Cracking down on terror financing
THE tactics employed by the state to neutralise the capacity of Pakistan-based militant groups to wreak mayhem are becoming moire finely tuned and comprehensve.
It has emerged that the FBR has established a Financial Action Task Force cell to ensure that terrorism-related financial flows through currency smuggling are disrupted and regulations to prevent the practice correctly applied.
The cell will serve as the focal point for activities related to customs’ compliance with the FATF regulations, on which depends Pakistan’s removal from the FATF grey list.
The development follows on the heels of the July 17 arrest of Jamaatud Dawa chief, Hafiz Saeed, in connection with a terror-financing case.
He was one of 13 top JuD leaders booked some days earlier by CTD Punjab in several money-laundering and terror-financing cases.
According to the law-enforcement agency, JuD was receiving huge amounts of funds from around 10 non-profits and trusts that were banned in April.
Militancy in Pakistan has long exploited public sentiments to ensure a steady stream of financing, which extremist groups then put to use within the country or send abroad — often through opaque ‘hawala’ transactions.
That this ploy has worked so well, in fact has become an albatross around our neck, speaks to society’s rightward drift. While some faith-based charity organisations may be indeed engaged in welfare activities, albeit with a religio-political agenda, others have sinister objectives. Many jihadi groups such as JuD and Jaish-e-Mohammad — the main targets of the recent countrywide crackdown against militant outfits — have welfare wings to raise funds, help expand their support base and multiply their financial resources. The guise of charity is particularly expedient when the parent organisations are banned.
After the inconsistent, somewhat floundering attempts in previous years to tackle militancy, the government seems to have arrived at a well-thought-out and integrated strategy.
In March, provincial administrations in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan sealed or took control of hundreds of madressahs, schools, mosques, etc run by these groups.
Concurrently, along with the strike against jihadi infrastructure, the state is putting its weight behind choking off all supply lines for terror financing and closing the loopholes that resourceful militants can take advantage of.
An important corollary to the FATF cell’s work is effective investigation and prosecution of those found guilty of funding terrorism.
Nacta has conducted some capacity-building workshops for relevant personnel from federal and provincial law-enforcement authorities; hopefully, more such training is on the anvil.
According to Prime Minister Imran Khan while on his recent visit to the US, there remain thousands of militants in Pakistan who continue to pose a threat to the country.
Certainly, the magnitude of the challenge cannot be understated.
History has time and again illustrated the tenacity of violent extremists and their ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
The state must stay several steps ahead of them.
Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2019
Karachi rain
IT is shameful that Pakistan’s largest city and economic powerhouse cannot withstand rainfall. What begins as a time for rejoicing quickly turns into despair for much of the city, as Karachi’s inhabitants contend with flooded roads and houses, overflowing sewerage lines, extended power failures, and traffic congestion. Almost as if making up for the scant rainfall received last year, on Monday and Tuesday the city received 164mm of rain. Tragically, and almost without fail, death inevitably follows the visit of the monsoons. In keeping with the pattern of past years, a number of deaths were recorded from rain-related accidents after continuous rainfall lashed Karachi and other parts of Sindh. Most lost their lives from electrocution due to poorly maintained electricity poles and open wires, while in at least one instance, a man died when the roof of his house collapsed on him. All these deaths and injuries could have been avoided had the provincial and local governing bodies’ paid closer attention to the neglected urban infrastructure before the rains arrived. It is not as if Karachi has not witnessed death and destruction following even moderate or low levels of rainfall in its recent history. Just earlier this year, several people died from electrocution following mild rainfall in the winter. Then there is the issue of urban flooding that engulfs the city intermittently, witnessed before in 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2017. According to experts, the causes of flooding remain poor urban planning, with unchecked housing and encroachments being built on the city’s natural waterways, in addition to the dumping of solid waste into its drainage network.
Approximately half of the city’s population lives in densely packed slums that are built directly on top of waterways and drains. In a cruel twist of fate, the International Organisation for Migration has estimated that a large chunk of these slum inhabitants are themselves climate-change refugees, who moved to the city after facing natural disasters such as flooding and drought in other parts. Additionally, with rapid urbanisation and deforestation, Karachi’s increasing concrete spaces do not allow water to be naturally absorbed into the soil. Climate change will only exacerbate these problems in the coming years, for which we are not prepared. True, we cannot always predict the weather. But it is a pity that we have not equipped ourselves adequately to deal with its challenges.