Punjab govt decides banning JUI-F's volunteer group Ansarul Islam

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to impose a ban on Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) private militia Ansarul Islam and sent a summary to the concerned cabinet committee, citing sources, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

Sources told ARY News that the Punjab home department sent a summary to the cabinet committee, as well as forwarded its recommendations to the chief minister regarding the imposition of a ban on JUI-F’s volunteer group Ansarul Islam.

According to the home department, the final approval of a ban on the JUI-F’s militia will be taken from the Punjab cabinet.

The development came after the opposition alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), made an announcement to organise a long march towards Islamabad against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government.

Read: Court expresses dismay on Ansarul Islam’s unilateral ban

In October 2019, the federal government had placed a ban on the entry of Ansarul Islam’s activists in Islamabad as a step to avoid any untoward incident and maintain law and order in the federal capital during the possible sit-in of the opposition parties.

According to a notification issued by the interior ministry, the federal government, under Article-256 had barred the activists of Ansarul Islam, the security wing of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), from entering Islamabad.

The federal government believed that the group has turned into a militant organization and could involve in violence and riots during the possible protest of the opposition parties in the capital, read the notification.

Ansarul Islam’s activists were equipped with batons and sharp tools and can carry out militia-like activities, the notification had stated, adding that the group could create hurdles in maintaining peace in Islamabad.