Will JuD face defections?

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) is silently controlling its activists for any possible defection and falling in the hands of anti-state elements particularly organisations like Daesh which is ideologically the most suitable place for the defected elements of JuD.

“On January 31 when we were informed about placement of our organisation on, ‘Watch list’, initially Hafiz Saeed, the amir of JuD, was against protests but later we decided to protest not only using our democratic right but also avoiding possible defection from the ranks,” a key leader who is part of the central consultative group of JuD told The News while requesting anonymity.

“There is no possibility of any reaction or defection by any of our activists as they are groomed to follow the leadership,” said Amir Hamza, a central leader of JuD while rejecting the possibility of reaction or defection by any rank of the organisation.

According to the JuD sources, about 500 hardcore trained activists of the party had defected on different occasions during the last one and a half decades. 

On the other hand, a source in a counter-terrorism department revealed that they almost had details of about 300 ex-JuD activists who defected and joined other militant organisations like defunct Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Daesh. Months back the list of defected JuD activists was also circulated among the law-enforcement agencies, including the police.

“When you charge emotions of your young activists sometimes it becomes difficult for them to normalize even if their leadership orders,” says Tahir Alam, ex-chief of police, while sharing his experience of dealing with such activists.

Originally published in The News