Jamaat-ud-Dawa: Why Pakistan will only watch and not act

The Jamaat-ud-Dawa has a unique style of functioning. Every charity work that it undertakes in Pakistan it makes sure it does so along with the Pakistan army.

To the world it appears as though it is working for the good of the people, but in hindsight it is a nice ploy to build up an image of goodwill. It comes as no surprise when the Pakistan government says that the Jamaat-ud-Dawa is not banned and is only under observation.

It comes as no surprise when Pakistan does not take any action against the JuD which has been declared by almost half the world as an outfit that funds the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. For Pakistan the Lashkar and the JuD are their proxies and acting against them will put them in a spot of bother.

Be it the battle in Kashmir or the war against terror within Pakistan, it is the Lashkar which has always come to their rescue. Moreover Hafiz Saeed who leads both the outfits is a man of extreme importance within Pakistan circles and there is no question of any sort of action being initiated against him.

Post the 26/11 attack, the UN Security Council and the United States of America had declared the JuD as an outfit that funded the Lashkar. However this was not good enough for Pakistan to take any action.

Pakistan will only watch:

Pakistan has made it clear that there is no question of a ban on the JuD. It would only watch the organization for suspicious behaviour. The question of suspicious behaviour does not arise when it comes to the JuD. They always ensure that they work along with the Pakistan army and this acts as a great cover for them.

In addition to this Pakistan has learnt to play the classic cat and mouse game with the International community. When there is pressure on it to ban the JuD, they float a new organization called the Falah-e-Insaniyat which pretty much does the same work the JuD does for the Lashkar.

The Chinese voice:

The statement by Pakistan on the JuD comes in the wake of China blocking India from seeking the UN intervention against the release of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. The Chinese clearly stated that there is no proof to block of Lakhvi and in the bargain scuttled the move by India.

China and Pakistan have called each other all weather friends. In the wake of this relationship, India would find it extremely difficult to act against the like of Saeed or Lakhvi. The very fact that Pakistan refused to take any concrete action against the JuD even post 26/11 indicates that it had its all weather friend backing it.

Pakistan will lie:

Following the 26/11 attack, investigators in India found the funding of the attack to have been carried out by the JuD. There was international pressure and this forced a ban on the JuD.

In fact the then interior minister, Rehman Malik had informed that the JuD had been banned with immediate effect. Although the statement sounded strong, Pakistan was not going to take any chances and directly confront the JuD. It did not impose the ban directly but asked various authorities such as the UN to impose sanctions on the JuD.

Paksitan's eye wash was evident in the year 2008. It sealed 100 offices of the JuD and even Saeed was placed under house arrest only to be released later. During all this Pakistan made a shocking statement in which it stated that there was no need to issue any notification banning the JuD when the UN has already added it to the list of banned outfits.

The strength of the JuD:

When the JuD is in legal trouble it is the top bureaucrats who draft a petition on its behalf. The Pakistan government has even appointed an administrator to oversee the affairs of the JuD.

The JuD has a sprawling campus at Murdike spread over 200 acres of land. It has teaching facilities catering to 3000 students and also residential complexes. The investigations post 26/11 showed that the ten terrorists were housed in this complex and underwent training over here.

The funds according to investigators came in from Saudi Arabia right from 1998 and till date the majority of the funding is from there. With the help of these funds the JuD has been accused of recruiting youth from Kashmir and Pakistan and train them to undertake strikes against India. Further it has also been found that the JuD in a bid to attract possible recruits from southern Punjab also held camps in Kasur district.