[DAWN] Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar said today that permitting proscribed outfits operating in the country under different names undermines the state's credibility in the fight against terrorism and militancy."Jamaat-ud-Dawa
...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
(JuD) was a reincarnation of Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the
Army of the Pure,an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is
banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
(LT), and they were allowed to function due to a court order that was given," said Babar while answering a query in the senate.
"The government has not yet provided me a copy of the court order that allowed JuD to operate, despite the passage of one month and an order by the chairman of the senate," added Babar.
"This issue has again come to the forefront due to the recent comments made by Afghanistan's Caped President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
, in which he alleged that Pakistain has allowed some select groups to operate freely in the country," said Babar.
"This has raised serious questions and misgivings about our intent and designs," stated the senator.
The senator added further that questions were bound to arise when proscribed organizations are run under the guise of charity organizations.
"Are these so called charities allowed to function and serve as pressure groups which try to influence the elected government and the parliament, or are they meant to advance certain security and foreign policy goals as non-state actors," questioned Babar.
Babar also said that given the impunity that is enjoyed by some of these groups, gives rise to the suspicion that they are protected by certain powerful forces.
Under Section 11-B, an organization is proscribed if the federal government has reasons to believe that it is linked to terrorism. Under the law, the government can place an organization under observation for six months if it is suspected of being involved in terrorist activities. The period can be extended only after providing the organization an opportunity of being heard.
Earlier in July, the government had ruled out the possibility of proscribing Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) in the near future and said there was no evidence of the charity organization having been formed in place of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).