Punjab bans religio-political outfits

The Punjab government on Tuesday banned 23 banned outfits from collecting Zakat, and has directed its police to register cases against them under Anti-Terrorism Act, and action will be also taken against those who will make contributions as well.
The provincial Home Department has issued a new list of banned organisations, and they have been barred from collecting Zakat, Fitra and charity. According to sources, action under the ATA would be taken against those who would violate the ban. “No activities by the banned outfits will be permitted. They can neither collect funds nor arrange any gathering for this,” the home department stated in a circular, adding that the banned organisations would not be allowed reorganisation under alternate names as well.
Official sources also added that these organisations would not be allowed to operate under new names. All District Police Officers (DPO) have been ordered to monitor members of the banned organisations and that they should not be allowed to collect donations at any cost.
However, the Sunni Tehreek will continue to be monitored while action will also be taken against those who make contributions to the banned organisations. Main organisations include: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sepah-e-Muhammad, Jaish-e Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Tayba, Sepah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Tehreek Jafria Pakistan, Tehreek Nefaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, Tehreek-e-Islami, Al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, Khudam-ul-Islam, Islami Tehreek Pakistan, Jamiat-ul-Ansar, Ansar-ul-Islam, Jamiat-ul-Furqan, Hizb-ul-Tehrir and Khair-un-Naas International.
The list, which also includes five banned outfits from Balochistan
This is the second action since July last year when the provincial government had banned 22 militant organisations that changed their names after they were outlawed in 2002.
The crackdown did not include any military operations. Task forces, including local police, the criminal investigation department (CID), the Special Branch, the Anti Terrorists Squad of the Punjab Police and other intelligence agencies, have been organised on a local level.