Pakistan crackdown on Jaish-e-Mohammed madrasas

Jaish activists arrested for interrogation, offices in Pakistan sealed

Pakistan has launched a massive crackdown against madrasas (religious seminaries) run by the proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is accused by India of masterminding the attack on the IAF airbase at Pathankot. On Friday, Pakistan Punjab’s law minister, Rana Sanaullah, said the government had shut almost all madrasas run by the JeM and that activists had been arrested for interrogation.

JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar, a hardliner blamed for the 2001 attack on India’s Parliament, was detained along with his brother and brother-in-law and will remain in protective custody for at least 30 days.

The authorities have arrested several JeM members and sealed their offices as Pakistan investigates Indian assertions that the January 2 attack in Pathankot in which seven military personnel were killed was the work of the Pakistan-based militants. However, Pakistan has refused to officially confirm the arrest of Maulana Masood Azhar with the authorities claiming he was in “protective custody”. Islamabad and New Delhi have already postponed the foreign secretary talks and were in contact to finalise a new date for the meeting.

Pakistan foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry and his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar, were originally scheduled to meet in Islamabad on January 15.

Punjab law minister Rana Sanullah said several other offices and seminaries run by the JeM had also been raided and shut down and many of its staff arrested. He declined to share further details.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Pakistan-administered Kashmir president Sardar Muhammad Yaqub Khan extended invitations to Hurriyat leaders as well as pro-India politicians of Indian-administered Kashmir to attend a two-day round table conference here to discuss various issues related to the Kashmir dispute.

The PAK president is to hold the two-day round table conference on January 20 and 21 at the Convention Centre here. The topics expected to be discussed are “Kashmir Conflict: Its ramifications for Pak-India Relations and Peace”, “Kashmir Dispute, Hindutva and “Emergence of Hindu Extremism in India”, and “Proposed Abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A of the Indian Constitution and its impact on the Kashmir Dispute”.

Almost all Hurriyat leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi and Mohammed Yousuf Naqash, have been invited to the conference.

Pro-India politicians, including Engineer Abdur Rasheed and Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, have also received invitations.

Also on Friday Pakistan finance minister Ishaq Dar said Islamabad would not allow the misuse of its territory against any country. He said that after the Pathankot incident the dialogue process between Pakistan and India had slowed down and hoped talks would begin soon. He said Pakistan wishes to move ahead for a comprehensive dialogue with India to resolve all issues.