ISLAMABAD: Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) has filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking the removal of its name from the watchlist under Schedule 2 of the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997.

Raja Rizwan Abbasi filed JuD’s petition before the IHC. JuD is alleged to be an incarnation of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and was placed on the watchlist in December 2008.

Following the Dec 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, the government of Pakistan banned LeT on Jan 14, 2002. After its proscription, the organisation continued to operate under the banner of JuD and the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) is its welfare arm.

However, under pressure from the United Nations, the government placed both JuD and FIF on its watchlist in Dec 2008 and March 2012, respectively.

According to Section 11(D) of ATA, the federal government may place an organisation under observation if it “has reason to believe that an organization is acting in a manner that it may be concerned in terrorism.”

According to advocate Abbasi, the federal government placed JuD on the watchlist without completing codal formalities, which is an unlawful act. IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui would hear the petition on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2017