The United Nations says a Pakistani charity helping earthquake victims is a front for a deadly militant group blamed for a bloody 2008 attack on the Indian city of Mumbai. The group, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), has about 2,000 volunteers in northern Pakistan after Monday’s quake killed 272 people in the country and damaged about 25,000 houses. US claims Jamaat-ud-Dawa a front for a group which carried out attacks in India. UN says JuD expolits disasters to raise volunteers and about 2,000 JuD volunteers in Pakistan are delivering earthquake relief. Quake survivors treat Islamist aid workers as heroes. The UN and US said they had sanctioned JuD and its sister organisation, the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, because they exploit disasters to raise volunteers and funds for militants. They said JuD was a front for Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, which carries out attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir. Lashkar-e-Taiba was also blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attack in which 166 people were killed. The Jamaat-e-Islami’s Al-Khidmat Trust is also a leading group involved in relief activities in quake hit areas, where already having a years long experience of charity 1,500 volunteers are involved in relief work. They have so far distributed 7,000 blankets and tents and 11,000 food packets to the residents of the affected areas. The leaders of other religious parties including JUI-F, Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen, Islami Tehreek and Sunni Ittehad Council have appealed for donations and ordered their workers to move to affected areas for relief efforts. Despite being highly controversial these groups has been quite vocal and effective regarding providing relief during natural disasters. Even during flood season, they not only distributed food and other basic necessities but were also highly organized making sure their help reached the victims in a timely manner. This is the reason why religious groups survive. They do immense work to serve their communities, and are there when the state is missing. The recent purging of militancy from Pakistan, including from madrassas and from charities with armed wings is necessary. Relief work in the north does not balance the threat of a bomb, the elimination of female education, or the view that the earthquake was a punishment for sin. However, times like these prove that all Pakistanis have good in them. Religion is an integral part of culture and society, and if only peaceful acts are engaged in, there is no need to ban groups for fear for militancy. People have also started giving these groups zakat, despite their stance being dominated by an anti-Indian narrative and a strong religious fervour, because they seem to be actually doing something for the victims. The state could have used the same strategy to endear itself to people.
pk.shafaqna.com
