The Hindu : Faction of Jaish among banned groups

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 21, 2003

International

International

Faction of Jaish among banned groups

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Nov. 20. Pakistan today banned three more proscribed extremist organisations which have resurfaced under new names after the original outfits were outlawed in January last year.

The three groups are the Jamat-ul-Furqan, a splinter faction of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb-ul-Tehreer and Jamiat-ul-Ansar.

"The outfits have been proscribed under powers conferred by Sub-Section 11B read with Section 11E of the Anti-terrorism Act," a Ministry announcement said.

Jamat-ul-Ansar was the renamed outfit of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, a pro-Taliban Jehadi organisation led by Fazlur Rehman Khaleel that was banned last year by the President, Pervez Musharraf, along with Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Jamat-ul-Furqan is led by Abdul Jabbar, who broke away from Maulana Masood Azhar last year and established his own outfit.

It was Jabbar's driver, Fazal Karim, who reportedly led police to the grave of murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl, in Karachi last year.

Hizb-ul-Tehreer is a London-based Islamic outfit, which advocated the establishment of Islamic law worldwide.

The group reportedly emerged as the co-coordinator of various jehadi groups across the world.

The Government last week banned three militant organisations, including Islami Tehreek-e-Pakistan, formerly known as Tehreek-e-Jafria Pakistan, Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan, formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, and Khudam-ul-Islam, formerly known as Jaish-e-Mohammad, as they had resurfaced with new names.

Another group Al-Dawa formally known as Lashkar-e-Tayaba was put on the watch-list.

It is not immediately clear why these organisations were not banned last week itself.

The Government had argued that the ban was a considered decision which was taken after detailed investigations.

The second round of ban is said to be part of the continuing crackdown against the organisations found to be involved in preaching armed militancy or spreading religious hatred.

In January 2002, Gen. Musharraf banned five militant and sectarian outfits.

The action was seen as a response to international pressure and charges by India about the involvement of Pakistan militant outfits in the December 13 Parliament attack.

However, unlike last year, when more than 2,000 supporters of extremist groups were rounded up and then later released, this time the authorities have decided against any largescale arrests. Instead, about 600 members of the banned groups have been asked to furnish surety bonds of good conduct in order to avoid arrest.

It is not clear how many of them would do so as the bond involves raising Rs. 1 lakh.

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