Sindh recommends 118 names for ATA’s Fourth Schedule

KARACHI: As part of streamlining the record of suspects on a watch list under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), a provincial committee has recommended a list of 118 individuals associated with different sectarian and proscribed outfits to re-notify them under the Fourth Schedule.

The list includes Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi, chief of the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), and Allama Mirza Yousaf Hussain, head of the All Pakistan Shia Action Committee (APSAC).

The Fourth Schedule is a list of “proscribed” individuals who are suspected of terrorism and/or sectarianism under Section 11EE of the ATA 1997, which states that whenever the government receives information that an individual is associated with an organisation kept under observation, it may recommend the person’s name for the Fourth Schedule.

The name of a suspect is usually placed on the Fourth Schedule for three years, but its placement can be extended if needed after the completion of three years.

Following the three-year duration, on the recommendation of the Sindh Home Department, a committee formed to re-notify the names of the fourth schedulers updated the list and recommended 118 individuals associated with different religious parties and banned organisations.

A law enforcement official, who was part of the process, told The News that the names of several suspects who had completed their three years on the Fourth Schedule, were cleared of suspicion or were prosecuted had been omitted from the list. “The names of suspects still associated with proscribed outfits were re-included.”

Most of the individuals recommended to be re-notified in the Fourth Schedule are associated with sect-based parties and banned organisations, including ASWJ, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), APSAC, Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Jafria Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Islami Pakistan, Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen and Pakistan Sunni Tehreek.

The list also includes members of terror outfits such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jundullah and al Qaeda, and proscribed jihadi groups such as Harkatul Mujahideen (HuM) and Jaish-e-Muhammad. It also carries names of members of Tanzeem-e-Islami, the banned Hizbut Tahrir and individuals who have returned from Afghanistan after participating in the fighting there.

Interestingly, members of two liberal Pashtun parties – the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) – have also been included in the list. The list carries district-wise entries: 40 individuals from District Central, followed by 33 from District West, 10 each from the East and City districts, and five from District South.

Most of the people included from District Central are associated with various Deobandi, Shia and Barelvi parties or proscribed organisations. Most prominent among them is APSAC chief Allama Mirza Yousaf Hussain.

Shahid Bikik, a suspect associated with the banned Peoples Aman Committee, has also been included in the list of District Central. He is allegedly involved in the attack on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement MNA Abdul Rashid Godil.

From District West, most of the suspects are associated with TTP, SSP, LeJ and HuM. The list also names Muhammad Shakirullah, popularly known as Mufti Shakir, the Karachi commander of TTP-Swat.

The ANP’s Adalat Khan, who allegedly works for TTP-Swat, and the PkMAP’s Sher Ali Khan have also made it to the list. From District Malir, ASWJ chief Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi is among the four individuals whose names are on the list.