Lahore: The JuD, a front for the banned LeT, is not among 22 groups barred by Pakistan government this year from collecting sacrificial hides worth millions of rupees during Eid despite allegations that funds generated through selling it are used for Jihadi activities.
Jammat-ud-Dawah, whose chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has been accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and its subsidiary Falah-i-Insaniat have set up camps in Punjab province and elsewhere to collect the hides. Experts say the JuD makes millions of rupees every year by selling these hides to tanneries.
According to an official handout, the government has imposed a ‘strict ban' on 22 banned religious organizations for collection of hides during three-days of Eid-ul Azha starting tonmorrow.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, Tahreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Jaish Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah Sahaba Pakistan, Hizbur Tahreer, Jamaat-ul-Furqan and Sipah-e-Muhammad are among the organisations which have been barred from collecting hides. But JuD is not among them.
The banned religious outfits claim that they utilise the collected hides of the animals to generate money for the needy and for welfare projects.
But they often have to face allegation that the funds generated through selling hides are used to for their other activities like ‘Jihad'.
The UN Security Council designated the JuD a front for the LeT after the Mumbai attacks. Since then, the UN and US have sanctioned several JuD leaders, including those involved in fund-raising.
