Lahore: Pakistan’s Punjab provincial government on Wednesday issued a list of 84 banned organisations prohibited from collecting sacrificial animal hides during Eid ul-Adha, including 10 so-called charity offshoots of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) headed by Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
Eid ul-Adha, also called the festival of sacrifice, will be celebrated on Thursday. Pakistanis are expected to sacrifice millions of animals and terror groups disguised as charities collect animal hides and sell them to raise funds.
The Home Department of Pakistan’s Punjab province published a notification with a list of 84 organisations in the local newspapers with a warning that those providing any financial assistance (cash or sacrificial animal hides) to these banned organisations will be booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The notification specifically mentions that 10 of the 84 banned organisations are charity offshoots of JuD.
The charity offshoots of JuD are Al-Nafal Trust Lahore, Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq Lahore, Al-Dawatul Irshaad Pakistan, Al Hand Trust Faisalabad, Mosques and Welfare Trust Lahore, Al-Madina Foundation, Maaz Bin Jabal Education Trust, Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, Al-Fazl Foundation and Al Aisar Foundation Lahore.
Apart from the 10 organisations, the Punjab government has also banned some of the prominent radical and terror organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, ISIS, TPP, Jindallah, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Balochistan Liberation Army, 313 Brigade and Pak-Turk International (CAG Education Foundation) from collecting sacrificial animal hides, the notification said.
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)’s two sub-organisations — Al Rehmat Trust Bahawalpur and Al Furqan Trust Karachi — are also on the list of banned outfits.
The 10 charity offshoots of JuD seem to be working in ‘low profile’ in the country since the JuD was banned and the arrest of its chief Hafiz Saeed in early 2019.
Saeed has been lodged in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail in multiple terror financing cases in which he was convicted for over 60 years. However, his sentence will run concurrently meaning he may not spend many years in jail.
The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.
Pakistan’s tanning industry is one of the country’s oldest and third-largest export sectors. In the fiscal year 2021-22, Pakistan exported products worth USD 1 billion, up from USD 850 million in the previous year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
