ISLAMABAD: After media reports that action was expected against Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), its Islamabad chapter on Monday held a protest demonstration against any move to ban the party.

The protest held outside the National Press Club was against reports that JuD was likely to be placed in the list of banned groups.

“All this is being done by the new US president to please the rightwing extremist ruling party in India,” Shafeequr Rehman, the head of JuD Islamabad, told the protest gathering.

He said there was no proof of JuD’s involvement in any illegal activity, adding it was operating one of the best organised philanthropist groups of the country, Falah-i-Isaniyat Foundation (FIF).

Similar protests were also held across the country against the possible ban on the party.

When contacted, a senior official acknowledged that the matter seemed serious and not limited only to the media.

“The statement by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Monday noon that the issue of JuD was being reviewed too is a strong indication,” the official said.

Talking to the media, the interior minister confirmed that the government was reviewing the case of JuD, adding the party had already been under observation for long.

The minister said JuD had been on the UN watch list for more than 10 years and the same had been implemented in the country.

“The situation would be clear by Tuesday,” the minister added, acknowledging that certain actions had to be taken by the state over groups under the UN watch list, but they were not taken in the past.

There were reports circulating in the capital that the party’s philanthropist wing, FIF, was being placed on the watch list.

A JuD spokesman, however, denied another report circulating in the city that the security apparatus had directed JuD leadership to remove their banners.

“We are not involved in anything illegal, and currently even our donation boxes remain placed where they were,” said Mohammad Asif, the spokesman for JuD Islamabad.

Though there was confusion over the date when JuD was placed under observation in Pakistan, an official reply submitted to the National Assembly by Minister of State for Interior Balighur Rehman on Jan 26 said JuD was placed under observation in the country in January 2007.

Chaudhry Nisar on Monday said JuD was placed in the watch list in 2005. However, the party in a recent application to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) said it had been put on the watch list in December 2008.

“We have already filed a petition with the IHC against the inclusion of JuD in the watch list under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 for such a long period of time with the request to remove it from the list,” the spokesman added. The application was filed on behalf of JuD leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed on January 18.

The United Nations placed both JuD and FIF on its watch list in Dec 2008 and March 2012, respectively.

Mr Saeed maintained that there had not been any report or complaint against the party or against him. Therefore, both the names should be taken off from the watch list.

However, political analyst Zahid Hussain discounted reports that the US government was pressuring Pakistan to ban the JuD.

“Similar pressures had been received from the US in the past too but the stance of the government of Pakistan was that relief was being granted by the courts,” Mr Hussain said.

He said the decision by the new US president to stop visa to the citizens of seven Muslim countries seemed to be a localised issue rather than a foreign policy matter, as he too wants to show that his election campaign promise was being implemented.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the US embassy declined to respond when asked if the US government had asked Pakistan to ban JuD.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2017