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The US has been generous enough to announce a hefty $10 million bounty for information leading to Hafiz Saeed’s conviction. After the embarrassment the Americans faced by announcing a reward for collecting information about someone who lives like any free human being without any court-admissible evidence, I felt the need to enlighten them with some hard-hitting, and much needed, evidence.
Listed below is what I found after a great deal of research. Some of the figures quoted are mentioned in media reports while a great deal of the record has been shared by JuD themselves, which they claim can be independently verified.
Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) runs
140 schools throughout Pakistan, most of which offer
free education to orphans and the less privileged. Free uniforms and books are also provided to the students who are unable to afford these. They also run four colleges along with few technical education institutes offering basic skills needed to work. Thousands of students are enrolled in all of their educational institutes.
JuD has managed to build hospitals in Muridke, Balakot, Manserha, Muzaffarabad, Lahore, Gujranwala, Karachi and Hyderabad, most of them with state-of–the-art medical equipment. Their medical department possesses a
98 ambulance fleet along with dozens of blood-banks and laboratories. Free medicines are provided in hundreds of
mobile dispensaries, which operate on a regular basis. The total number of patients they provide health care to reaches up to hundreds and thousands each month.
Water shortage in the desert areas of Sindh and Balochistan has been a severe problem for many years. JuD’s water program has drilled wells and provided hand-pumps to the drought-hit areas of Balochistan and Sindh in recent years.
1) The 2005 earthquake: JuD was the first organisation to reach the affected areas, equipped with boats, mules, and thousands of workers who trekked and rescued people from the highest peaks in Kashmir. Millions were provided with cooked meals, thousands were rescued, families were given provision on monthly basis, tent villages were formed, and their aid distribution network and survey earned them the trust of many international aid organizations. Shelters and Houses were provided in the rehabilitation phase that continued for years.
2
) The 2008 Ziarat earthquake: Balochistan saw its worst disaster in many years. Again,
JuD responded with specifically engineered shelters, rescue, aid, and warm clothes for extreme temperatures. Iron sheets were extensively provided for re-building homes.
3)
The 2010 floods: In the face of Pakistan’s worst floods for decades,
JuD rescued many people, provided cooked meals round the clock. They set up numerous medical camps providing medical assistance to many. Moreover, families were provided with monthly provision packs and tents and shelters were provided to affected families. Hundreds of Houses were re-constructed in the rehabilitation phase.
Hindus have also rallied in JuD’s support at times during the relief efforts.
4)
The 2011 floods: Once again
, JuD was out there in the water on their
motor boat rescue service. The Pakistan Army and
JuD were the only two entities that were providing rescue services according to live accounts and media reports.
- Orphans and widow program
JuD provides
monthly provisions and cash donations to more than 40,000 orphans and widows. Moreover these
widows are provided with job opportunities and relevant skills. Orphans are given free education.
- Political and national issues and JuD’s response
JuD does not participate in the electoral process as they consider the western democratic model to be incompatible as a governance system to the ground realities of Pakistan. Despite that, JuD has worked to unite different sects, has arranged events in coordination with different sects to promote unity. They have spoken about the illegal
construction of dams by India blocking the flow of water into Pakistani rivers, in violation of bilateral agreements. They have
protested peacefully against the caricatures of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the Western press, and morally support the freedom struggles in Indian occupied Kashmir as well as in Afghanistan.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI8mi0kZWzw]]
- De-radicalisation and anti-terror propagation
JuD has assisted the government of Punjab in their
de-radicalisation program. It has always condemned suicide attacks, killings of civilians, and radicalisation in their routine propagation activities. They have intensively researched and professed very scholarly and insightful arguments on the ethics of jihad in the contemporary world, which condemns all kinds of violence and terrorism.
- Formation of Difa-e-Pakistan Council
The formation of the
DPC and its massive rallies protesting plans to reopen Nato supply routes is said to be the main driving force behind the US putting head money for Hafiz Saeed -the major contributor to DPC cause of blocking Nato supplies and bringing the
drone campaign to an end.
Hafiz Saeed, has recently written a
letter to Pakistani Parliamentarians who are reviewing the terms and conditions of the supplies, not only the religious,
but minority representatives who have also joined with the DPC at their gatherings.
My reward?
Since I have brought up ‘convictable’ evidence, I can justifiably claim the reward.
US policy makers have terrorised the world and made a mockery of justice, especially during the last decade.
With the blood of millions on their hands, they deserve no right to bully individuals who have never asked for anything from the people they serve except for the famous phrase that every JuD cadre humbly asks for:
“Duaon mein yaad rakhiyay ga”
(Remember us in your prayers.)
This post originally appeared here.
Follow Tabish on Twitter @tabesch.
