Pakistan Bans Charity Over Mumbai

Founded by Saeed, Jamaat-ul-Dawa operates charity hospitals, schools and relief centers across Pakistan.

"Yes, Jamaat-ul-Dawa has been banned," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Islamonline.net.

Soon after the ban was announced security forces started closing down Jamaat-ul-Dawa offices in all the four provinces as well as Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

The assets of the charity and its main leaders have been frozen, and their names have also been placed on the exit control list to prevent them from leaving the country, a senior government official said.

Acting on an Indian request, the UN Security Council has designated Jamaat-ul-Dawa a terrorist organization and placed four of its leaders on its terrorist list.

Founded by Hafiz Saeed, a former professor of Islamic studies at University of Engineering Lahore, Jamaat-ud-Dawa operates hospitals, schools and relief centers across Pakistan.

It is widely accused of being a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LT), the outlawed group India blames for the Mumbai attacks.

Malik, a close aide of President Asif Zardari, confirmed that Saeed has been put under house arrest in Lahore.

But he reiterated his government's stance on not handing over any of those arrested to India.

"They are our citizens, and will be interrogated by our agencies. Any proof against them from any country is welcomed."

Crackdown

Abdullah Muntazir, a spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Dawa, confirmed the closure of his organization’s offices across the country.

"Security forces are not merely closing down our offices, but also raiding the houses of our activists and in their absence," he told IOL by phone from an unknown location.

"They are harassing family members," he charged.

"I don’t know whether I would be able to talk to you after this conversation or not as I might be arrested anytime."

This is the second time the Jamaat-ul-Dawa faces a ban.

It was banned in May 2001 while operating under the name of Markaz Dawa-ul-Irshad (MDI) and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Later, the MDI started operating under the name of Jamaat-ul-Dawa and disassociated itself from LT, which restricted its operations inside India-held Kashmir.

Seed formed the MDI in 1986 after he returned from Afghanistan where he had fought for years in Kunar province against the Soviet occupation forces.

The LT was formed in 1990 as the military wing of the MDI and started its operations in India-held Kashmir.

The group has never been involved in war against the Soviets because it was formed after the ouster of the Soviet occupation forces from Afghanistan.

As the LT remained engaged in fighting Indian forces in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir, the MDI established itself as one of biggest charity organizations in Pakistan.

It started establishing schools, hospitals, clinics and relief centers all over the Muslim country with a huge funding, allegedly provided by some Arab countries in early 90s.

MDI changed its name to Jamaat-ul-Dawa in 2001 in order to avoid restrictions imposed by the Pakistani government.

The US declared LT a foreign terrorist organization in 2001 and then President Pervez Musharraf banned the group in 2002. The UN designated LT a terrorist organization in 2005.

Jamaat-ul-Dawa is headquartered some 30 kilometers north of Lahore, featuring a huge building, schools and a college.

It has over 200,000 registered members and has a strong standing in Punjab, the country’s most populous and richest province, and Azad Kashmir.

Jamaat-ul-Dawa currently runs 200 schools and 156 hospitals and clinics all over Pakistan, where educational and medical services are provided to the poor free of charge.