Undaunted by the freezing of its accounts and travel restrictions on its leaders, one of Pakistan’s largest charities, has launched its ambulance service for the citizens of country’s biggest city, Karachi.
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“These restrictions are not new to us. A certain class of people and groups have always been trying to create hurdles in our relief projects,” Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the Ameer (chief) of Jamat-ud-Dawa’h (JuD), told OnIslam.net, after inaugurating the ambulance service.
Initially, a fleet of 15 ambulances will be operating in Karachi, the country’s commercial capital.
More ambulances will gradually be added to the fleet, Hafiz Saeed, a former professor of Islamic Learning, said.
Last week, Pakistan government froze the accounts of JuD and its relief wing Falah-e-Insdaniat Foundation (FIF) along with four other Islamic charities for being on the UN list of proscribed organizations.
The JuD was included in the UN list after 2008 deadly Mumbai attack for which the group is blamed. The JuD denied its involvement in the attack in which over 150 people were killed.
The government has also slapped financial sanctions on Al-Rasheed Trust, Al-Akhtar Trust, Ummah Tameer-e-Nuo and other groups for allegedly funding militant organizations.
“These restrictions cannot bar us from serving the needy humanity. Our projects are not benefitting the Muslims only but the poor Hindus and Christians as well, who are the equal citizens of Pakistan,” Hafiz Saeed, who has been banned by Pakistan government from travelling abroad, said.
“We are neither a political party nor do we have any political or any other agenda. We are fully concentrating on relief work.”
“We will continue our mission, which is to serve the humanity irrespective or religion, sect or race despite all hurdles,” he vowed.
The JuD, which has a sprawling network across Pakistan, is already running ambulance service in several cities. The group attracted the world’s attention in October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan for its extensive relief operations in the quake-hit areas.
Helping Non-Muslims
The group has been providing monthly stipends and ration to hundreds of poor Hindu and Christian families in southern Sindh, and northeastern Punjab provinces.
“This is an unjust and uncalled move,” Murli Das, who belongs to lower caste Hindu, commonly known as schedule-cast, told OnIslam.net.
“Jamat-ud Dawa’h has been supporting us for last six years. They have never asked us about our religion or cast or anything else,” Murli, who has migrated to Karachi from southern Thar desert area due to a famine-like situation there, said.
“Imposing sanctions on these people mean sanctions on helping the humanity,” he added.
Ajmal Masih, a Christian sanitary worker, agrees.
“This (JuD) is a relief organization. It has nothing to do with politics or militancy,” Masih whose family too has been benefitting from JuD’s monthly relief package told OnIslam.net.
“The government has failed to provide food and shelter to its people. And when organizations like JuD try to fill this gap, the government is creating hurdle in their way on external pressure,” he added.
“We strongly reject this move.”
Confusion
Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told reporters during weekly press briefing last week that the Pakistan government has frozen the accounts of JuD and other Islamic charities and slapped a ban on their travel abroad.
“Pakistan is a member state of the United Nations, and is bound to take action against JuD and other groups who are in the UIN list of proscribed organizations”, Ms Aslam said.
She, however, did not elaborate whether the government had frozen the Islamic charities’ bank accounts, or had actually banned them.
Later, an interior ministry official said the government had frozen the bank accounts of the JuD in line with the UN list. However, the group’s activities had not been banned.
The confusion further mounted when the foreign office spokesperson confirmed that Pakistan had “banned” the Haqqani Network, a group blamed for numerous brazen attacks on foreign forces in neighboring Afghanistan, on an apparent US pressure.
“The Haqqani Network has been banned, however, the group has no bank accounts in Pakistan,” she maintained.
Pakistan had long resisted the US demand for banning the Haqqani Network, however a major shift in its traditional policy of “ good and bad Taliban” after a brutal mass shooting at an army-run school in Peshawar last month in which over 140 people, mostly students were killed, has paved the way for the latest move.
Hafiz Saeed too confirms that there is no hurdle on the part of law enforcing agencies in carrying out of his group’s relief activities.
