Pakistan has banned terrorist Hafiz Saeed-backed outfit Tehreek-eAzadi-Jammu & Kashmir (TAJK), a group that is essentially a rebranded Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which in turn was the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
India claims that TAJK is the front of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). As per the website of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NCTA), Interior Ministry of Pakistan has Placed TAJK on the list of “proscribed organisations” on June 8.  Organisations like Jaish-e-Mohammat, Al Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban and Balochistan Liberation Army are among the few names of 64 organisations.
The website of the Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority has placed this proxy outfit run by Saeed on the proscribed list of organisations. Indian officials say that Pakistan is acting hurriedly to safeguard Saeed as it fears that the US may launch drone strikes.
Donald Trump has taken a hard stance on Pakistan and has warned of action if it does not act against terror. Earlier this week both India and the US issued a strong warning to Pakistan to act against terrorists and cross border terror.
“This is the first time, Pakistan has banned an outfit on the basis of representations submitted by India to an international body,” a senior government official was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
The banning also comes ahead of the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) scheduled to update its assessment of “high-risk and non-cooperative jurisdictions”’ next month, which the Associated Press (AP) reported about earlier this June. FATF was set up to implement legal, regulatory and operational measures to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats.
Earlier this month, AP reported that Pakistan recently froze the accounts of as many as 5,000 suspected militants, ahead of the FATF updating its list. It was the threat of international sanctions by the US, under FATF, that prompted action by Pakistan against Saeed. A senior US government official reportedly conveyed to Pakistan it would be put on the FATF’s blacklist if Islamabad did not take action against JuD and other similar outfits and their funding mechanisms.
Earlier in January, Pakistan had placed Saeed under ‘house arrest’ and the JuD on the ‘under watch’ list under pressure from the United States; however India had termed the move as an ‘eye wash’.
India has been urging Pakistan to instead try and bring Saeed to justice in connection with the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.
For now, Pakistan banning JuD’s proxy outfit could well be seen as a response to the Donald Trump administration hinting a harder line against Islamabad.
