ISLAMABAD, April 3: The Ministry of Interior has banned Khana-e-Hikmat, the publication and research organization of Nasiruddin Hunzai, a religious leader from Hunza who is settled in Canada.
According to reports, the government of Pakistan has banned the organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 for its link with terror organizations in the country and abroad.
A notification issued by the ministry and dispatched to all provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan said all bank accounts of the organization should also be frozen with immediate effect. The ministry said that the operation of the organization, especially in Gilgit-Baltistan, was against the interest of the country.
With the issuance of the notification, the possibility of further action against the outlawed organization like raids on its offices has increased. It may be noted that all the Ismaili councils in Gigit-Baltistan had already expressed their reservations about the suspicious and parallel activities of Khana-e-Hikmat and in many areas of Hunza and Ghizer districts, the local people had held protest demonstrations and demanded that the government should take action against the organization.
Even he had misled quite a large number of people in Chitral and the Aga Khan Council in the valley had received complaints about its suspicious activities there. Nasiruddin Hunzai had been running the outlawed organization for decades against the policies of the Imamati organizations. Its lavish spending of money had also raised eyebrows in the community.–Syed Nazir Hussain