Imran backs flood relief efforts by 'terror outfits' in garb of Pak Islamic charities

New York, Aug 23(ANI): Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan has downplayed the alarm being raised in the West about the flood relief efforts being carried out by terror outfits, including Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD), in the garb of Islamic charities.

"At this stage, any help that the flood-hit people could get was welcome. It is a matter of their survival," The Nation quoted Imran, as saying.

"The Islamic organisations have been in existence for a long time, but their humanitarian services, have never translated into votes at the elections. The people of Pakistan were not so naive as to adopt their ideologies in return for their relief effort," he added.

Imran further criticised the Pakistan government saying that the mood in the country was "depressing" as it had failed to provide humanitarian aid for the affected people.

"There is no food even in the relief camps run by the government. Pakistan is in dire straits," he said.

The United Nations had earlier warned that militants could take advantage of the country's worst humanitarian disaster by operating among its displaced victims.

"The people's misery can always be exploited by those who have political or militant aims," said Jean-Maurice Ripert, UN Special Envoy for Assistance to Pakistan.

According to reports, the Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD), the charity wing of the dreaded terror group-Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), is running relief camps in the flood-hit north western part of the country and providing the victims food, medicines and money.

The JuD, under its latest humanitarian face Falah-e-Insaniat, has established numerous relief camps in Khyber Pakhtunkwa province in its bid to push through its anti-west ideology amidst the survivors of the devastating deluge.

While the Pakistan government has been struggling to collect funds for the flood-victims, the JuD, which masterminded the November 2008 Mumbai carnage, claimed that it raises 120 million rupees daily, which is equal to the total amount the Prime Minister relief fund has with it.

Over 1,600 people have been killed and 20 million affected as raging floodwaters continue to wreak havoc in the country.

In addition to causing major human loses, it has destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, washed away crops and livestock.

The United Nations says that Pakistan will need billions of dollars to recover from the deluge, which is being described as the worst in the last 80 years. (ANI)