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K J M Varma in Islamabad
Faced with mounting protests from extremist groups and calls for the interior minister's resignation, Pakistani authorities have halted the crackdown on fund collection by them in the Sindh province and released all those arrested in the last two days.
The government's decision came as several militant groups, including the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Harkat-ul-Ansar, met in Lahore on Friday and pledged to step up their fund collection campaign in defiance of the ban.
The crackdown had begun in the early hours of Wednesday following an order from the Sindh government banning fund collection by militants in the name of jihad and prohibiting display of signboards on their offices.
The corps commander of Sindh, Lieutenant General Tariq Wasim Ghazi, said at a hurriedly convened press conference on Friday night that no official campaign was going on against 'jihadi' outfits and all the 200 arrested members of various groups had been released.
The militant outfits, at their meeting, also demanded the resignation of Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider, a close associate of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, for "instigating" the crackdown.
After the meeting, leaders of the militant groups told the local media that they would start a public awareness campaign from Saturday on fund collection as well as on their activities.
They formed a joint coordination committee to interact with religious and political party leaders.
In another development, Pakistan's influential Islamic clergy threatened to launch a nationwide stir if the crackdown was not stopped and accused the government of acting under pressure from India and the United States.
"We warn the government to stop harassing our workers in Karachi or be ready to face a countrywide agitation, which will wash away the government altogether," Moulana Ashraf Ali, chief of the Ahle Sunnah Wal-Jamaat, told reporters after a meeting of clerics in Rawalpindi.
"The government seeks its legitimacy with the international community by adopting such a brutal way. But it will meet a total failure as we shall not watch the high-handedness of the government as silent spectators," Ali said.
This is the second time in a year that General Musharraf has failed to carry out his promised campaign to curb the activities of extremist groups.
A similar attempt was made during the Eid festival late last year to prevent these groups from collecting the hides of animals killed in households across Pakistan.
But defying the ban, the groups set up 'pandals' to collect thousands of hides, which fetched them millions of rupees.
PTI
EARLIER REPORTS: No plan to ban militant outfits, says Pakistan Pakistani parties protest against crackdown Al-Badr vows to defy Pakistani government Militants flay government for crackdown Militant groups resist ban on fund collections, signboards Pakistan cracks down on banned groups, 100 held 'Threat to Pakistan from within, not outside' Pakistan bans two local terrorist groups
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