ISLAMABAD: The government has declared Pak-Turk International CAG Education a proscribed organisation, bringing the total number of banned outfits to 71.

This is the fifth addition to the list made by the present government and the first after retired Brig Ejaz Ahmad Shah assumed the office of interior minister. Informed sources told Dawn that a notification to this effect had been issued the day Ejaz Shah assumed new responsibility on April 18.

The first addition to the list by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government had been made on Dec 13, 2018, when Yemen-based Al-Rahmah Welfare Trust Organisation was outlawed.

Balwaristan National Front (Abdul Hameed Khan Group) was the first organisation to have been proscribed in 2019, with the issuance of a formal notification on Feb 26.

The decision to ban Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniyat Founda­tion (FIF) was taken at a meeting of the National Security Committee, head­ed by the prime minister and comprising key cabinet members and military leaders, on Feb 21, but a notification by the interior ministry to that effect was issued on March 5.

This is fifth addition to list of proscribed organisations made by PTI government

In February last year, then president Mamnoon Hussain had promulgated an ordinance amending the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, with regard to proscription of terrorist individuals and organisations to include entities listed by the UN Security Council — in a move to declare JuD and FIF proscribed groups. How­ever, the ordinance lapsed after the expiry of 120 days and was neither re-promulgated nor brought to parliament as a bill.

The process of maintaining a list of proscribed organisations started on Aug 14, 2001, when Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-i-Mohammad Pakistan were outlawed. Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, Tehreek-i-Islami and Tehreek-i-Nifaz Shariat-i-Mohammadi were banned on Jan 14, 2002.

Tehreek-i-Jafria Pakistan was put on the list on Jan 28, 2002, followed by Al Qaeda on March 17, 2003, Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan and Khuddamul Islam on Nov 15, 2003 and Islami Tehreek Pakistan on Nov 15, 2003. Three more organisations — Jamiatul Ansar, Jamiatul Furqan and Hizbut Tehrir — were banned on Nov 20, 2003, while Khair-un-Naas International Trust was proscribed on Oct 27, 2004.

Balochistan Liberation Army was placed on the list on April 7, 2006, and Islamic Students Movement of Pakistan on Aug 21, 2006.

Lashkar-i-Islam, Ansarul Islam and Haji Namdar Group were banned on June 30, 2008, and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan on Aug 25, 2008.

Five militant organisations from Balochistan — Balochistan Republican Army, Balochistan Liberation Front, Lashkar-i-Balochistan, Balochistan Liberation United Front and Balochistan Musallah Difa Tanzeem — were put on the list on Sept 8, 2010.

Three organisations from Gilgit — Shia Tulaba Action Committee, Markaz Sabeel Organisation and Tanzeem Naujawanan-i-Ahle Sunnat — and Peoples Aman Committee (Lyari), Karachi, were placed on the list on Oct 10, 2011. Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, a reincarnation of Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, was banned on Feb 15, 2012, followed by Al Harmain Foundation and Rabita Trust on March 6, 2012, and Anjuman-i-Imamia and Muslim Students Organisa­tion (both from Gilgit-Baltistan) on April 24, 2012.

Tanzeem Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (Gilgit-Baltistan) was placed on the list on June 5, 2012, while Balochistan Bunyad Parast Army, Tehreek Nafaz-i-Aman, Tahaffuz Hadudullah, Balochistan Waja Liberation Army, Islam Mujahideen, Jaish-i-Islam and Balochistan National Liberation Army were banned on Aug 4, 2012.

The list was widely expanded in 2013, with the addition of Khana-i-Hikmat Gilgit-Baltistan on March 13 and Tehreek-i-Taliban Swat, Tehreek-i-Taliban Mohm­and, Tariq Jeedar Group, Abdullah Azam Brigade, East Turkmenistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Islamic Jihad Union, 313 Brigade, Tehreek-i-Taliban Bajaur, Amar Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munkir (Haji Namdar Group), Baloch Student Organisation-Azad, United Baloch Army and Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz on March 15, 2013.

Since then, the list remained unchanged till July 15, 2015, when the name of Daesh (the Arabic acronym for the militant Islamic State group) was placed on the list of banned organisations. This was the only addition to the list during the last two-and-a-half years.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami were added to the list on Nov 11, 2016, followed by Ansarul Hussain on Dec 30, 2016.

Tehreek-i-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir was the only addition made to the list in 2017. The organisation was outlawed on June 8, 2017. Jundullah was the last addition made by the then PML-N government in 2018.

According to the list, Ghulaman-i-Sahaba and Maymar Trust continue to be on watch-list. Al-Akhtar Trust and Al-Rasheed Trust have been on the list under the UN Security Council resolution No. 1267 since December 2005.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2019