Pak unlikely to act tough on banned outfits: Editorial

Peshawar, Aug. 7 (ANI): Even as Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the National Assembly that 25 extremist organisations stood blacklisted by Islamabad for "their involvement in terrorist activities", strict action then against remains to be seen, an Daily Times editorial says.

Soon after Malik's announcement, TV channels across Pakistan picked up the details as some kind of grand disclosure.

Some organisations like Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are familiar news on the list but many like Khairun Nisa International Trust are not, they said.

In fact, most Pakistanis will not be able to recognise some of the organisations as terrorist outfits. Indeed, most of them are considered legitimate by the public at large, the editorial said.

For example, Al Akhtar Trust and Al Rasheed Trust, banned by United Nations Security Council Resolution, are seen as good religious charities in Pakistan, which are still serving the IDPs in the NWFP, the editorial added.

Malik has promised stern action against the blacklisted organisations, but that remains far fetched in a country where citizens are not even aware of the ban.

The complaint the international community has against Pakistan is that it takes no convincing action against the banned organisations and lets them function as normal organisations in its civil society, the editorial concluded. (ANI)