Jamaat-ud-Dawa continues to function in Pak despite being proscribed - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which according to India acted as a front group for the militants responsible for last tear terror carnage on Mumbai, continues to function in Pakistan as a charity despite being proscribed. According to The Independent, the charity still doles out free medical treatment to women, and boys and girls are being taught history, science and biology. Located less than 20 miles north of Lahore in the village of Mudrike , the paper discovered volunteers from the charity helping the needy and calling themselves the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation. Senior JuD members confirm that the organisation's work was never stopped and it is clear that the authorities are more than aware of this. T two special-branch police officers have been assigned to the compound while a civilian government official has to give permission for visitors to enter. Officials at the sprawling centre insist they have nothing to hide. "It's intellectual dishonesty. They have no explanation," says Rashid Manhes , who oversees boys' education at JuD facilities across the country and who leads a tour of the compound, pointing out classrooms and clinics where villagers receive free health care, dental treatment and even surgery. While the JuD compound is accessible, the same cannot be said for its leader -- Hafeez Saeed . His lawyer, A K Dogar, insists that his client is innocent. "I have seen no evidence, no evidence against him. The only thing that I keep hearing is that Kasab has made a confession. That is not even valid in court," he says, serving tea and traditional south Asian sweets at his office. "There is not a shred of evidence connecting him with [the attacks]. I have argued this for months. The central and provincial governments said they had secret evidence, but the judges found nothing substantive in it," Dogar says. He describes Saeed as a peaceful citizen."