For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts
Oneindia App Download

If Qatar doesn’t do better on terror funding, it risks joining Pakistan in the Grey List

|
Google Oneindia News

There have several instances both in the past as well as present when Qatar has been accused of terror funding

New Delhi, Jun 07: Qatar has several times in the past faced severe scrutiny over its alleged financial ties to terrorism. The family of slain American journalist Steven Sotloff alleged in a lawsuit filed in May that prominent Qatari institutions wired $800,000 to an Islamic State Judge who ordered the murders of Sotloff and another American journalist James Foley. It may be recalled that the two were beheaded in Syria in 2014. The killing was filmed and published in propaganda videos.

If Qatar doesn’t do better on terror funding, it risks joining Pakistan in the Grey List

The role of alleged terror funding by Qatar is not limited to the West alone. There are plenty of instances where individuals from Qatar and fuelled terror factories in India as well.

In this context one would have to look at the role of Qatar based Sheikh Eid Bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association also known as the Eid Charity. In 2013 the Eid Charity came under scrutiny globally when one of its founders And Al-Rahman-al-Nu'aymi was named as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States. The sanctions came in the wake of the US learning that he had provided financial support to the Al-Qaeda and its associates in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Somalia.

Usanas Foundation, a leading think tank had done a detailed investigation on the role played by individuals from Qatar where terror funding in India was concerned. The report said that over 1,200 transactions were made to India either directly or in the name of Eid Charity. It said that a total of QR 28,492855 was transferred to eight Salafi based Islamist organisations in India. The money was distributed for projects that ranged from direct financial support within the Muslim community.

The article further added that the Kerala based Salafi Philanthropic Society, registered as Salafi Charitable Trust Narikkuni got the largest chunk of the funds involving $4.9 million between 2009 and 2017. This charity is run by a Qatar based charity group Foundation Sheikh Thani Ibn Abdullah for Humanitarian Services (RAF). The RAF which is being run by a Qatar royal family member was blacklisted in 2017 by the Arab nations as it allegedly funded the Al-Qaeda affiliated group Al-Nusra in Syria while also arming the Muslim Brotherhood based fighters in Sudan.

CEO and co-founder of Usanas Foundation, Abhinav Pandya who also co-authored the article along with Akshay Kumar tells OneIndia that there are plenty of instances where Qatari individuals have funded the Al-Qaeda.

Pandya who is also a Cornell University graduate in public affairs and has written for the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), a premier think tank of India in national security says that an organisation called as the Eid Charity were funding 8 radical Islamic organisations. All this was happening in a covert manner. The money was being laundered covertly, he also added.

Some of these groups that were receiving funding were related to organisations such as the Popular Front of India (PFI). This money was also being used to fuel radicalisation in Uttar Pradesh also Pandya also said.

A senior official that OneIndia spoke with says that the bane of Qatari money in the Indian radicalisation camps has been a long time headache. Take for instance a state like Kerala, this money helped set up ideological camps that radicalised people. The spread of Wahhabism in Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir has been like wild-fire and a lot of this has to do with the fact that money was Qatar and other nations were being pumped in.

An intelligence assessment in 2015 said that between 2011 and 2013, there were nearly 25,000 Wahhabi scholars who came to India. They conducted seminars aimed at radicalisation in various places and with them they brought in funds to the rune of nearly Rs 1,700 crore in multiple instalments.

Pandya further adds that Qatar's credentials have always been under doubt. They have undertaken similar activities in the United States with the help of some Islamic organisations. If one looks closely many of these groups which covertly send money are linked to the Hamas and Hizbul Mujahideen as well.

Pandya says that Qatar is close to Turkey which is the new global champion of Islam. These countries which have openly backed radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik have no right to question India.

The official cited above also added that Qatar has been investigated for long. Some of the country's organisations which have generously contributed to terror have been problematic for countries such the US and India as well. I do not see any reason why once these investigations are complete Qatar could be moved into the Grey List of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) just the way it happened to Pakistan, the officer also notes.

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X