Seeking to defuse the crisis with India, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared yesterday he will not permit terrorist activities on Pakistani territory and announced a crackdown on Islamic extremism including a ban on two Kashmiri groups accused by India of last month's attack on its parliament.
Musharraf, in a nationally televised address, said yesterday all Pakistanis were sick of sectarian violence and that the "day of reckoning" had come.
"Sectarian terrorism has been going on for years, everyone of us if fed up with it," Musharraf said. "The day of reckoning has come."
He also announced moves to curb foreign students studying in Pakistani religious schools, long a breeding ground for religious extremism.
Musharraf also affirmed Pakistan's "moral and diplomatic" support for Kashmir in its struggle for self-determination but banned two Kashmiri extremist groups -- Jaish-e-Muhammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba -- blamed by India for the Dec. 13 attack on its parliament.
Musharraf refused to hand over any Pakistani citizens sought by India in connection with the parliament attack but said that if the government found evidence against them "we will try them in our country."
Lashkar-e-Taiba vowed yesterday to continue its "holy war" in Kashmir despite being banned by Musharraf.
Musharraf, who has been cracking down on violent sectarian militants since early last year, also banned the radical Sunni Sipah-e-Sahaba and its rival, the Shiite Tehrik-e-Jafria.
The two organizations have been blamed for a wave of sectarian bombings and shootings across Pakistan.
Hundreds of militants were arrested before the speech and police guards were deployed to religious institutions.
Interior ministry sources said police in all four of the country's provinces had been ordered to guard mosques and religious places.
"The move is aimed at warding off any attempts by extremist groups to disturb law and order," an interior ministry official said on condition he not be identified.
Police in the southern city of Karachi detained more than 200 militants from the Sipah-e-Sahaba and the Tehrik-e-Jafria.
More than 100 leaders and activists of the same two sectarian parties have been arrested since Friday in the North West Frontier province, police in the province said.
Around 50 preachers in central Punjab province were also arrested for violating restrictions on the use of loudspeakers to deliver inflammatory sermons in mosques.
RSS