Amid global pressure, pak govt takes control of Jaish headquarters
Lahore, Feb 22: Succumbing to intense international pressure to rein in militant groups operating from its soil, the Pakistan government on Friday took over the administrative control of the headquarters of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), the terror outfit which claimed responsibility for the deadly Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir.
The move came a day after the powerful UN Security Council comprising 15 nations, including Pakistan's key ally China, named JeM in a statement condemning in the "strongest terms" the "heinous and cowardly" terror attack perpetrated by Pakistan-based JeM in Pulwama and stressed on the need to hold organisers and financiers of such "reprehensible acts" accountable and bring them to justice.
"The Punjab government has taken over the control of the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur," Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told PTI.
"The government of Punjab has taken over the control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur...and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs," the minister added.
Bahawalpur is 400 km from Lahore.
A statement issued by the Interior Ministry also said the crackdown on Jaish "has been taken in line with the decision of the National Security Committee meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan".
The Islamic seminaries in the campus has a faculty of 70 teachers and currently 600 students were studying in it, the statement said, adding that Punjab police is providing security and protection to the campus.
Pakistan on Thursday also banned the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation.
Earlier, the two outfits were kept on the watchlist of the interior ministry.
The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.
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Kharge convenes meeting of Cong brass to discuss women quota, delimitation
New Delhi (PTI): Ahead of a special three-day sitting of Parliament, top Congress leaders met at the residence of party chief Mallikarjun Kharge here on Monday to discuss the strategy on the women quota law.
Kharge convened the meeting of the party's Parliamentary strategy group at his residence where top Congress leaders discussed the issue of women reservation along with that of delimitation.
The government on Tuesday circulated bills related to the women quota law and delimitation among the MPs.
The Congress has alleged that when the intent behind a bill is "mischievous" and its content "devious", the extent of damage to parliamentary democracy is enormous.
The Budget session of Parliament has been extended, and a special three-day sitting of the House has been convened from April 16 to 18, during which amendments to the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', more commonly known as the Women's Reservation Act, will be brought for its implementation in 2029.
The number of Lok Sabha seats will be increased to up to 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise to be carried out based on the last published census. According to the draft Constitution amendment bill, which will be introduced in the upcoming special sitting of Parliament, seats would also be increased in the state and Union Territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
