ISLAMABAD - The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) would close any inquiry, as a result of the signing of ‘Islamabad Long March Declaration’, against Minhajul Quran International (MQI) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri and his organisation relating to the source of massive funding that was used for the long march and a sit-in.
The FIA had launched an inquiry against Dr Qadri and MQI on the directions of Interior Minister Rehman Malik after MQI chief used massive funding to advertise his proposed long march and to make necessary arrangements for the sit-in. The government was suspicious that Dr Qadri had succeeded in prolonging the sit-in as a result of the wide scale funding from unknown sources of money.
The point five of the ‘Islamabad Declaration’ says that with the end of the long march and sit-in, all cases registered against each other shall be withdrawn immediately and there will be no acts of victimisation and vendetta against either party or the participants of the march.
“We have not been informed to close the file of the case till yet and the decision would be taken after proper directions from the Ministry of Interior,” a senior official of FIA said on the condition of anonymity.
However, an informed source in the Ministry of Interior said that the inquiry against Dr Qadri regarding source of funding would not be closed rather it would be hushed up for the time being. “ This is because so that inquiry could be re-opened again as a pressure tactic if Dr Qadri tried to create some problems for the government in future,” the source added.
Earlier, FIA had claimed that it had started the formal probe against Dr Qadri and MQI after it obtained solid evidence relating to the source of massive funding to advertise the long march and to make successful the protest sit-in at the Jinnah Avenue of Islamabad soon after his dramatic return from Canada. The investigators claimed that they had also obtained a video regarding the funding received by his organization.
FIA in this regard had sought details from the State bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue and the money exchange dealers connected with the ‘Hundi’ business.
The agency had broadened the scope of the investigations into the case by examining all the suspicious transactions and the money transferred to the accounts of Minhajul Quran International (MQI) and the individuals who donated money for the organization. FIA had decided to contact Social Welfare Department Punjab, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and other related departments to probe the matter completely.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik had time and again said during the protest sit-in led by Dr Qadri that he would soon make public some facts about the source of funding used for long march and sit-in.
The minister, last Monday, during his meeting with Canadian High Commissioner Greg Giokas had said that the government of Pakistan might seek the help of the
Canadian government regarding the source of funding of Dr Qadri within the parameters of international law.
The minister had also showed his apprehensions to the High Commissioner saying that people of Pakistan were questioning the funding of Dr. Tahirul Qadri, which was being spent by him lavishly in Pakistan.