Ten outfits banned

ISLAMABAD: The Interior Ministry on Saturday imposed a ban on ten more outfits operating in Pakistan as part of National Action Plan (NAP) aimed at rooting out extremism and terrorism from the country.

According to the list compiled by the Interior Ministry, the ban was imposed on the organisations including Al-Anfal Trust (Lahore), Idar-e-Khidmat Khalaq (Lahore), Al Dawat-ul-Irshad (Lahore), Al Hamd Trust (Lahore), Mosque and Welfare Trust (Lahore), Al Madinah Foundation (Lahore), Muaz bin Jabal Education Trust (Lahore), Al Esar Foundation (Lahore), Al Rehmat Trust Organisation (Bahawalpur), and Al Furqan Trust (Karachi). The sources said these organisations were banned due to their alleged affiliation with three other banned organisations comprising Jamaatud Dawah, Falah-e-Insaniyat and Jaish-e-Muhammad.

The official data showed that now the number of banned outfits has increased from 36 to 46 while two organisations including Ghulaman-e-Sahaba and Maymar Trust are under ‘Watch’ list of the ministry. Two other organisations such as Al-Akhtar Trust and Al-Rashid Trust were enlisted under the UN Security Council Resolution No 1267. The ban on these organisations was imposed following the action plan given to Pakistan by FATF to curb money-laundering and terror financing.

The sources said Al Anfal Trust (Lahore) deals in latest trends in import-export world and helps interested people build their export-import business. It contains some 3.5 million data entries both from inside and outside Pakistan. As far as Idar-e-Khidmat Khalaq (Lahore) is concerned the ministry has reviewed its flow of funds and found something ‘fishy’ due to which it was included in the list of the banned organisations. The sources said Al-Hamd Trust (Lahore) was imparting education to students and providing healthcare facilities to the general public. But the ministry found out elements of extremism in its curriculum and syllabus. It is also running educational institutions and hospitals in Faisalabad.

The Mosque and Welfare Trust (Lahore) is also allegedly receiving funds from ‘dubious’ sources that is against the policies introduced to check terror funding in the country, the sources said. The sources said other organisations comprising Al Madinah Foundation (Lahore), Muaz bin Jabal Education Trust (Lahore), Al Esar Foundation (Lahore), Al Rehmat Trust Organisation (Bahawalpur) and Al Furqan Trust (Karachi) are also running schools, dispensaries and hospitals but when the Interior Ministry probed their day-to-day affairs it was found out that many activities were in violation of the spirit of the NAP.

The sources said the federal government has recently placed eight banned outfits from ‘medium risk’ to ‘high-risk category’ including Daesh (Islamic State), al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan, Haqqani Network, Jamaatud Dawa, Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation and Lashkar-e-Taiba, adding “Such organisations that are linked with any of these organisations come to the radar of the Interior Ministry.” They said the monitoring, scrutiny and process of taking action against the organisations for allegedly spreading extremism in the society would continue and some more organisations are also expected to face ban in the coming months.