Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, the charity arm of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, is openly collecting money and other supplies in Pakistan and sending them to Rohingya Muslim camps at Myanmar-Bangladesh border, The Sunday Guardian has learnt from reliable sources in the Intelligence agencies. The Intelligence agencies had earlier raised concerns regarding the FIF and its penetration into the Rohingya camps. The concerns relate to the possibility of these refugees getting indoctrinated by the cadre of FIF, which is listed as a terror organisation by US, and joining the LeT ranks in future, posing a threat to India’s security.
This newspaper has accessed videos and pictures of FIF cadres distributing supplies to Rohingya Muslims in what intelligence agencies have described as refugee camps set up at the Myanmar- Bangladesh border.
The FIF has procured these supplies in collection drives organised in Pakistan’s garrison city of Rawalpindi. “They are doing this in Pakistan with impunity and in the full public view. We have come across multiple such collection ‘centres’ that have been set up across Rawalpindi in recent times. Obviously, the law enforcement agencies of that country is least bothered about the activities of the Lashkar,” an officer with the security establishment said.
As per the intelligence agencies, the FIF has been active in the relief camps that have come up in areas surrounding the Bangladesh side of the Naf river, which acts as a boundary between Myanmar and Bangladesh. “They have been going there since 2015. They are regularly visiting the Teknaf area where there are multiple camps. Many times they do not reveal that they are a part of the FIF. For the refugees, it hardly matters from whom the help is coming, but for us it is a big concern as these camps can provide future cadre for the Lashkar, which is known to use religion as inducement to indoctrinate gullible minds,” an officer tracking the development said. Teknaf is the southern-most city of Bangladesh and is situated along the coast of Myanmar.
The agencies have also found that the FIF, whose network has increased in the recent years, is also collecting supplies from other countries, including Indonesia. “They are doing a lot for them (Rohingya Muslims) because they know that what they are doing now, will help them in the future. We have shared our concerns with our counterparts in Bangladesh but the FIF is still managing to enter these camps,” the officer said.