No concrete action against Lashkar by Pakistan as the eyewash continues
New Delhi, Nov 02: The US has once again reiterated that Pakistan has failed to take action against terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.
In
its
annual
country
report
on
terrorism,
it
said
that
Pakistan's
efforts
in
relations
to
implementation
of
conditions
laid
down
by
the
Financial
Action
Task
Force,
it
failed
to
uniformly
implemented
UN
suctions
against
the
Lashkar,
which
continues
to
raise
funds.
This
observation
comes
at
a
time,
when
India
has
consistently
maintained
that
no
concrete
action
has
been
taken
against
the
Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
No action:
India also took note of the fact that no such action has been taken against the Jaish-e-Mohammad, which was involved in the Pathankot, Uri, Nagrota and Pulwama attacks.
There have been bans in the past, but the Jamaat-ud-Dawa has managed to overcome it in various ways.
Both the Lahore High Court and the Supreme Court had cleared the JuD in the past and allowed it to operate. While the bans have been in place in the past as well, the JuD has always managed to overcome it either by going to court or carrying out its activities by coming up with newer outfits.
An eyewash:
The JuD is the parent group of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. However, in the year 2000, there was another parent group of the Lashkar which was known as the Markaz Dawa-wal-Irshad. This was the group that carried out the alleged charity work and raised funds for the Lashkar.
Those were early days of the Lashkar and the Markaz had played a vital role in funding it. However, in the year 2002, the Markaz was banned for funding terror activities. Did it make any difference? Not at all and Saeed immediately floated the JuD. Similarly, Saeed floated the FeF after the JuD was banned.
Eyewash of the past:
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.
The 2008 incident:
Pakistan's eyewash 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.
Courts to the rescue:
There was some more eyewash by Pakistan. It claimed that it had sealed the 200-acre campus of the JuD in Murdike. It also stated that an administrator in Pakistan had taken over the operational facility of the JuD.
All this led to the JuD seeking legal recourse. The petition drafted by top bureaucrats of Pakistan sought a directive to first release Saeed who was under house arrest. The court allowed the petition and in the days to come even the ban on the JuD was lifted.
It is quite surprising that the Pakistan government was asked to return the property of the JuD and also its other assets when there was never any official notification.
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.