Eid charity: No permissions for hide collection granted yet

City government to grant NOCs on day before Eid.

LAHORE:

The city government has yet to grant permission to any of some 70 organisations seeking to collect the hides of sacrificial animals on Eidul Azha, though some groups have set up camps and are advertising for the donation of hides.

The Interior Ministry recently issued a notification requiring non-government organisations, charity organisations, religious organisations and others to get a no-objection certificate from the district administration before they set up camps for hide collection.

A city government official said that around 70 applications had been received, but none had been granted permission yet. “We will start giving permissions from Sunday,” said Tariq Zaman, the principal staff officer of the district coordination officer.

He said that the applications were at various stages of the process. “We have already received clearance from various departments for the well-known charity organisations, but several others are pending,” he said.

He said that the city government had sought reports on the applicant organisations from the Intelligence Bureau and checked if they were registered or not. “We also require an NOC from the Industries Department, which is the last step in the process,” he said.

Zaman said that not all the applicants would be granted permission. He said if any banned group had applied under a different name, they would not be granted permission either.

However, some religious organisations have already set up donation camps or handed out pamphlets seeking donations outside mosques. The banned group Jamaatud Dawa, under the name Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, has also printed such pamphlets.

Zaman said that the city government did not have the power of enforcement; that was the responsibility of the police and security agencies. He said that some organisations had converted camps initially set up to collect donations for flood victims into hide collection spots. “The police or Rangers can arrest people who collect hides without permission,” he said.

Dr Syed Waseem Akhtar, ameer of the Jamaat-i-Islami in Punjab, said that the Interior Ministry’s requirement was meant to “appease the United States” and the government should not be interfering in religious matters such as Eid donations.

He said that reputed charity groups like Eidhi Foundation and Shaukat Khanum Welfare Trust should not be required to get permission to collect hides. “The government knows which organisations are banned ... they should not stop the real charities,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2011.