Action regarding the activities of the banned organisation Jamaat ud Dawaa (JuD) and its chief Hafiz Saeed has always been marked with uncertainty. We witnessed earlier that the house arrest of the chief could not result in any significant investigations into his activities and created this impression that the house arrest was a result of international pressure. Now that the organisation, with clear indication from National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) about its extremist activities, has been; there is confusion as to whether or not their charity work needs to be stopped or not.

The petition filed by A. K. Dogar on the behalf of Hafiz Saeed talks about how it is the constitutional right of every organisation to continue its charity work, on the basis of which the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the government to not interfere in the charity work until the date of the next hearing which is due April 23. Such verdicts further polarise the society and the authorities as well and shows that they are not on the same page about the status of the organisation and their chief.

It is no secret that such charity work creates a base of influence which overshadows the radical activities and paves way for entering the political system, and results in the mainstreaming of radical elements. This is a scenario which should be diligently avoided, as we have already witnessed the result of extremist uprising not long ago in the Faizabad sit-in. The organs of the government - be it the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the interior ministry, or the courts - all need to be on the same page to be able to successfully snub extremist activities in the country. Going back and forth on their stance creates further cleavages and highlights the indecisiveness of the authorities. A banned organisation should not be allowed to carry on its activities and there should be no legal cover for such organisations in the system.