pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik inadvertently highlighted the issues with Pakistan’s counter-terrorism strategy.
In response to a question about bans on ‘religious and welfare organisations’, Malik told the Senate that only four groups have been banned over the past three years for their involvement in terrorism.
The answers to other questions revealed what the ‘impact’ of these bans has been. Over 8,000 people were injured and 3,169 were killed in 2,148 terrorist attacks during 2008-2010, excluding the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
Banning organisations does not signal an end to their activities. The government has previously claimed that thousands of activists of banned organisations are being monitored and have been placed on the fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
“The bans have had no major impact,” says analyst Imtiaz Gul. “Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad have continued their activities under different names. The government has not banned Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), even though the United Nations has banned it. There is a tacit acceptance of their activities.”
While the government did ban organisations again which had regrouped with new names, this does not appear to be a uniform policy. JuD operates openly as the Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation and has at least seven other aliases. The US added the foundation to its list of blacklisted organisations in 2010, recognising that LeT used the name to evade scrutiny.
Since the bans are not effective, financing and recruitment continues. According to a US embassy cable released by WikiLeaks, LeT’s annual military operations budget was Rs365 million [$4.3 million USD].
Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), Al Akhtar Trust and Al Rashid Trust were enlisted under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267 on December 10, 2008, but it is unclear if they are officially banned in Pakistan. According to an old list of banned organisations, JuD was banned in 2003. The UN Consolidated List includes organisations based in Pakistan, or which have/had offices in the country: the alHaramain Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation, Global Relief Foundation, Harkatul Jihad alIslami, Rabita Trust, Jamiat Ihia alTurath alIslamiya, Ummah Tameer-e-Nau and the Wafa Humanitarian Organisation.
While the bans, raids and arrests are loudly touted as Pakistan’s commitment to combating terrorism, analysts believe they are merely for show, given how these ‘banned groups’ work and recruit openly.
In response to a question about bans on ‘religious and welfare organisations’, Malik told the Senate that only four groups have been banned over the past three years for their involvement in terrorism.
The answers to other questions revealed what the ‘impact’ of these bans has been. Over 8,000 people were injured and 3,169 were killed in 2,148 terrorist attacks during 2008-2010, excluding the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
Banning organisations does not signal an end to their activities. The government has previously claimed that thousands of activists of banned organisations are being monitored and have been placed on the fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
“The bans have had no major impact,” says analyst Imtiaz Gul. “Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad have continued their activities under different names. The government has not banned Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), even though the United Nations has banned it. There is a tacit acceptance of their activities.”
While the government did ban organisations again which had regrouped with new names, this does not appear to be a uniform policy. JuD operates openly as the Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation and has at least seven other aliases. The US added the foundation to its list of blacklisted organisations in 2010, recognising that LeT used the name to evade scrutiny.
Since the bans are not effective, financing and recruitment continues. According to a US embassy cable released by WikiLeaks, LeT’s annual military operations budget was Rs365 million [$4.3 million USD].
Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), Al Akhtar Trust and Al Rashid Trust were enlisted under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267 on December 10, 2008, but it is unclear if they are officially banned in Pakistan. According to an old list of banned organisations, JuD was banned in 2003. The UN Consolidated List includes organisations based in Pakistan, or which have/had offices in the country: the alHaramain Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation, Global Relief Foundation, Harkatul Jihad alIslami, Rabita Trust, Jamiat Ihia alTurath alIslamiya, Ummah Tameer-e-Nau and the Wafa Humanitarian Organisation.
While the bans, raids and arrests are loudly touted as Pakistan’s commitment to combating terrorism, analysts believe they are merely for show, given how these ‘banned groups’ work and recruit openly.
