Indian allegations of Bahawalpur madrassah being JeM headquarters false: info minister

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday rejected Indian allegations that a madrassah in Bahawalpur, which the Punjab government recently took administrative control of, is the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

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).

"During yesterday's NSC meeting yesterday it was decided that NAP will be fully implemented. Some steps were taken in this regard yesterday and today the Punjab government took administrative control of a madrassah in Bahawalpur," the information minister said.

"This is the madrassah that India was doing propaganda over and alleging that it is the headquarters of JeM. Tomorrow, the Punjab government will give media persons a tour of the madrassahs so everyone can see how it is functioning and see the truth for themselves," 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."

"NAP is our own security document over which all political parties are in consensus and we are implementing it," he stressed.

Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed rivals since a suicide attack last week killed 41 soldiers in occupied Kashmir, the deadliest attack in years.