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Jihadi flood relief operation continues
[Pak Daily Times] A survey carried out by Daily Times has revealed that banned outfits such as Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Harkatul Islami are collecting donations and goods for the flood-affected people in various areas of the country, including Karachi.Their activities are being hailed by some quarters, who claim the government has failed to deal with the flood crisis. Security agencies are worried about the sudden rise in activities of such organisations that had previously been banned. A senior Interior Ministry official told Daily Times that, "They are going kinetic and collecting funds which probably would never reach to the victims. All this is being done right in front of our eyes. We are helpless." When asked by Daily Times about his response on the presence of Taliban in Swat and other areas where US choppers are taking part in relief activities, General Nagata, the Office of the Defence Representative in Pakistan deputy commander, said, "There are some security challenges here but the Pakistani military, ever since we stood up this task force, has simply done an incredibly energetic and totally committed job at providing multiple layers of security around out activities both in the air and on the ground." In the coming days, more than 17 US helicopters are going to join the existing US fleet in Pakistan for flood relief efforts. Talking to Daily Times, Ataur Rehman, who heads LeT's mother organisation Jamaatud Dawa, says, "We are strictly working for humanity and in true spirit of Islam. The government had failed in providing relief efforts so we came in to fill the void by providing ambulances, boats and shelter." When asked why the Punjab government allocated Rs 300 million in its annual budget for the JuD, Rehman hung up the phone. "While the jihadists won't be deterred from exploiting the natural calamity to their ideological advantage, not stopping them would be compromising whatever we did to counter terrorism in Pakistan," a high-ranking police official told Daily Times. "But there's no law to stop volunteers from doing humanitarian work and there's a lack of political will," sad the official. An Islamabad-based policy expert told Daily Times that, "The jihadis are cleverly making a case that it's actually them who provided help and not the present government which is as dangerous as it gets." The Interior Ministry sources expressed their disappointment over the Punjab government for not taking action against JuD and other terrorist organisations involved in carrying out flood relief operations. Another Interior Ministry official told Daily Times that there was no coordination between the federal and the Punjab governments. In Karachi, where the JuD had only resurfaced under the name of Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation Pakistan, it has set up dozens of relief camps. "We pay the police to carry out our operations in Karachi since we are a banned organization," said a JuD member who identified himself as Muhammad. Interestingly the JuD and Harkat's camps had Jamaat-e-Islami's flags on them. A Western diplomat who's been active in relief efforts expressed his disappointment over the situation. "We have no other option. But what worries me is why Pakistan hasn't learned anything from the past when it allowed jihadi outfits free space? Nevertheless, it is business as usual in Pakistan," the diplomat said. Posted by: Fred 2010-09-09 |
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