A notification issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, ordering an end to donations to groups and individuals on the United Nations Security Council sanction committee’s consolidated list is significant because it means the government will finally be taking action regarding the Jamaatud Dawa and its affiliates. Most of the groups on the consolidated list, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Saeed has always claimed that the JuD and the Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation – the charity wing of the JuD – are purely humanitarian organisations. In August this year the FIF had challenged a ban on hide donations to it. It had argued that there was no evidence of the group’s involvement in any illicit activity. While the US and India have repeatedly accused the JuD of orchestrating the Mumbai attacks of 2008, Hafiz Saeed has always denied any role in this. The JuD, however, openly supports militancy in Kashmir. The notification has immediately brought an angry response from the JuD which has said that, like the arrest of Hafiz Saeed, the government move stems from international pressure. Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal though has, not unexpectedly, denied the suggestion that this sudden action from Pakistan was triggered by the tweet from US President Donald Trump which warned of dire action against Pakistan if it continued to fail in going after terrorists operating from its soil.
If the government is serious about cracking down on financing of the JuD, it will find the task to be quite difficult. Donation boxes belonging to the organisation are spread out in mosques and shops around the country. Police action will be required to remove them and ensure that such grassroots funding is not allowed to start up again. The JuD has been so thoroughly mainstreamed in Pakistani society that preventing it from funding its activities will be challenging. It operates plenty of legitimate businesses like
fish farms, markets, hospitals, agricultural lands and ambulances. It has also become the primary collector of animal hides during Eid, which it then sells on at a profit. If we are to prevent the funding of militant activities, all these businesses and ventures will have to be wound up. Even then, the JuD enjoys the support of many influential people. Only recently, former dictator Pervez Musharraf was declaring his support for the Lashkar-e-Taiba and even claiming he would start a political alliance with them. The JuD gets funding in the form of charity from wealthy individuals in the Gulf States. Our obligations to the UN and international law will require putting an end to this. There has been speculation that the Punjab government will take over services like the ambulances run by the JuD after an investigation. Its challenge will be to ensure these services run as smoothly as they did before. Nothing will cause a quicker backlash to action against the JuD than a failure by the government to match the work done by this ostensible charity group.