Relief activities: government decides to launch crackdown against banned outfits

Federal government has decided to hold crackdown on charities operated by banned religious outfits and militant organisations, saying the militants are trying to exploit anger at government's failure to provide relief among flood victims.
Interior Ministry has started consultation with the intelligence and law enforcement agencies to evolve a comprehensive plan to crackdown on militant outfits operating in the flood-hit areas under the garb of charity, informed sources in the ministry revealed to Business Recorder on Friday.
Intelligence agencies have been asked to collect information about those collecting funds for flood victims, sources said, adding that after that, law enforcement agencies would start hunt for workers of the banned outfits. The banned organisations are not allowed to visit flood-hit areas, said Interior Minister Rehman Malik while talking to the media. The law enforcement agencies have been assigned the task of arresting members of banned organisations involved in relief activities and they would be tried under Anti-Terrorism Act, Malik said.
As the government, overwhelmed by the massive disaster, has struggled to rescue and provide relief to the 40 million affectees, it is compelled to curtail the increasing influence of banned religious outfits in the flood-hit areas, sources said, adding that these charities with much smaller resources, have moved swiftly to fill the vacuum left by government agencies and provide relief to the affected people.
However, when this scribe contacted the spokesman of Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), he said that the government is under US influence. "We are not terrorists, we have always provided a helping hand to the people in need", Shafiq Ahmed, Relief Co-ordinator of FIF said.
He said that due to trust deficit, government is facing frustration and it wants to block charities, which are providing relief to the people in an honourable manner. "We are not throwing relief goods, but collect data and volunteers provide relief to affectees at their doorstep", he remarked.
International community, particularly the United States, have shown concerns over the involvement of militant and banned religious outfits in the rescue and relief operations, saying that it would help militants gain popular support among masses, which will compromise military gains made in the war on terror.
As per the figures provided by United Nations, nearly eight million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. About one-third of Pakistan has been hit by the floods with waters stretching for miles from river beds, submerging thousands of villages, and destroying infrastructure including power stations, roads and bridges, railway links. Government alone is not capable to deal with the situation.