Close X
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
ADVT 
International

Weeks After Ban Announcement, Hafiz Saeed's Outfits Still Operate In Pakistan

Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Mar, 2019 08:50 PM

    Despite Pakistan’s announcement that it was banning Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation a fortnight ago, the two organisations remain on the country’s “watch list” with no action to outlaw them.


    According to the website of the Pakistan government's National Counter Terrorism Authority (NCTA), which was updated on Monday, JuD and FIF are organisations under Ministry of Interior’s watch under section 11-D-(1), Schedule-II of the Anti Terrorism Act 1997.


    The NCTA website says the notification regarding JuD and FIF putting them under the list of organisation under watch was issued on February 21. However, before that, the website claimed that both JuD and FIF were placed on the watch list in January 2017.


    On February 21, Pakistan government had announced that it had banned the JuD and FIF, amid intense global pressure to rein in the militant groups following the February 14 Pulwama attack that killed 40 troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force.


    "This implies that Pakistan has lied on the ban on JuD and FIF. In fact, it has just altered the date of the watch list placement to fool the world," a senior security official said.


    A spokesman of Pakistan's Interior Ministry had said on February 21 that the decision to ban these two groups was taken during a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.


    "It was decided during the meeting to accelerate action against proscribed organisations," the spokesperson had said in a statement.


    "It was further decided that Jamat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation be notified as proscribed organizations by the Ministry of Interior," he added.


    According to officials, JuD's network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance service. The two groups have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers.


    The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT, which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.


    The US Department of the Treasury has designated its chief Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a US $10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.


    Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008. He was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November 2017.


    The NCTA has so far declared 69 terrorist organisations as banned and a sizeable number of these organisations are based in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).


    The NCTA has turned a blind eye to major militant groups such as the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the Al Badr operating in Jammu and Kashmir.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    US Will Tighten Screws On North Korea, Says Nikki Haley

    US Will Tighten Screws On North Korea, Says Nikki Haley
    US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, the first Indian-American to hold a cabinet rank, pledged that the US plans to "tighten the screws" on North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

    US Will Tighten Screws On North Korea, Says Nikki Haley

    UK Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn Makes Operation Bluestar Probe Election Pledge

    UK Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn Makes Operation Bluestar Probe Election Pledge
    Britain's Opposition Labour party has included the demand by some British Sikh groups for an independent inquiry into the UK's alleged involvement in the Operation Bluestar in 1984 as a manifesto pledge.

    UK Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn Makes Operation Bluestar Probe Election Pledge

    Pakistan Airlines Crew Detained At London's Heathrow Airport, Let Off After Search

    Pakistan Airlines Crew Detained At London's Heathrow Airport, Let Off After Search
    The crew members were allowed to leave after a thorough search was conducted.

    Pakistan Airlines Crew Detained At London's Heathrow Airport, Let Off After Search

    Triple Talaq Matter Of Faith For 1,400 Years: Muslim Board Tells SC

    The Muslim body also equated triple talaq with the Hindu belief that Lord Rama was born at Ayodhya.

    Triple Talaq Matter Of Faith For 1,400 Years: Muslim Board Tells SC

    23-Year-Old Indian-Origin Student In US Killed In Road Accident

    23-Year-Old Indian-Origin Student In US Killed In Road Accident
    Andhra Pradesh-based Adluru Saikumar was pursuing his MS at Dekalb in the state of Illinois. The car was reportedly rammed by another vehicle and Adluru Saikumar died on the spot

    23-Year-Old Indian-Origin Student In US Killed In Road Accident

    Pakistan Not Allowed To Play Kulbhushan Jadhav 'Confession' Video At UN Court

    Pakistan Not Allowed To Play Kulbhushan Jadhav 'Confession' Video At UN Court
    Pakistan was denied permission to screen a video in which Kulbhushan Jadhav purportedly confesses to the charges. India says the confession was forced.

    Pakistan Not Allowed To Play Kulbhushan Jadhav 'Confession' Video At UN Court