Pak bans LeT, JuD even as chief Saeed walks free

New Delhi: The Pakistan government has banned 25 religious and other organisations, including the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashker-e-Toiba, the Pakistani Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

The Interior Ministry of Pakistan presented a list of the banned organisations in the National Assembly or lower house of parliament. It also said the Sunni Tehrik had been put on a watch list.

The ban has become effective even as the top commanders of JuD and LeT such as Hafiz Saeed continue to walk free.

Hafiz Saeed is alleged to be the key mastermind of November 26-29, 2009 attacks in Mumbai.

The list of outlawed groups also includes Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muahammadi, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Al-Akhtar Trust, Al-Rasheed Trust, Tehreek-e-Islami, Islamic Students Movement, Khair-un-Nisa International Trust, Islami Tehreek-e-Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Islam, Balochistan Liberation Army, Jamiat-un-Nisar, Khadam Islam and Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan.

The Interior ministry of Pakistan said that a majority of the groups have been linked to terrorist attacks and suicide bombings in Pakistan.

CNN-IBN spoke to the Pakistani High Commissioner to United Kingdom, Wajid Shamsul Hasan on the issue.

"The list was submitted in a reply to a question raised in the Lower House regarding the banned organisations. The Ministry of Interior presented the whole list of banned organisations that have been retricted from activities from time to time. This is a whole list and contains the recent ones as well which have been banned by the present government for some evidence of them having been involved in anti-state activities," Hasan told CNN-IBN.

Though India has named Hafiz Saeed as the mastermind of attacks on its soil, Pakistan has not booked him or interrogated him. In fact Saeed continues to walk free, almost in a mockery of the dossier India has presented to Pakistani authorities regarding Mumbai terror strikes.

Hasan defended that it is not a deliberate action by the Pak government.

"Well. I am sure that you know that he (Hafiz Saeed) was released by the Supreme Court (of Pakistan) and rather the High Court of Lahore. There was no evidence produced against him and all the evidence produced was against the organisations. He is no longer the chief of the banned organisations. You cannot restrict a man released by a court."

If the Pakistani Interior Ministry finds the organisations like JuD or LeT that Hafiz heads deserving of punitive action, why is the chief of those banned organisations walking free?

"You know that Hafiz Saeed has been accused by the Indian government of being involved or by the Indian media of being involved in Mumbai incident. But the fact is that we have been asking for the evidence from the Indian government and it is short in coming. So, we are waiting for the evidence, if we are provided with credible evidence action will be taken against Hafiz Saeed. In fact, we had put him instead in custody on the allegations itself. But he appealed to the High Court and the High Court intervened, he was released. He could not be held only on suspicion beyond a certain period of time."

What is it that the evidence that Pakistan has on the organisations cannot be turned on to nail their chief?

"Let me add to your knowledge that some of the organisations that have been banned were seen to have been involved in relief work in the 2005 earthquake. Even international NGOs were co-operating with them. The Jamaat-ud-Dawa especially had the face of a charitable organisation. And it was again on the suspicion of having a hand in some of the activities that the government of India banned it. All the investigations will be carried on and we are expecting some evidence from India provided against Hafiz Saeed so that we can act on it. So far we have no credible evidence against him otherwise we could have pursued it in the court of law."

India has blamed the JuD, LeT and JeM for several attacks on its soil, including the Mumbai attacks and the 2001 assault on the Indian parliament.

Pakistan banned the JuD after the UN Security Council declared it a front for the LeT in December last year. The LeT and JeM were banned by the country in 2002.

(With inputs from PTI)