National Action Plan: No Fitra collection without Auqaf Dept’s permission

Placing donation boxes outside shops outlawed

MULTAN/ SARGODHA:

District police officials of Mianwali, Bhakkhar, Khushab and Sargodha have been told to take action against mosque administrations collecting Fitra without approval from the Auqaf Department.

According to a notice issued by the government on Sunday, mosque administrations are required to inform the Auqaf Department about any donation drive. The circular said anyone found collecting donation for a mosque without the permission of the Auqaf Department would a have cases registered against him. Fines would be imposed on the guilty.

The notice said the step had been taken to check funding for banned militant organisations. It said that several mosque administrations had been found collecting funds for banned outfits in Ramazan.

The notice said instructions had been issued to police officials to strictly monitor charity drives. The government has also outlawed placing donation boxes at shops. Police were told to take action against traders caught violating the ban.

Four arrested for collecting funds for TTP

In Dera Ghazi Khan, police arrested four people for using charity drives to fund banned groups.

A police spokesman said FIRs had been registered against them under Section 11-H of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

He said Ahmed, a resident of Block 7, had left a box outside his medical store to collect donations. He said Muhammad Iqbal, a resident of Shahzad Sultan Town had placed donation box outside his grocery shop.

He said Qari Mahmoodul Hassan, a resident of Siddiqabad Colony and Irshad Fareed, a resident of Rukanabad, had been arrested while they were encouraging people to donate for charity at a market.

The spokesman said such charity drives had been banned as part of the National Action Plan.

“The NAP outlines a mechanism for choking funding for banned groups,” he said. He said many people misused charity given in Ramazan.

In Multan, five people were detained from the Industrial State in a joint operation led by Pakistan Army and police.

A police spokesman said nearly 300 houses of in the Industrial Estate had been searched during the operation. He said police had seized two motorbikes that had no number plates.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2015.