News
Friday, August 24, 2012
Suspension of cellular services averted terror attacks: Malik* Interior minister says stakeholders to be consulted for strategy on dubious SIMs
* There is evidence of Taliban presence in Karachi
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Making it clear that the government had no intention of blocking all unregistered SIMs immediately, Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Thursday said that there would have been many acts of terrorism had cellular service not been suspended in four cities on the occasion of Eid.
He said the government had definite information about a conspiracy to destabilise the country, adding that the designs of the enemies were foiled through effective coordination among intelligence and law enforcing agencies.
To a question, he said the government had no intention of blocking all unregistered SIMs immediately as it would cause inconvenience to users besides having negative impact on business. He said a meeting of all stakeholders would be convened to evolve a strategy on how to deal with the issue of SIMs issued against fake identity cards or in the name of people other than the users. The minister proposed that SIMs should be verified against thumb impression of the applicants through NADRA database.
In an interview with Radio Pakistan, he said the issue of SIMs would be resolved keeping in view the foreign investment and interests of cellular operators. He, however, vowed that a mechanism would be devised to ensure that mobile phones are not used in terrorist activities.
About the Naran tragedy, Malik said it was a terrorist act and not an incident of sectarian violence as those killed included both Shias and Sunnis. He said he had talked to the Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister on the tense situation in the area.
The minister said he had conveyed three demands of the people to the chief minister, which were provision of police escorts to passengers going to Gilgit-Baltistan, compensation to the heirs of all those who had lost their lives, and an increase in the number of PIA flights to the area, adding that the demands had been accepted.
To another question, he said there was evidence of presence of Taliban in Karachi and that action was being taken against them. About the decision to form an interfaith council, he said it would have seven members representing different schools of thought and its chairmanship would be rotated among them on quarterly basis. He said this would be a model initiative and on its success it would be replicated in the provinces.
The minister said a conference on interfaith harmony would be held on August 30 to promote tolerance and ensure sectarian harmony and protect rights of minorities.
Malik once again extended offer to estranged Baloch leaders to return to the country and talk to personalities of their choice.
He asked Taliban to surrender arms, saying that otherwise the government was determined to take the campaign against terrorism to its logical conclusion.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk