LAHORE: Jamatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and 37 others affiliated with the organisation have asked the Ministry of Interior to remove their names from the Exit Control List (ECL).

In a letter written to the ministry’s concerned department on behalf of JuD chief and others, Advocate A.K Dogar pleads that a memorandum issued on Jan 30, 2017 placing 38 individuals on the ECL should be withdrawn.

The lawyer stated the JuD had never been involved in any terrorist activity in Pakistan and was never blamed for any incident of terrorism or destruction of property.

He argued that the JuD was an organisation dedicated to welfare of the citizens as it had established 142 schools and four varsities in the country. He said Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) was a sufficient proof to this effect. Advocate Dogar contended that no material had ever been produced by the federal or provincial governments against Hafiz Saeed. He referred to an observation made by a full bench of the Lahore High Court hearing a petition of Hafiz Saeed and others against their detention in 2009.

The bench had observed: “In the present case the Government is not in possession of any evidence that the petitioners are risk to the security of Pakistan and merely on the basis of the UN Resolution their liberty cannot be curtailed.”

The lawyer has requested the ministry of interior to delete the names of Hafiz Saeed and others from the ECL.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2017