Jamaat-ud-Dawah collecting donations despite govt order against it

Pakistan-based outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawah, blamed by India for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, has been holding gatherings at pre-dawn prayers in Lahore during Ramzan to collect donations, despite government orders barring it from such activities.

The JuD has been organising speeches by its chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed at various places and advertising them through posters, pamphlets and mass text messages.

Addressing a meeting held yesterday at a marriage hall at Moon Market in Gulshan-e-Ravi, Saeed began his speech by condemning India for allegedly "trying to flood Pakistan by deliberately releasing water in its rivers" and ended with a plea for donations.

He accused India of trying to flood Pakistan's agricultural land and destroy thousands of acres of crops.

He alleged the government was letting India "get away with it", The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The JuD has organised a special programme to give people affected by floods a brighter Eid, Saeed said.

JuD volunteers were active in flood-hit areas, arranging meals at 'sehri' and 'iftar' and distributing food and medicine, he added.

The activities come even after the federal Interior Ministry earlier this month included the JuD in a list of 25 groups that were barred from collecting donations during the Islamic fasting month of Ramzan.

On August 7, the JuD organised a gathering at Shahdara Stadium where Saeed asked the audience for donations to help people affected by floods. I In previous years, the JuD had set up camps across Lahore to solicit donations during Ramzan.

Hizb-ut-Tahrir, another group banned from collecting donations during Ramzan, too has put up banners on The Mall road in Lahore.

The Pakistan government had cracked down on the JuD in the wake of the Mumbai attacks after the UN Security Council declared the group a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Saeed claims the JuD is a welfare organisation with no links to militant groups.

India considers Saeed to be the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack. JuD, which Saeed heads, acts as a front for terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.