ISLAMABAD -  With the banning of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed linked Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its charity wing — Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), it is likely that Pakistan will succeed to remove its name from the grey list of Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in September this year.

Earlier on Thursday, a spokesman of the Ministry of Interior said that the National Security Committee held at Prime Minister Office decided that “JuD and FIF be notified as proscribed organisations by the ministry.”

The spokesman said that the NSC in its meeting reviewed the National Action Plan on Counter Terrorism in detail and decided to accelerate action against proscribed organisations — a measure that has diminished the risk of Pakistan going into FTAF’s blacklist.

In June 2018, FAFT — a global terrorism financing and money laundering watchdog had officially placed Pakistan on its grey list, during a plenary meeting held in Paris, due to strategic deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regime. FATF argued that Pakistan had failed to act against terror financing on its soil.  On January 27, 2017, Interior Ministry had placed JuD and FIF on its Watch List under section 11-D-(1) of Schedule II of Anti Terrorism Act, 1997. The two other organisations including Ghulaman-e-Sahaba (GS) and Maymar Trust had also been placed on the Watch List in the same year. Total four organisations were on that list till Thursday.

With the proscription of these two organisations, the banned organisations in Pakistan have taken the total number of 69. In 2018, the government banned two organisations— Jundullah and Yemen-based Al Rahmah Welfare Trust Organisation.

India accused that Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and JuD was behind the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Yahya Mujahid, a spokesman of the JuD in a statement severely condemned the decision of the government and said that the government succumbed to the external pressure. “We will approach the court against the decision and adopt the legal way,” he added.

Mujahid said that the decision would cause irreparable damage to the freedom movement of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). He said that JuD had been punished for raising strong voice in support of the oppressed people of IOK. He said that both organisations had been facing sanctions on the demand of India in the past but the courts clearly stated in their decisions that JuD and FIF were peaceful organisations and had complete liberty to continue their welfare activities. “We will remain peaceful,” he concluded.

In February last year, former President Mamnoon Hussain had promulgated an ordinance amending the Anti-Terrorism Act to proscribe those individuals and organisations which have been listed by the UN Security Council. The move was being seen as an effort to ban JuD and FIF but the government did not include both in the list of proscribe organisations. However, the Ministry of Interior through a notification confiscated all properties linked with both of these entities. During this week, a four-member Pakistani delegation in Paris witnessed a review of its performance by an expert group of FATF on its compliance with global guidelines against terror financing and money laundering. The Asia-Pacific Group (APG), an associate firm of the Paris-based FATF, presented Pakistan’s report and responses, to five specific queries it was asked by FATF in January, to the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) — Political Risk Services (PRS) group. The FATF plenary and its various group meetings are being held from Feb 18 to 22.

The Pakistani delegation is led by Finance Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan is making diplomatic efforts to counter Indian allegations that Pakistan was behind the recent killing of its paramilitary personnel in Pulwama attack. The five questions had been asked on the insistence of India.

The successful implementation of FATF’s action plan to choke terror financing and money laundering will help Pakistan to get its name excluded from the grey list and scuttle its chances moving into the black list. A final decision will be taken in a meeting of global terror financing watchdog to be held in September 2019.