ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Monday barred Jamaat-ud-Dawa of Hafiz Saeed from collecting donations. Several other organisations named in a list of banned outfits by the UN Security Council are also covered by the notification.
"The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan hereby prohibits all companies from donating cash to the entities and individuals listed under the UNSC sanctions committee's consolidated list," the notification issued by the SECP says.
In addition to JuD, the UNSC’s list also includes Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), the Pasban-i-Ahle-Hadith and Pasban-i-Kashmir, among others.
The SECP notification further warned that non-compliance with the ruling could result in a hefty monetary fine. "The Government of Pakistan has already prescribed a penalty of up to Rs10 million for non-compliance with the sanctions regime being implemented,"it said.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the government has planned to seize control of charities and financial assets linked to Hafiz Saeed, who has been designated a terrorist by the US. The government detailed its plans in a secret order to various provincial and federal government departments on Dec 19, three officials who attended one of several high-level meetings discussing the crackdown told Reuters. Marked "secret", a Dec 19 document from the finance ministry directed law enforcement agencies and the governments in the five provinces to submit an action plan by Dec 28 for a "takeover" of Saeed’s two charities, JuD and FIF.
The United States has labelled JuD and FIF "terrorist fronts" for Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure), a group Saeed founded in 1987 and which Washington and India blame for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people. Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks and a Pakistani court saw insufficient evidence to convict him.
The Dec 19th document, which refers to "Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issues", names only Saeed’s two charities and "actions to be taken" against them. The FATF, which is an international body that combats money laundering and terrorist financing, has warned Pakistan it faces inclusion on a watch list for failing to crack down on financing terrorism.
Asked about a crackdown on JuD and FIF, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who co-chaired one of the meetings on the plan, responded only generally, saying he has ordered authorities "to choke the fundraising of all the proscribed outfits in Pakistan". In a written reply to Reuters, he also said Pakistan was not taking action under US pressure. "We’re not pleasing anyone. We’re working as a responsible nation to fulfil our obligations to our people and international community.”
If the government follows through with the plan, it would mark the first time Pakistan has made a major move against Saeed’s network, which includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services. The JuD and FIF alone have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers, according to two counter-terrorism officials.
Participants at the meeting raised the possibility that the government’s failure to act against the charities could lead to UN sanctions, one of the three officials said. A UN Security Council team is due to visit Pakistan in late January to review progress against the UN-designated "terrorist" groups. "Any adverse comments or action suggested by the team can have far-reaching implications for Pakistan," the official said.
The Dec 19th document gave few details about how the state would take over Saeed’s charities, pending the plans submitted from the provincial governments. It did say it would involve government entities taking over ambulance services and accounting for other vehicles used by the charities. It says the law enforcement agencies will coordinate with Pakistan’s intelligence agencies to identify the assets of the two charities and examine how they raise money.
The document also directs that the name of JuD’s 200-acre headquarters, Markaz-e-Taiba, near Lahore be changed to something else "to make it known that the Government of "Punjab solely manages and operates the Markaz (headquarters)".
In August, JuD officials formed a new political party, the Milli Muslim League, and backed candidates who fared relatively strongly in two key parliamentary by-elections. The JuD publicly disavows armed militancy inside Pakistan, but offers vocal support for the cause of rebel fighters in Indian-administered Kashmir and has called for Pakistan to retake Kashmir.
Washington, which has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to Saeed’s conviction over the Mumbai attacks, warned Islamabad of repercussions after a Pakistani court in late November released him from house arrest. Punjab government had put Saeed under house arrest for 10 months in 2017 for violating anti-terrorism laws.
On the other hand, Yahya Mujahid, a spokesman for JuD, in a statement said they would move courts and fight a legal battle if the government decided to take control of the organisations run by Saeed. Yahya, reacting to the reports, said Saeed was detained to please India in the past. “There are clear verdicts of High Court and the Supreme Court that there has been no evidence to prove accusations against JuD and its chief,” he added. “Courts have also given permission JuD to continue with their preaching, relief and welfare activities freely,” he said adding, “Despite this, government often takes such steps only to please India.
Accusing the government of becoming a toy in the hands of Modi government, he alleged that whenever India puts pressure on Pakistani rulers they “immediately start acting sometimes by detentions and sometimes by uprooting ambulance booths.”
Yahya said Saeed was detained last year for his “crime” of declaring 2017 as Kashmiris’ year, and he has again made a similar announcement about 2018 and to launch countrywide campaign for the purpose. “That seems to be the reason of their planning to take the reprehensible steps such as controlling of ambulances and others,” he claimed.-Reuters
