Pakistan's Terror Groups - Banned where?

On paper, the bans on Jamaatud Dawa and the Haqqani Network should be effective in cutting off their sources of funding and making it harder for them to operate. Their bank accounts will be frozen and their leaders prevented from travel. But as we have seen in the state’s inability or unwillingness to implement such bans with any degree of seriousness, simply announcing a ban does not guarantee we can curb their activities. On the very day the ban was announced, JuD held a rally in Karachi without being impeded by law-enforcement officials. The group has also vowed to carry on what it calls its charity work since previous Supreme Court verdicts have cleared it of any wrongdoing and Hafiz Saeed has said any ban will be contested before the SC. For JuD to be so openly defiant the day the ban was announced hints at how difficult it will be for the government to move beyond words. The question of JuD and the Haqqani Network has stood at the centre of our confusion over ‘good’ and ‘bad’ militants for years with JuD seen by many as a charitable organisation that has raised funds for schools and other activities. This is certainly true -– but it does not mean that the organisation does not also fan extremism. It is widely understood that money is also funnelled towards other activities.

While the Foreign Office has denied that moves on JuD and the Haqqani Netwrok have come as a result of pressure as President Obama visits India, there has certainly been a great deal of pleading from foreign capitals for Islamabad to act more firmly, notably against JuD. Washington is also focused on the Haqqanis based in North Waziristan. Many observers still see it as a possibility that the Haqqani Network may still be used as leverage against the Afghan government now that the US has begun its withdrawal. The operation in North Waziristan and the Peshawar school attack have supposedly changed all that, but only time can tell where all this has led. The US State Department was cautious when asked about the bans, saying it had no information if they had actually taken place. The confusion may stem from the fact that the government has not publicly released a list of banned groups. A suo motu Supreme Court hearing on errors in legal books and journals found that the government had not uploaded any information about banned groups and amendments to anti-terrorism laws on websites, as it is required to do. Whether this is bureaucratic inefficiency or something more sinister needs to be ascertained. One thing is clear. Links with the past and agendas from years gone by need now to be snapped. We must be clear about what is being done against the forces that damage us and our people.