Hard facts about terror financing

The statement made by DG Rangers on terror financing in Karachi, specially the Rs230 billion figure (around $2.3bn annually), has made waves throughout the country. However, the figure was not just tossed around; it was calculated by an organisation operational throughout the length and breadth of Karachi for several decades.
To be concise, the Rangers chief had declared that more than Rs230 billion, generated annually from residents of the city through extortion, smuggling of Iranian diesel, water supply and land-grabbing, was mainly patronised by a major political force. He did not name any group or party. He added that some part of that huge amount of money was also being used for terror-funding, the Lyari gang warfare and criminal activities across the city.
Terror financing has been covered in the National Action Plan (NAP). In February this year, in a meeting of the Apex Committee in Karachi, the prime minister had given go-ahead to tackle this serious issue. The meeting was also attended by the Army chief General Raheel Sharif.
Thus, the letter written by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to DG Rangers claiming that the law enforcement agency was going beyond its mandate has little relevance in the sense that the issue of terror financing has been covered under the NAP and the Karachi operation.
As it is, the Rangers in Sindh have been given powers to launch a crackdown on terrorists, extortionists, terror financing through narcotics and extortion and bank robberies, kidnappings for ransom, smuggling of arms, etc.
During the last phase of the Karachi operation, more was learnt about terror financing and its nexus with certain politicians and gangs. It was found that either several of the terrorist organisations were directly or indirectly sponsored by some politicians, a few of them well-known, or several terrorist acts were found to be linked to some politicians and bureaucrats. Thus, the figure given by the DG Rangers.
According to reports, terror financing has also deep links with some religious parties and outlawed groups and their nexus is fueling terrorist activities in the city on a large scale.
It can be surmised that earlier, the focus of security agencies was more on nabbing criminals and terrorists rather than looking for their sponsors and finances, which actually compounded the problem of terrorism. But once the Rangers started tackling the problem under the new mandate they were given, unease of certain politicians came to the surface. In the case of DG Rangers Sindh, the figure of Rs230 billion was certainly the result of some serious due diligence and work on the ground.
The DG Rangers has advocated that a task force be constituted that could work on this issue. He said the force may comprise intelligence agencies besides Custom Intelligence and FIA. On the other hand, the Sindh government has insisted on constituting a committee comprising two judges and interior secretary. On the whole, terror financing has become a global issue after 9/11. Consequently, it cannot be pushed under the carpet anywhere in the world, including Pakistan.