Eid ul-Adha: Pakistan bars terror outfits from collecting animal hides

By Team Newsable | First Published Jun 28, 2023, 7:46 PM IST

The move aims to curb the activities of terror groups operating under the guise of charities. The banned organizations also include well-known radical and terrorist groups, including JuD This decision is part of efforts to prevent fundraising by these organizations

The provincial government of Punjab in Pakistan took action on Wednesday by releasing a list of 84 banned organizations that are prohibited from collecting animal hides during Eid ul-Adha, which includes 10 charity offshoots associated with Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Eid ul-Adha, also known as the festival of sacrifice, will be celebrated on Thursday, and millions of animals are expected to be sacrificed by Pakistanis. However, there are disguised terror groups operating as charities that collect animal hides and sell them to raise funds. In response, the Home Department of Punjab published a notification in local newspapers, warning that anyone providing financial assistance, in the form of cash or animal hides, to these banned organizations will be charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

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The notification specifically identifies 10 charity offshoots of JuD among the 84 banned organizations. These offshoots include Al-Nafal Trust Lahore, Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq Lahore, Al-Dawatul Irshaad Pakistan, Al Hand Trust Faisalabad, Mosques and Welfare Trust Lahore, Al-Madina Foundation, Maaz Bin Jabal Education Trust, Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, Al-Fazl Foundation, and Al Aisar Foundation Lahore.

Alongside these 10 organizations, the Punjab government has also prohibited well-known radical and terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, ISIS, TPP, Jindallah, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Balochistan Liberation Army, 313 Brigade, and Pak-Turk International (CAG Education Foundation) from collecting animal hides.

Two sub-organizations of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), namely Al Rehmat Trust Bahawalpur and Al Furqan Trust Karachi, are also included in the list of banned outfits.

Since the banning of JuD and the arrest of its leader Hafiz Saeed in early 2019, the 10 charity offshoots of JuD have seemingly operated in a discreet manner in the country. Saeed is currently imprisoned in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail, serving multiple convictions related to terror financing, totalling over 60 years. However, due to the concurrent nature of his sentences, it is uncertain how many years he will actually spend behind bars.

JuD is believed to be a front organization for LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba), the group responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attack, which claimed the lives of 166 people. In June 2014, the United States designated JuD as a foreign terrorist organization.

Pakistan's tanning industry is one of the country's oldest and the third-largest export sector. In the fiscal year 2021-22, the country's exports in this sector reached USD 1 billion, a rise from $850 million in the previous year, as reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

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