Pakistan on Tuesday denied having any authority to ban jihadi groups not operating within the country. âThe government has not banned the Hizbul Mujahideen, as it has no presence in Pakistan,â Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said.
| "Nope. Nope. Can't do it. Sorry." |
He further said the Hizb was a Kashmir based organisation and the authority to ban it lay with the Azad Kashmir government.
| Ummm... That's part of Pakistan, if I'm not mistaken. De facto, anyway... |
âHowever, Pakistanâs policy is crystal clear as far as terrorism is concerned. The government will not allow any individual or a group of organisations to use its territory for launching terrorist attacks on any third country. The government will never tolerate any individual or groups trying to disrupt law and order in the country,â he told a private TV network.
| "Here, you people! Stop that! There. I've done my part..." |
When asked whether reports in Press Trust of India (PTI) stating that the Pakistan government had banned the militant group were true, Hizb spokesman Saleem Hashmi said, âThe Hizb has not been banned and such reports are concocted and are a part of Indian propaganda.âPTI had quoted Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and stated that the Pakistan government had banned the Hizb. But the minister denied the report and said he was misquoted. Saleem Hashmi said, âWe are Kashmiris and no one can stop us from going across the Line of Control. Our struggle is genuine and will continue till we are victorious.â
| "Ain't nobody can stop us from swarming the old homestead!" |
Muslim Conference leader Sardar Qayyum Khan also said no ban had been imposed on the Hizb. Mr Hashmi said his leader, Syed Salahuddin, was a Kashmiri and based somewhere in Kashmir and he had not been banned to enter Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
| He has an air-conditioned office in Muzaffarabad, from whence he dispatches cannon fodder to get iced in Indian Kashmir... |
Banned jihadi groups in Pakistan were the Lashkar e-Taiba, Jaish e-Muhammad, Harkatul Mujahideen and three other sectarian groups. A Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman said so far his group was concerned it has not received any intimation from the government here banning its leaders and activists from entering Azad Kashmir. The Hizb was formed in 1990 and Syed Salahuddin headed the United Jihad Council (UJC), a conglomerate of 14 Kashmiri jihadi groups. |