Islamabad, Nov 7: Groups like the Jamaat-ud-Dawah have set up hundreds of camps in Pakistani cities and are using madrassa students to collect the hides of animals sacrificed during Eid-ul-Azha to raise funds for their activities.
The JuD, linked to the 2008 Mumbai attack, was not included in a list of 31 terrorist and extremist groups that were barred by the Interior Ministry from collecting the skins of animals sacrificed over the three days of the Eid festival.
In Lahore alone, the group set up about 100 camps to collect hides.
The Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation, a front created by the JuD when the government cracked down on it briefly in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, issued advertisements in several leading newspapers that asked people to donate the hides of sacrificial animals.
Activists of the Foundation were seen collecting hides across Islamabad today.
Some groups barred by the Interior Ministry from collecting hides took the help of madrassa students and clerics to gather skins in Lahore and other parts of Punjab province, Pakistan Today newspaper reported.
The Eid holiday of the students was cancelled and they were assigned the duty of collecting skins along with members of the banned groups, the report said.
Analysts say the banned groups can raise sizeable amounts of money by selling the hundreds of skins they collect.
While the skin of a smaller animal like a goat goes for about Rs 1,000, the hides of larger animals bring in much more money.
The Interior Ministry warned that any member of a banned group found collecting skins would be booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act but media reports said this did not deter several proscribed organisations even in cities like Lahore and Karachi.
Some reports said that the groups closely monitored butcher's shops and centres where sacrifices were offered and collected all the skins.
Javaid Kasab, who owns a leather business, told Pakistan Today that most hides brought to his factory after Eid-ul-Azha came from banned religious organisations.
He said these groups earned millions of rupees every year.
Kasab said the groups would earn even more this year, as the prices of hides had almost doubled.
A cow's hide was selling for Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000, while the skin of a goat would sell for Rs 1,000, he said.
A member of JuD's information department identified only as Shahid told 'The Express Tribune' that camps operated by the JuD or the Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation in Lahore had not been disturbed by law enforcement agencies.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said there was "no justification" for restrictions on the JuD.
However, Allama Zubair Ahmed Zaheer, a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology, said the government was giving "undue favour" to "some militant organisations".
He said: "It is clear discrimination. It shows that such militant organisations follow the government's agenda and function with its support.
"No religious party should have the right to make lashkars or wage so-called jihad. How will the government stop militant groups from functioning when it is giving them a free hand to collect funds?" Zaheer said.
The government's decision not to include the JuD in the list of banned groups upset leaders of other organisations like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, now known as Khuddam-ul-Islam.
Maulana Amjad Ali, a member of Khuddam-ul-Islam, said the inclusion of his group on the list and JuD's exclusion was discrimination against his "peaceful" organisation.
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