In U-turn, Pakistan Now Denies Bahawalpur Seminary Linked To Jaish-e-Mohammad

A day after Pakistan announced it has taken control of the Jaish-e-Mohammad's Bahawalpur seminary in the wake of international outrage over the Pulwama terror attack, Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday rejected India's allegations that the madrassa is the headquarters of the terror outfit responsible for the February 14 killing of 40 Indian security personnel.

In a video message on social media, Chaudhry clarified that the Punjab government took administrative control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur in line with the decisions taken during the National Security Council (NSC) meeting held on Thursday and as part of the National Action Plan (NAP), Pakistan Today reported.

“Today [Friday] control of a madrassa in Bahawalpur was taken over by the Punjab government,” he explained, adding that the madrassa was at the "centre of Indian propaganda".

"This is the madrassah that India was doing propaganda over and alleging that it is the headquarters of JeM," he added.

Stating that "around 700 students are studying at the madrassah", the information minister said, "This step [to take administrative control] has nothing to do with the attack in occupied Kashmir."

He said the Punjab government will take mediapersons to the madrassa for them to see how it was operating, and added that around 700 students studied at the madrassa on zakat and sadqa donations.

The National Action Plan is our own security document, which has the consensus of all political parties and this is implementation of it, he said.

On Friday night, Pakistan's Interior Ministry confirmed that the Punjab government had taken control of the seminary in Bahawalpur believed to be the headquarters of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad. The government has taken control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, reportedly the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs, the ministry’s spokesperson said.

Pakistan is under immense international pressure to rein in the terror groups emanating from its soil.

On Thursday night, the United Nations Security Council, including Pakistan’s key ally China, named JeM in a statement and condemned in the “strongest terms” the “heinous and cowardly” terror attack perpetrated by the outfit in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, on February 14 in which 40 Indian paramilitary personnel were blown up in a suicide attack.

The attack has led to bilateral relations taking a sharp nosedive and talks of reprisal.