Pakistan Govt Bans 11 Orgs for Having Links With JuD, FIF, JeM

The decision was taken during a meeting between Pakistan PM Imran Khan and Interior Minister Ijaz Shah on Friday.

JuD chief Hafiz Saeed and JeM leader Masood Azhar. Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo altered by the The Quint: Harsh Sahani)

Pakistan government has banned 11 organisations for having links with the proscribed outifts Jaamat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), an official statement said on Saturday, 11 May.

The decision to ban these organisations was taken during a meeting between Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan and Interior Minister Ijaz Shah on Friday.

After the 14 February Pulwama attack, in which 40 Indian security personnel were killed by a suicide bomber of the Pakistan-based JeM, Khan had said Islamabad would not spare any group involved in militancy or using Pakistani soil for any kind of terror activity against other countries.

Pakistan's National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), which works under the Ministry of Interior, announced on its website that seven groups have been banned for their affiliation with the JuD, which was proscribed in March by the Pakistan government.

The organisation which have been proscribed are Al-Anfal Trust, Idara Khidmat-e-Khalaq, Al-Dawat ul Irshad, Mosques & Welfare Trust, Al-Medina Foundation, Mazz-Bin-Jabel Education Trust and Al-Hamad Trust, the statement said.

All these groups are Lahore-based.

Pakistan's Ministry of Interior took the action on the government's directive to speed up implementation of the National Action Plan of 2015 to eliminate militancy and extremism from the country's soil.

Apart from the seven, Lahore-based Al-Fazal Foundation/Trust and Al-Easar Foundation were also banned for having links with the FIF, the NACTA said.

The FIF, like JuD, was also banned in March by the Pakistan government.

According to the NACTA, Bahawalpur-based Al-Rehmat Trust Organization and Karachi-based Al-Furqan Trust were also banned on Friday for having links with the JeM, which was banned in January 2002.

Recently, the government announced to take control of more than 30,000 religious seminaries.