Pak Interior Ministry submits objections on Quetta inquiry commission report in SC

The Pakistan Interior Ministry has formally raised objections on the report of the Quetta inquiry commission constituted for probing the August 8 Quetta carnage that left 73 people dead, most of them lawyers, and 104 others injured.

Advocate Makhdoom Ali Khan filed a 64-page document, including the objections and replies to the recommendations and findings, in the Supreme Court, reports the Daily Times.

The inquiry commission, headed by Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa of had observed that the Interior Ministry was without a clear leadership and direction; consequently, it was confused about its role in combating terrorism, while Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar displayed little sense of ministerial responsibility.

To this, the ministry said that the commission's findings were incorrect and contrary to the record, and not based on any evidence to support the claims. The report had mentioned a meeting between Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, head of banned organisation Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ).

The reply explained that the minister was not scheduled to meet a delegation of the ASWJ led by Ludhianvi, as was alleged by the commission.

It said that the minister was scheduled to meet the delegation of Difa-i-Pakistan Council (DPC), which is not a proscribed organisation and is rather an umbrella organisation of 35 religious and political parties.

According to the reply, the minister was unaware that Maulana Ludhianvi would accompany Maulana Samiul Haq since he had no prior notice of Maulana Ludhianvi's arrival.

In the objections, the ministry said that the finding of the commission that "National Counter Terrorism Authority's (NACTA) act of seeking input from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)/ Intelligence Bureau (IB) is illogical" was flawed.

The document also includes submissions on 18 recommendations that were made in the commission's report, stating that proscription of terrorist organisations was a continuous exercise conducted by the federal government, and that 64 organisations had been proscribed to date.

The Interior Ministry dubbed the damning findings of the Quetta inquiry commission on terrorism 'unnecessary, uncalled for and violative of natural justice'.

"These adverse remarks and observations are without any evidentiary basis. They not only deny the fundamental rights of those affected but also have an adverse effect on the morale of the persons involved," regretted the reply.

On January 19, the court had allowed the ministry to submit its objections to the report.