Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed
Pakistan plans to shift the students of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) to the government-run schools after an international terror financing watchdog raised objection over allocation of Rs 180 crore for these institutions.
A senior government official told PTI on Tuesday that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had objected the Pakistani government’s allocation of Rs 180 crore for running the JuD and FIF schools across the country.
"The government could not satisfy the FATF about running a good number of seminaries and schools of JuD and FIF after taking over their control in March.
Therefore, the Imran Khan administration is seriously considering shifting the students of these seminaries and schools to the government-run institutions," he said.
The official said the FATF was apprehensive of the Pakistani government's move to allocate such a huge sum of money for the JuD and the FIF institutions.
"It (FATF) suspected that the government might not be able to dissociate the JuD and the FIF activists associated with these institutions,” he said.
A source in the Punjab government told PTI that the JuD and the FIF activists are somehow associated with their educational institutions the government has taken over.
He said these activists are waiting for “appropriate time” to take back their positions. The government has also taken over the JuD headquarters in Lahore and Muridke and stopped Saeed from entering there.
In first week of March apparently on the international pressure after the deadly Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir, the Pakistani government sealed or took over administrative control of several establishments run by the proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the JuD and the FIF.
The government initiated action against these organisations after notifying a 2019 order of the United Nations Security Council that provides a legal basis for freezing or seizure of properties owned by individuals and organisations designated by the council as terrorists.
The order was issued to meet the requirements of the FATF regarding the implementation of designation of persons and entities under the UNSC resolutions.
Pakistan, despite making some progress in overcoming the shortcomings in its counter-terrorism financing and anti-money laundering regimes, continues to remain under the cloud at the global illicit financing watchdog.
After failing to adequately convince the FATF, Pakistan is required to complete actions before its next deadline.
