official statement said that anybody violating this ban would be dealt with under the law. The decision is significant, as the religious parties have given a call for a chakka jam on November 9.

The Cabinet directed the provincial governments to take action against those found using mosques for spreading sectarian hatred and disharmony.

This is the second set of series of measures announced by the Musharraf Government to deal with the situation arising out of the October 7 air raids of the U.S.-led coalition on Afghanistan. In the first set of measures, the Government had warned the Afghan refugees against participating in any rallies and banned wall writings.

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