New Controls on Militant Charities Stifle Eid Fundraiser, The National, 8 December 2009
EXCERPT: "A lucrative annual fundraising drive conducted by Kashmir-focused Pakistani militant groups has been largely ended by a government ban, analysts and residents of several cities said. The charitable offshoots of such groups as Lashkar-i-Taiba, accused of carrying out the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, have for decades enjoyed a windfall on Eid al Adha, when Muslims slaughter livestock to commemorate the Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son at God’s command. The charities benefited by collecting the hides of the sacrificed animals, which were then sold on to tanneries for processing into leather and manufactured goods for export, independent business analysts said. . . Among the biggest beneficiaries has been a charity called Filah-i-Insaniyat, which translates to Welfare for Humanity. It is, in fact, a front for the Jama’at-ud-Dawah, a charitable trust established as a new face for Lashkar-i-Taiba after the government banned it and other militant groups active in Kashmir in December 2001, following an attack on the Indian parliament by the Jaish-i-Mohammed group. The northern territory of Kashmir has been disputed by Pakistan and India since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947, and has been at the root of two of three wars fought by them. Despite the Jama’at being banned by the government after the Mumbai attacks, Filah-i-Insaniyat continued to operate on Eid al Adha in 2008, setting up hide collection centres in all 146 municipal wards of the eastern metropolis of Lahore, according to Jama’at insiders, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of arrest by intelligence agencies."
Read the full story.
Related articles:
Terrorism linked charity finds new life amid Pakistan refugee crisis, TIME, 13 May 2009
Pakistan cracks down on Lashkar, charity; scores held, Reuters, 12 December 2008
Pakistan government orders closure of "charity front for terrorists", Times Online, 12 December 2008
US places two Pakistani charities on terrorism watch list, The Jamestown Foundation // Terrorism Monitor, 9 May 2006
Related reports and academic articles:
Micro-financing terrorism: A study in Al-Qaeda financing strategy, Social Science Research Network, 2008
The role of Islamic charities in international terrorist recruitment and financing [pdf], Danish Institute for International Studies, 2006/2007
Related posts:
Lashkar-e-Taiba poised to strike again, 2 December 2009
