ISLAMABAD: In a significant move towards the execution of the National Action Plan against terrorism, the interior ministry has included the Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) and the Haqqani network in the list of proscribed outfits, it has been learnt.

Talking to Dawn.com, an interior ministry official said the United States had sought a ban on the Haqqani network and the Jamaatud Dawa but the matter was being delayed.

However, he added, the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar by terrorists belonging to the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan caused the government to take action against militant organisations without making a distinction between the good Taliban and the bad Taliban.

According to the documents available with Dawn.com, the interior ministry has added Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami, Harkat-ul-Mujahi­deen, Falah-i-Insaniat Foun­dation, Ummah Tameer-i-Nau, Haji Khairullah Hajji Sattar Money Exchange, Rahat Limited, Roshan Money Exchange, Al Akhtar Trust, Al Rashid Trust, Haqqani network and Jamaatud Dawa to the list of proscribed organisations.

“During his recent visit to Islamabad, US Secretary of State John Kerry also appreciated the decision of the government to put a ban on the Haqqani network and the Jamaatud Dawa,” the official said.

He said the government had already directed the departments concerned to take immediate steps to freeze the assets of the banned outfits, including the Haqqani Network and JuD.

The Haqqani Network, founded by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, has been blamed for some of the most heinous attacks on US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan. It was designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States in September 2012. The US and India have both always considered JuD, the ‘charity’ organisation run by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, a sister organisation of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant outfit blamed for masterminding the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Senator retired Col Tahir Hussain Mashhadi told Dawn.com that a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior had questioned Mohammad Asghar Chaudhry, the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, a day before about the ban on the Haqqani Network and JuD.

“The official... told the members of the committee that the ministry is keeping the Haqqani Network and the Jamaatud Dawa under observation...,” Mr Mashhadi said.

The MQM senator said he believed that the government had banned the Haqqani Network and JuD as it had already announced ending the distinction between the good Taliban and the bad Taliban.

It is worth mentioning that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had refused at a recent press conference to comment on the ban on the Haqqani Network and JuD.

The writer reports for Dawn.com

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2015

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