Pak govt's lifting of JuD ban slammed as giving 'license to jihad' by Islamic ideologue

Islamabad, Nov 8 (ANI): A member of the Council of Islamic Ideology in Pakistan has slammed the government for allowing the Jamaat-ud-Dawa to collect Eid donations, saying it is clearly evident that 'such militant organisations follow the government's agenda and function with its support'.

On Eid, the government had placed no restrictions on Jamaatud Dawa from collecting animal hides after the Eidul Azha sacrifice. The group says it has set up a hundred camps for hide collection in Lahore alone.

Allama Zubair Ahmed Zaheer, a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology and a Jamiat Ahle Hadith Pakistan leader, however, said the government was giving "undue favour" to "some militant organisations".

"It is clear discrimination. It shows that such militant organisations follow the government's agenda and function with its support. No religious party should have the right to make lashkars or wage so-called jihad. How will the government stop militant groups from functioning when it is giving them a free hand to collect funds?" The Express Tribune reports.

The Pakistan interior ministry had earlier released a list of 31 banned organizations, excluding Jamaatud Dawa.

Most of the organisations were already in the banned list, but People's Aman Committee of Karachi, Shia Tulaba Action Committee, Markaz Sabeel Organisation and Tanzeem-i-Naujawanan-i-Sunnat of Gilgit-Baltistan have been added to it now.

The list has counted several militant outfits operating under new names as different organisations. Jaish-i-Muhammad and Khuddam-ul-Islam are two names of the same organisation. Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and Tehreek-i-Jafaria Pakistan have changed their names to Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan and Islami Tehreek, respectively. They have been mentioned as separate entities.

Lashkar-i-Taiba is on the list but its changed name, Jamaatud Dawa, is missing.

A member of the JD information department, said that the group was operating roughly a hundred camps in Lahore under the name JD or the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF).(ANI)