[The government had detained Ishaq
under Maintenance of Public Order (16 MPO), the same law under which key
planner of 2008 Mumbai attacks Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi is being held after being
granted bail by an anti-terrorism court.]
PTI | Dec 23, 2014,
05.12 PM IST
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In this
photograph taken on July 14, 2011, the head of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)
Malik Ishaq waves to supporters in Lahore, after his release on bail after nearly 14 years in a high-security prison for sectarian murders. (AFP file photo) |
LAHORE: Malik Ishaq, dreaded chief of banned LeJ
that has carried out attacks on minority Shias and the mastermind of the
assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009, has been released after three
years in jail with the Pakistan government not seeking an extension of his
detention.
Ishaq has been under detention for the last three
years under a public security order for making "provocative"
speeches.
The government had detained Ishaq under Maintenance
of Public Order (16 MPO), the same law under which key planner of 2008 Mumbai
attacks Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi is being held after being granted bail by an
anti-terrorism court.
The supreme court had granted Ishaq bail in July
2011 after which he was held under 16 MPO.
Ishaq's release comes even as the government
considers "radical changes" to tackle militancy after the Taliban
school massacre in which 148 people, mostly children, were killed in Peshawar.
Ishaq's release comes despite Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif's pledge to eradicate the "cancer" of sectarianism.
The Punjab government on Monday produced Ishaq
before a provincial review board comprising three judges of the Lahore High
Court headed by Justice Manzoor in a high security here.
The officials of the home department, however, did
not seek extension in his detention.
"Appeal for further extension in detention of
Malik Ishaq is dismissed as withdrawn," the review board said.
"Malik Ishaq is a free man now," an
official said. LeJ has claimed responsibility for a series of bloody attacks,
including two bombings targeting Shiites in Quetta in 2013 that killed about
200 people.
Ishaq was also named as a "Specially
Designated Global Terrorist" by the US earlier this year.
The Shia community has strongly criticised the
government for not seeking extension in the detention of Ishaq.
Ishaq, the influential co-founder of a
Sipah-e-Sahaba, a breakaway group that is also linked with al-Qaeda and the
Taliban, had told an Urdu daily in 1997 that he was involved in the killing of
102 Shias.
He was arrested the same year, and eventually
charged in connection with 44 different cases, including the attack on the Sri
Lankan cricket team in March 2009.
The Sri Lankan cricket team attack took place on
March 3, 2009, when a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers, part of a larger
convoy, was fired upon by 12 gunmen, near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Six members of the Sri Lankan cricket team were
injured. Six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were also killed in the
attack.
@ The times of India
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HUNG ASSEMBLY IN J&K: POSSIBLE COALITION SCENARIOS
[The BJP and People's Conference can form the government with the support of the National Conference and others. Since the mandate is clearly against the incumbent NC, it may not join the government but support it from outside. The NC was part of the NDA during the Vajpayee government and may not find it out of the question to support the BJP in case the BJP-PDP equation fails to evolve. In this situation, a legislator from Jammu region or Sajad Lone could head the coalition.]
NEW DELHI: The 2014
election results have thrown up a hung assembly in Jammu and Kashmir. So far
the PDP is the single largest party followed by the BJP in the assembly with 87
seats. Here are the various scenarios in which a coalition government may come
up in the state:
1. The PDP forms the government in alliance with the BJP and Sajad Lone's People's Conference. In this scenario, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed may get a full term for himself with a BJP legislator from Jammu as his deputy or he and a BJP legislator from Jammu region may get into a power sharing arrangement and become rotational chief ministers for three years each out of the six year term. However, the PDP and the BJP are ideological and regional opponents in the state and they do not see eye to eye on almost any issue. The other possibility is that instead of a BJP legislator from Jammu region, Sajad Lone may become the deputy chief minister or a three-year term chief minister.
J&K, Jharkhand poll results: Track live updates
2. The PDP led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will form the government with the help of Congress' external support. They may also need the support of a few independents. Although in the previous coalition, the PDP and the Congress did not get along with each other over some issues but this time the Congress may extend its support just to keep the BJP out of power in the state. The PDP and the Congress are natural allies since Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was a Congress leader before he formed his Kashmir based regional party. The Congress has nothing to lose after its colossal defeat in the parliamentary elections and it can only benefit in such a situation.
3. The BJP and People's Conference can form the government with the support of the National Conference and others. Since the mandate is clearly against the incumbent NC, it may not join the government but support it from outside. The NC was part of the NDA during the Vajpayee government and may not find it out of the question to support the BJP in case the BJP-PDP equation fails to evolve. In this situation, a legislator from Jammu region or Sajad Lone could head the coalition.
1. The PDP forms the government in alliance with the BJP and Sajad Lone's People's Conference. In this scenario, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed may get a full term for himself with a BJP legislator from Jammu as his deputy or he and a BJP legislator from Jammu region may get into a power sharing arrangement and become rotational chief ministers for three years each out of the six year term. However, the PDP and the BJP are ideological and regional opponents in the state and they do not see eye to eye on almost any issue. The other possibility is that instead of a BJP legislator from Jammu region, Sajad Lone may become the deputy chief minister or a three-year term chief minister.
J&K, Jharkhand poll results: Track live updates
2. The PDP led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will form the government with the help of Congress' external support. They may also need the support of a few independents. Although in the previous coalition, the PDP and the Congress did not get along with each other over some issues but this time the Congress may extend its support just to keep the BJP out of power in the state. The PDP and the Congress are natural allies since Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was a Congress leader before he formed his Kashmir based regional party. The Congress has nothing to lose after its colossal defeat in the parliamentary elections and it can only benefit in such a situation.
3. The BJP and People's Conference can form the government with the support of the National Conference and others. Since the mandate is clearly against the incumbent NC, it may not join the government but support it from outside. The NC was part of the NDA during the Vajpayee government and may not find it out of the question to support the BJP in case the BJP-PDP equation fails to evolve. In this situation, a legislator from Jammu region or Sajad Lone could head the coalition.
