Pak-based terror groups fund terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir through charity: NIA

Pakistan-based terror groups finance terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir by generating millions in donations through their charity organisations, an NIA officer said today.

Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), a charity run by terror outfits Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Al Rehmat Trust, backed by another terrorists group Jaish-e- Mohammed (JeM), have been supporting terrorists and funding terrorism in Kashmir, said Atul Goel, Superintendent of Police, National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The agency is entrusted with probing terrorism-related cases. Goel said the NIA was looking into the activities of JuD, LeT and JeM and also the working of trusts associated with them in the neighbouring country.

"These outfits collect donations from people in Pakistan and then pass on the money to finance terrorism in Kashmir through their over ground workers," he said, addressing a session at the 19th Asian Security Conference on 'Combating Terrorism: Evolving an Asian Response'. The session was chaired by former Home Secretary G K Pillai. 'Al Rehmat Trust' distributes pamphlets to raise funds for sacrificing animals during Eid and after collecting the money, they finance terrorism, the officer said.

FIF, one of the major and fastest growing Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) in Pakistan, also collects money from people and uses them to fund terrorists, Goel said. "JuD chief Hafiz Saeed addresses the volunteers of FIF. They have an entire network of people who work for their agenda of fomenting terror in Kashmir," he said. Goel said these organisations indulge in collection of money outside mosques. "Authorities have a video in which two persons are seen soliciting funds from people outside a mosque in Karachi in the presence of Pakistani Rangers," the officer claimed. These groups organise special campaigns during natural disasters and festivals and solicit money.

"JuD seeks voluntary donations during Eid. FIF, under the name of Tehreek-e-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir, organise campaigns and seeks donations illegally. Such incidents often get published in the local media (there)," Goel said. FIF also seeks collection of funds online. One of the major sources of fund collection is sacrificing animals and collection of money during festivals, he said.

"Apparently, they collect millions of dollars in donations through crowd funding in the name of social service. A 2012 report says 780 million Pakistani rupees were collected for funding terrorism in Kashmir," the officer said. The groups also run profit-generating businesses like operating schools where fee is exceptionally high in the context of south Asia, targeting upper middle class, he said.

David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American terrorist who is serving a 35-year sentence in the US, before his seventh visit to India, was given FICN by one Major Iqbal of Pakistan-snoop agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Lahore, which he spent in Mumbai, Goel claimed. Headley is an accused in 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case. Director General, National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics, P K Dash said terrorism had mutated into a business of power and money cloaked in fundamentalism, funded by rogue economics that requires little capital but gives huge return.

A comprehensive approach is needed to tackle the issue as terrorism cannot be neutralised merely with guns, Dash said.