"Half-hearted" measures make JuD ban an illusion: report

Islamabad, Jan 10 (PTI) With only "half-hearted" measures
put in place by Pakistan to enforce a ban on Jamaat-ud-Dawah,
declared a front for the LeT, the group continues to operate
its network of hundreds of educational institutions, health
centres and seminaries, a media report said Saturday.

Shortly after the UN Security Council declared the Jamaat
a terror group on December 10, interior ministry chief Rehman
Malik had said that a ban had been imposed on the group.

Officials also said some 50 Jamaat leaders were detained
and over 100 of its offices sealed.

However, The News daily Saturday reported that Pakistani
authorities had taken only "half-hearted measures" to enforce
restrictions imposed on the Jamaat by the UN Security Council.

Almost a month after the restrictions were imposed, the
Jamaat's black-and-white flag continues to fly over its
headquarters at Muridke near Lahore, "putting a question mark
on the seriousness of the government to proceed against the
outlawed organisation", the report said.

The steps taken so far by the government "merely give an
illusion of compliance with the restrictions that were
supposed to be slapped on the banned organisation", it added.

The Jamaat, which is led by LeT founder Hafiz Mohammed
Saeed, continues to run a "vast network of hundreds of
schools, colleges, healthcare centres, hospitals as well as
seminaries across Pakistan without facing any restrictions".

Its sprawling headquarters complex in Muridke, spanning
over 200 acres, is "still open for all practical purposes and
bustles with activities," the report said.

The headquarters is considered the Jamaat's "nerve
centre", where all its "educational, organisational and
militant activities are planned".

The building is still guarded by Jamaat activists despite
claims by the group that the headquarters is now only being
used to impart education and provide medical services.

Though the UNSC resolution clearly states that there is a
ban on the carrying of arms by Jamaat members, Pakistani
authorities have so far failed to confiscate weapons,
including licensed ones, from the organisation's activists.

The group's weekly mouthpiece, Ghazwa, which is full of
hate material against India, continues to be available.

"The much trumpeted crackdown on the Jamaat-ud-Dawah
leadership seems to have been relaxed already in view of the
friendly treatment being meted out to Hafiz Saeed. His family
members and associates...," the report said.

Saeed is among the Jamaat and LeT leaders who were put
under house arrest for 90 days though Pakistani authorities
have said they cannot be tried unless India provides evidence
against them.

The News reported that Saeed was allowed to leave his
home in Johar Town area of Lahore just days after he was put
under house arrest so that he could go to a nearby mosque to
offer Friday prayers.

There are no restrictions on the movement of his son
Talha Saeed, who continues to lead Friday prayers at Jamia
Qudsia mosque in Lahore's Chauburji area, another key Jamaat
base.

Despite restrictions, most Jamaat leaders continue making
statements and organising activities like a public rally on
the Mall Road, a key thoroughfare in Lahore.

The rally, organised to condemn the ban was led by the
organisation's chief spokesman Yahya Mujahid, who was one of
the leaders supposed to have been under house arrest.

A large police contingent accompanied the rally as it
made its way from Nasir Bagh to the Lahore Press Club.

Another JuD spokesman, Abdullah Muntazir, has also
continued giving interviews and issuing statements. In an
interview on January 6, Muntazir said any further action by
the government against the Jamaat would be a "big mistake".

Muntazir said: "Hafiz Saeed has followers all over
Pakistan and it is not possible for the government of Pakistan
to even think about handing him over to India."

Meanwhile, an interior ministry spokesman said the cyber
crimes wing of the Federal Investigation Agency has shut down
the Jamaat's Urdu and English websites. Action is also being
taken to close Ghazwa, the Urdu weekly mouthpiece of the
Jamaat, which is still hitting the news-stands.

Significantly, the action to close down the Jamaat's
website was apparently taken only after Indian Foreign
Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon pointed out at a press conference
on January 5 that the website was still being updated.

The Ghazwa, which is full of hate material against India,
had described the Mumbai attacks in a report as a "historic
victory of Muslim warriors".

The interior ministry spokesman also said the government
is not in a position to close down the Jamaat's educational
institutions and medical centres as they had not been found
"involved in any objectionable activity".

The federal government and the provincial government of
Punjab are also engaged in a war of words on who should
enforce the ban. Information Minister Sherry Rehman said on
January 4 that proof against the Jamaat had been shared with
Punjab and it was now the province's responsibility to take
further steps.

A Punjab government spokesman said provincial authorities
had put five top Jamaat leaders under house arrest, sealed 50
offices and taken over 20 dispensaries and 10 schools.

"Necessary measures are also being taken to assume
control of the central headquarters of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah at
Muridke," the spokesman said.