Under pressure, Pakistan acts against militant groups, India sceptical

Amid intensifying pressure from India and the international community in the aftermath of the terror attack in Kashmir by a Pakistan-based militant group, Pakistan appears to have launched a crackdown against Islamist militants operating from its territory. The Pakistan government on March 7 announced it had taken control of 182 madrasas (religious seminaries) and detained more than 100 people as part of its drive against banned militant groups. India is closely monitoring the reported action by the Pakistan government against diverse militant groups. Government sources said that India is not convinced about the action was taken by the Pakistan government and retreated its stand that Islamabad must take credible action against the perpetrators of Pulwama terror attack to demonstrate its policies against terrorism. As per the report issued by Pakistan’s interior ministry, the provincial governments have “taken in their control management and administration of 182 seminaries. Giving figures about the seized assets of several banned terror outfits, Pakistan’s interior ministry said other institutions from different groups had been taken over, including 34 schools or colleges, 163 dispensaries, 184 ambulances, five hospitals and eight offices of banned organisations. The ministry highlighted that many people associated with banned organizations were also arrested. “Law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of today,” the ministry added. Citing the senior police official of Rawalpindi division, the government had not given any specific directive regarding the crackdown as actions were also being carried out by other security agencies under the National Action Plan, it said. Pakistan has frozen the property of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF). Both banned organisations which were placed on the watch list in January 2017.