Properties linked to terrorist Hafiz Saeed's JuD, charity seized in PoK, Pakistan's Punjab

Islamabad: Continuing its crackdown against Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, the Pakistan government has now seized properties linked to his banned outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its charity arm Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FiF) in PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab province.

According to The Express Tribune, at 148 properties linked to JuD chief were seized in Punjab province.

Interior Secretary Arshad Mirza told the Senate Committee on Interior on Thursday that the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) had confiscated three immovable assets of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and FIF, including hospitals and dispensaries.

The meeting was presided over by Senator Rehman Malik, the report said.

Mirza further informed the committee that Pakistan Red Crescent, a humanitarian organisation, had been asked to take over seven ambulances associated with the two organisations.

Senate Committee on Interior had earlier sought to know from the Ministry of Interior and Foreign Affairs on what measures the government had taken in view of Pakistan's placement on 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Mirza told the panel that the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), the JuD and the FIF were on the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) sanction list as per its resolution number 1267.

Therefore, Pakistan was supposed to impose sanctions against the three outfits, he said.

The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) was also amended through a presidential order for taking action against the three organisations that had been declared proscribed by the UNSC, he added.

Mirza also told the panel members that a checklist was prepared and circulated among the stakeholders after proper consultation for taking action against the JuD and the FIF.

The action against the proscribed organisations was taken at the behest of Finance Ministry, which was the lead agency, he said.

Among other measures, Mirza said the passports of the persons associated with these outfits were also cancelled, a move that had barred them from flying abroad.

Moreover, their weapons' licenses had also been cancelled and they had been stopped from raising funds as well, he added.

Mirza said a meeting would be held next week in the Finance Ministry in which representatives of the Financial Action Task Force would also participate.

During this meeting, he said a reporting mechanism would be designed to satisfy the FATF demands regarding these organisations.

In a FATF meeting in Paris, he said, Pakistan was given three months to satisfy it with regard to measures taken by the country against the organisations declared proscribed by the UNSC.

Besides having international obligations Pakistan also had some internal obligations, the official said.

However, senators in the parliamentary panel strongly criticised the policy of the successive governments on countering terrorism and radicalisation and urged the government that it was time to look inward and do more for a respectable standing in the comity of nations.

Senator Shahi Syed said Pakistan got a bad name for fighting the CIA-sponsored jihad. He said it was incumbent on Ulema-e-Haq (the true scholars) to confess that a mistake had been committed in the past.

Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudry said that matters needed to be reviewed if the international community was not ready to buy Pakistan's narrative even as the country massively suffered during the war against terror.

"You can't fool the world. It's better to get along with the rest of the world," Chaudhry stated.
Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldini said Pakistan committed mistakes one after the other in the first and second round of the war in Afghanistan.

He said no proscribed organisation should be allowed to work with a different name.

(With PTI inputs)