Pakistan has not banned LeT fronts, puts them on watch list again

Contrary to the Pakistani claims of placing the front organisations of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) on a ‘ban list’, it has once again put them on a ‘watch list’. Officials said the development was an indication that Pakistan was far away from taking action against terror groups operating from its soil.

Pakistan had claimed on February 21 that the Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation would be placed on a list of banned organisations. However, Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority’s internal notification, which was updated on Monday, shows that both are on a ‘watch list’ and have not been banned. In fact, the notification shows no change of status for them since January 2017.

“It is clear that no action has been taken by Pakistan and earlier claims of a ban have not been followed through,” the officials told ET, adding that there is enough evidence to show that the list has not been changed since 2017, when both the front organisations were placed on a watch.


“It has just altered the date of the watch list placement — from January 2017 to February 21, 2019 — to fool the global community that is seeking action against terror fronts,” the official said. Days after the Pulwama attack, Pakistan’s interior ministry had said a decision to place the groups on a ‘ban list’ was taken in a meeting of the National Security Committee chaired by PM Imran Khan. “It was further decided that Jamat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation be notified as proscribed organisations,” the Pakistani interior ministry spokesperson had said. The LeT has carried out several terror strikes in India, including the 26/11 Mumbai attack.