From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jama'at-ud-Da'wah Pakistan (Urdu: جماعة الدعوہ پاکستان ) (JuD) is an alias of the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).^{[1][2][3 ]} while it claims to be an Islamic charity and educational organisation. It was launched in Lahore, Pakistan in 1985. Previously called Markaz Daw'a wal Irshad, the organisation changed its name after the United States Department of State declared Lashkar-e-Taiba to be a terrorist organisation.^{[3 ]} It also publicly retracted itself from any association with the LeT.^[1]

The amir of JuD is Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who was an Islamic Studies professor at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore and the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba.^[1] He was accused of inciting riots in Pakistan in 2006 according to government allegations but was freed in Ramadan on the order of High Court after the long trial as nothing was proven.

The aftermath of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks

According to a media report, the JuD was accused by the U.S. of being the front group for the prime suspects of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the organization that trained the 10 gunmen involved in these attacks.^[4]

On December 7, 2008, under pressure from USA and India, Pakistani army launched an operation against LeT and raided a markaz (centre) of the LeT at Shawai Nullah, 5 km from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-controlled Azad Kashmir. The army arrested more than twenty members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. They are said to have sealed off the centre, which included a madrasah and a mosque alongside offices of the LeT according to the government of Pakistan.^[5][6]

On December 10, 2008 India formally requested the United Nations Security Council to designate JuD as a terrorist organization. Subsequently, Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations Abdullah Hussain gave an undertaking, saying,^[7]

After the designation of Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JUD) under (resolution) 1267, the government on receiving communication from the Security Council shall proscribe the JUD and take other consequential actions, as required, including the freezing of assets.

A similar assurance was given by Pakistan in 2002 when it clamped down on the LeT; however, the LeT was covertly allowed to function under the guide of the JuD. While arrests have been made, the Pakistani Government has categorically refused to allow any foreign investigators access to Hafiz Saeed.

On December 11, 2008 the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on JuD, declaring it a global terrorist group. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the chief of JuD declared that his group will challenge the sanctions imposed on it in all forums.^[8] Pakistan's government also banned the JuD on the same day and issued an order to seal the JuD in all four provinces, as well as Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.^[9] Before the ban JuD ran a weekly newspaper named Ghazwah, two monthly magazines called Majalla Tud Dawaa and Zarb e Taiba, and a fortnightly magazine for children, Nanhe Mujahid. The publications have since been banned by the Pakistani government. In addition to the prohibition of JuD's print publications, the organisation's websites were also shut down by the Pakistani government.

After the ban imposed by UNSC, Hindu minority groups in Pakistan came out in support of JuD. At protest marches in Hyderabad, Hindu groups said that JuD does charity work such as setting up water wells in desert regions and providing food to the poor.^{[10 ]} Its banning has been met with heavy criticism in many Pakistani circles including many Christians and Hindus as JuD was the first to react to the Kashmir earthquake and the Ziarat Earthquake and used to run over 160 schools with thousands of students and provided aid in hospitals as well.

In January 2009 the JuD spokesperson, Abdullah Muntazir, stressed that the group did not have global jihadist aspirations and would welcome a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue. He also publicly disowned LeT commanders Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah, who have both been accused of being the masterminds behind the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.^[11]

In response to the UN resolution and the government ban, the JuD reorganized itself under the name of Tehrik-e-Tahafuz Qibla Awal (TTQA).^[11]

Notability of the group

Jamaat al Dawa al Quran is notable because American counter-terrorism analysts suspected it had ties to terrorism.^[12] American counter-terrorism analysts transliterated the Arabic name into English inconsistently. American counter-terrorism analysts refer to the organization by the initials JDQ.

The American counter-terrorism analysts who prepared the the allegations asserted that the JDQ was an extremist group. But it is not on any of the official US watchlists.^[13]

See also

• Tablighi Jamaat -- which American counter-terrorism analysts usually refer to as Jamaat al Tabligh, or some variation there-of, an organization with a similar sounding name.
• charities accused of ties to terrorism

Notes

References

• BBC News about the relief work.
• PBS report about Jamat-ud-Dawa's relief work in Kashmir
• San Francisco Chronicle article about the Ad-Dawa relief work
• Pakistan refuses to extradite suspects