Lashkar-linked charity raises terror fears
Source: hindu
The Falah-i-Insaniyat's aggressive fundraising during Ramzan could help the jihadist group expand its reach
“Sharing is caring,” reads a cheerful logo on the website of the
Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation, soliciting charity from pious believers
across the world during the holy month of Ramzan.
The website promises that just ‘1,800 will pay for one poor person's
iftaar, when Muslims break their day-long fast'; ‘3,000, it says, ‘will
cover the cost the morning suhoor meal as well.' There are
advertisements for rural drinking water schemes, medical services and
relief for victims of last year's floods.
But this message of mercy has set off alarm in India, and concern among
counter-terrorism institutions worldwide: the Falah-i-Insaniyat, whose
name translates as “the foundation for the prosperity of humankind,” is
known to be a front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which carried
out the November 2008 massacre in Mumbai, as well as several other
lethal attacks.
The Falah's fundraising operations are raising fears that the
organisation could divert charitable donations to fund terrorism, and
expand its already-formidable reach across Pakistan.
Operates with impunity
Though Pakistan's Interior Ministry prohibited 25 terrorism-tainted
organisations from soliciting funds during Ramzan, the Falah-i-Insaniyat
operated with impunity, organising rallies, distributing pamphlets, and
sending out bulk text messages.
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the Lashkar's chief, addressed multiple rallies
—accusing India of “trying to flood Pakistan by deliberately releasing
water into its rivers,” and asking for aid for the victims.
Pakistan's The Express Tribune reported that Saeed had addressed
followers at the Moon Market in Lahore on August 6, following it up with
another rally at the Shahdara stadium.
The Lashkar chief's polemic hasn't been consistent: last April, during a
similar charity drive, he claimed India had built dams in Jammu and
Kashmir in a bid to “turn Pakistan into a desert.”
But the polemic makes clear Saeed sees the Falah-i-Insaniyat's
operations as a tool with which to further his anti-India politics.
Even though the Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation claims to be unconnected to
the Lashkar, the United States State Department's Country Reports on
Terrorism for 2010 states the terrorist group “coordinates its
charitable activities through its front organizations Jamaat-ud-Dawa
and, more recently, Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation.” It is used to collect
donations from “Pakistani expatriate communities in the Middle East and
Europe, particularly the United Kingdom.”
The organisation operates from Lashkar offices nationwide: its address,
in Lahore's Chauburji area, is identical to that of the terrorist
groups, and photographs obtained by The Hindu show a Falah-i-Insaniyat
ambulance parked inside the terrorist group's office in Bahawalpur.
Pakistani officials have been telling the United States and India that
they are working to rein in the Lashkar, but the Falah-i-Insaniyat's
continued fundraising raises questions about their seriousness.
The Lashkar threat
Ever since 2006, India's intelligence services have known that the
Falah's operations are closely integrated with the Lashkar's military
aims. Rashid Abdullah — the Lashkar's long-standing commander of
operations on the Indian ocean rim, who is also known by the aliases
‘Rehan' and ‘Wali'— is believed to be among the key figures in these
efforts. The Falah operations were used by Abdullah to recruit
operatives in Maldives, after the 2005 Indian ocean tsunami, and in
Bangladesh.
In December 2008, counter-terrorism police in Bangladesh held
Karachi-based Mubashir Shahid Mubin, Abdullah's top organiser, who is
alleged to have run a textile business as a cover for operations
targeting India.
The arrest was followed by a string of arrests in India: among them, of
Muscat resident Sarfaraz Nawaz, who is alleged to have participated in
the 2008 serial bombings in Bangalore; Hyderabad resident Muhammad
Zia-ul-Haq, who, the National Investigation Agency says, was seeking to
bomb the offices of the multinational firm, Deloitte; and Bashir Ahmad
Baba, a Srinagar resident held in Gujarat on charges of conducting
reconnaissance of potential targets in Gujarat.
Each of these men, intelligence sources told The Hindu, was tied to
Abdullah's networks — which are also suspected of having supplied the
military-grade Research Development Explosive used in the 2009 bombing
of the German Bakery in Pune.
In a recent investigative, researchers Waleed Ziad and Mehreen Farooq
noted that the Lashkar was gaining “popular support amongst low income
families by providing free food, medical facilities and education.” They
recounted the case of a poor family in Multan, which had its power
supply cut off in the sweltering summer. An extremist cleric then
“promised to indefinitely cover their electricity bills — as long as the
family switched mosques.”
Pakistan's all-powerful military may not be unhappy about this project.
The Hizb-ut-Tahrir, thought to have influenced several recent jihadist
plots in Pakistan, was also banned from collecting charity during Ramzan
this year — but it has put up banners on Lahore's Mall. The military
also did little to rein in the Falah-i-Insaniyat, despite international
concerns voiced after its role in last year's floods, the 2005
earthquake and among refugees in Pakistan's troubled northwest.
In the long-term, some experts argue, the jihadists could be seen by the
military as reliable political allies, against the country's democratic
politicians.
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