Pak to take over assets, charities of Hafiz Saeed’s JuD

Islamabad: Pakistan is set to take over the assets and charities linked to Jamatud Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, officials said.

These officials said the government may soon take over the JuD and its charitable arm, the Falah-e-Insaniyat (welfare of humanity) Foundation (FIF).

Sources said the decision was taken at a recent meeting on national security. Under the plan, the ambulance services of the organisations are to be taken over and their funding sources uncovered in the first phase. Sources said the Punjab provincial government will run the projects of JuD.

Muridke Markaz centre will be handed over to the government and its name will be changed as well, the sources added. The Federal Board of Revenue and State Bank will scrutinise funding, assets of both organisations, the sources said.

Washington and India blame JuD for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

The December 19 document, which refers to “Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issues,” names only Saeed’s two charities and “actions to be taken” against them.

Asked about a crackdown on JuD and FIF, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who co-chaired one of the meetings on the plan, responded only generally, saying he had ordered authorities “to choke the fundraising of all proscribed outfits in Pakistan”.

Spokesmen for the JuD and FIF both said they could not comment until they receive official notifications of the government’s plans.

JuD’s network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services. The JuD and FIF alone have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers, according to two counter-terrorism officials.

The JuD publicly disavows armed militancy inside Pakistan, but offers vocal support for the cause of rebel fighters in Indian-administered Kashmir and has called for Pakistan to retake Kashmir.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the disputed region. Washington, which has offered a $ 10 million reward for information leading to Saeed’s conviction over the Mumbai attacks, warned Islamabad of repercussions after a Pakistani court in late November released him from house arrest.

Punjab’s provincial government had put Saeed under house arrest for 10 months this year for violating anti-terrorism laws.