India edgy as Pak turns blind eye to JuDs new avatar

Falah-i-Insaniyat,now widely regarded as the charitable organisation used as a front by the JuD,has opened an account in the Bank of Punjab,Lahore,with the account number 2892-1 and the branch code is 048. Funds in the name of relief work for Swat displaced persons is being stashed away into this account. This is quite similar to the pattern when Lashkar-e-Toiba was banned after the attack on Parliament.

At that time JuD emerged as the front,which later on received funds for relief in large amounts under the garb of a charitable organisation doing relief work for those affected by the devastating earthquake in Kashmir. Then,too,it came to light later that the LeT accounts,which were frozen because of the ban,had very nominal amounts in them,indicating large-scale withdrawal before the ban took effect.

This time Pakistan has still not furnished details of the funds it recovered after freezing JuDs accounts. Indian agencies suspect that Falah-i-Insaniyat accounts will hold the key to how much funds were indeed transferred from JuD accounts. This is going to be raised with Pakistan when Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon meets his counterpart. Dates,however,have still not been finalised though the talks have to be held before the NAM summit in mid-July.

Falah-i-Insaniyat came to notice some three to four months ago after several JuD workers were spotted working under its banner. What is even more worrying for India is that the outfit is working in close coordination with the Pakistan Army,which is keeping a very close watch on Swat displaced persons for security reasons and its campaign in the North-West Pakistan. Indian agencies have also confirmed that JuD cadres are being given access to the ammunition captured by the Pakistan Army in its Swat operations.

If this rebuilding of the nexus is not alarming enough,Hafiz Mohammed Saeed is back to building solidarity among anti-India jihadi leaders. His June 16 meeting with Hizbul Mujahideen head Syed Salahuddin,who is also chairman of the Muttahida Jehad Council (MJC)a conglomerate of jihadi groups waging terror in Kashmirwas significant. It was attended by other office bearers of the MJC like Muhammad Usman and Sheikh Jamil-ur-Rehman besides JuD leaders like Maulana Amir Hamza,Yahya Mujahid and Maulana Husnain Siddiqui. They are said to have also discussed Indian consulates in Afghanistan,indicating them as possible targets.

Delivering his first sermon on June 5,the first Friday prayers he attended after his release,Saeed said the US,Israel and India were keen to curb Pakistans nuclear programme. Peace would easily be established in the world if the US and its allies stopped spilling Muslim blood and pulled out of Afghanistan,Iraq,Palestine,Kashmir and FATA, he said.

Further,he claimed that JuD would continue its mission of jihad regardless of what the conditions are. Islam is our religion,jihad is our mission and defence of Pakistan is our duty, he said. Head of Jamiat-e-Islami Syed Munnawar Hassan also called on Saeed a day before his sermon.

All this is taking place while the Pakistan government is ostensibly working on an appeal against the release of Saeed by the lower court. Worse still,on May 23,Justice Sakhi Muhammad Kahut,who was hearing the case against Lakhvi in anti-terror court number 2 in Rawalpindi,was removed under the pretext of judicial reforms. Since then,no judge has been appointed.

Justice Muhammad Akram Awan,who heads anti-terror court number 1,has been filling in on hearing dates. He postponed the hearing on June 6 by two weeks to June 20. And today too it was adjourned until July 4,giving rise to further speculation and concern in India. This also flies in the face of Zardaris recent attempts at building bridges with the PM in Russia.