HYDERABAD, Dec 16: About 200 Hindu women protested in Pakistan on Tuesday against restrictions on an organisation that India says is a front for a militant group it blames for attacks in Mumbai last month.

The women rejected what they called pressure by mostly Hindu India to ban the Jamaatud Dawa charity.

“How can an organisation be terrorist if it’s been providing food and water to us despite knowing that we’re not Muslims?” said Biga Ram, a 40-year protester.

“They’re friends of humanity. We condemn the ban. It’s unjust,” she said.

The protesters gathered outside the Hyderabad Press Club chanting slogans in support of the charity and holding banners with messages such as: “Jamaatud Dawa is not terrorist” and “We condemn the banning of Jamaatud Dawa under Indian pressure”.

Pakistan has not yet formally banned the organisation but has rounded up dozens of its activists, detained some of its leaders, shut its offices and frozen its bank accounts as part of a crackdown on suspected militants since the Mumbai attacks.—Reuters