[Pak Daily Times] Interior Minister Rehman MalikPak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men.
on Friday stressed the need for improving law to control activities of banned
...the word
bannedseems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organizations.
Malik told the National Assembly that the delay in approval of an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act was the main reason behind banned outfits' holding rallies across the country.
He was replying to a point of order raised by Sheikh Waqas Akram of Pakistain Mohammedan League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Sahibzada Fazal Karim of Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz (PML-N). Malik said that revamping of laws was the solution but an amendment bill had been lying with the Senate standing committee for the past two years.
Earlier, Sheikh Waqas Akram said that Rehman Malik had lied before the cabinet committee that the provincial government was responsible for the rallies of the Defence Council Pakistain (DCP). "This is a shame for the interior minister. How can you fight the war against terror, if you are unable to stop rallies of banned outfits in the country?" Akram added.
Fazal Karim endorsed the view of Waqas Akram and urged the government not to allow banned outfits to hold rallies in the country.
In response, Malik said that these organizations had been rallying by changing their names. He assured the House that action would be taken if any rally was held in the federal capital.
"Revamping of laws is the only solution to the problem and parliament is the authority which can do that," he added.