Govt takes over five Karachi seminaries as crackdown continues

KARACHI: In continuation of its crackdown on the banned outfits under the under the National Action Plan (NAP), the government has taken control of five more religious seminaries in Karachi.

The countrywide action against these outfits was decided in a National Security Committee meeting in the aftermath of Pulwama attack which the Jaish-e-Mohammed, an outfit based in Pakistan, took credit for.

The drive is also in compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) demand for curbing terror financing and money-laundering.

In the lastest action on Friday, Sindh’s auqaf department took the administrative control of “Riyazul Janna in North Karachi, Jamaatul Aman, Huzaifa bin Eman in North Nazimabad, and Madrassa Maaz bin Jabal in Landhi and Jamaa Masjid Hunain in Quaidabad”.

The Sindh government had already taken over 56 seminaries, schools and hospitals over the past three days.

In all, 31 schools, 16 madressahs and nine hospitals associated with the banned groups were seized across the province. Of them, 10 schools, nine seminaries and five hospitals were situated in Karachi division, three schools and a hospital in Hyderabad district, two schools and a seminary in Matiari, a school in Jamshoro, three schools and a hospital in Mirpurkhas, four schools in Sanghar, a school in Tando Allahyar, three schools and a madressah in Badin, a school, two hospitals and a seminary in Tharparkar, a madressah in Naushahro Feroze, two schools and three madressahs were situated in Benazirabad and one school was functioning in Kambar-Shahdadkot district.

In Punjab alone, the provincial authorities took over control of 529 properties of the banned outfits and arrested more than 100 of their activists. Most of the assets belonged to JuD and JeM.

In Rawalpindi alone, the government sealed a hospital and three dispensaries run by the proscribed organisations. The district administration told journalists that law enforcement agencies sealed the establishments being run by the banned outfits.

The security agencies also sealed seven shops and seized an ambulance during the crackdown.

On Thursday, the federal government decided to place eight banned outfits from medium risk to high-risk category during an official meeting regarding implementation on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations on anti-money laundering and counter terror financing for Pakistan, media reports said Thursday.

According to details, these organisations include Daesh (Islamic State), Al Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan, Haqqani Network, Jamaatud Dawa, Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The government has directed the departments concerned to take action against these high-risk banned outfits. The decision was taken during FATF General Committee meeting which was chaired by Finance Secretary Arif Ahmed. The session also reviewed FATF’s recommendations and progress on their implementation.