While Interior Ministry’s list of 31 organizations banned from collecting sacrificial animal’s hides include disused names of sectarian and Jihadi outfits. It misses two very important names. Jamaat-ud-dawa and Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat. One can understand why JuD is missing in the list but ASWJ exclusion may raise a few eyebrows.
For starters let me remind that banned Sipah-e-Sahaba/Millat-e-Islamia and its militant wing Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are operating under a new name Ahl-e-Sunnat wal Jamaat. It is led by Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi and is operating in cities of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Ironically the new adopted name is excluded from the list of banned outfits with restrictions on their fund raising and other activities. Is that a blunder, negligence or omission? Those observing their recent activities after the new embodiment can understand the reasons behind this excision.
The name of Sipah-e-Sahaba is synonymous to killing and obliterating lesser Muslims i.e. Shias, Ahmedis, Barelvis, lesser Pakistanis, i.e. Christians and Hindus and even lesser Deobandis. In the last two decades, while it has killed hundreds of Shias, it has not held itself back from killing dissidents in their own sect. Most of the attacks and bombings on security agencies personnels, offices and other places were carried down by the terrorists of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and were involved in the attacks on Sri Lankan cricket team. The much reprobated Shahbaz Sharif call to Taliban for discontinuing attacks in Punjab was actually an appeal to the leadership of SSP/LeJ, which has not been let down by them.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) has many of its prominent leaders from SSP/Lej ranks. The present chief Hakimullah Mehsud, suicide bombing specialist Qari Hussain and one of their spokesmen Asmatullah Muawaia’s sectarian leanings are not a secret. SSP activists have jeered at Shias call of “Salaam Ya Hussain” as “Salaam Ya Qari Hussain”, which I had seen an year ago on the shutters of a fair price shop of “Abdullah Enterprises” , a textile company located at 100 yard distance of Jamia Binoria SITE, and opposite to SITE Police station Karachi. In bughz-e-Shias they have cheered up a mass killer who is specialized in mass killings via his trained suicide bombers.
A new trend egressed since the political uprising in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the banned SSP leaders suddenly turned into patriots and admirers of Pakistan Army. They are openly carrying on public meetings in support of Pakistan Army’s decision to send troops to Behrain. In a meeting there in Karachi, their provincial head, Rab Nawaz Hanafi was extolling Behrain king’s oppression of his shia population and aid by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan Army, saying “Behrain mey tau khoob pitaai horahai hei shiaon ki”.
Ahmad Ludhianvi, the man who was provided an opportunity of spreading hatred against Shias in Dunya TV talk show hosted by Asma Chaudhry too was full of extolments for Pakistan Army in their stance on the good Haqqanis, and offered 200 thousand volunteers in case of an encounter with United States.
And it’s the reason; its present leadership is enjoying political support and a free run in big cities of Punjab and in Karachi. Their central, provincial and lower leadership is conducting public meetings, processions and fund raising activities. Their flags, graffiti and slogans can be seen on the walls varying in their contents from place to place. One can see this variation by comparing what has been sprayed in Orangi and Baldia Town and painted near Asghar Ali Shah Stadium North Nazimabad.
Grand Trunk Road 
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