22 Feb 2019, Islamabad
The Pakistani government decided to reinstate a ban on two organizations already been placed in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions committee’s consolidated list, after a suicide attack in the India-controlled Kashmir, an official statement said.
The announcement issued late Thursday was made after a meeting of the National Security Committee attended by the country’s top civil and military leaders.
A statement from the Ministry of Information said that the National Security Committee meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in chair decided that “Jamat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation be notified as proscribed organizations.”
The Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its charity arm the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation both are blamed to have links with proscribed militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba which has its activities in the Indian-controlled Kashmir.
The Pakistani government had banned the two organizations in January 2018 by prohibiting individuals and companies from making donations to the two groups. But later on, the ban was quashed by the country’s Lahore High Court followed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan permitting them to continue their charity work.
The National Security Committee meeting was called amid rising tension between Pakistan and India following the Feb. 14 suicide attack in the Indian-controlled Kashmir, which killed over 40 policemen.
According to the statement, the prime minister directed the security institutions to accelerate action against the proscribed organizations to “ensure that militancy and extremism are routed from the society and the state never becomes hostage to extremists.”
“We recognize that terrorism and extremism are the top issues in the region and the whole region including Pakistan have suffered,” said the participants of the meeting, adding “Pakistan alone has endured over 70,000 casualties in the process (war on terror) besides the heavy loss to national exchequer.”
