As part of his tour of the flood-affected areas of Sindh province, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Rajiv Shah on Wednesday visited a government school where several aid agencies including one run by a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had set up a camp.
Falah-e-Insaniyat – in the news ever since the floods began for setting up camps in some remote areas where government and aid agencies had not been able to reach -- is said to be the latest front of the LeT. While the U. S. Embassy in Islamabad maintained that Mr. Shah had visited a government school in Sukkur in Sindh province where several organizations had put up camps, Reuters -- which had a correspondent travelling with him -- reported that there was a banner stating `Relief Camp Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation’ hung at the entrance to the camp.
Denying that the Indian-American USAID administrator had visited a camp run by Falah-e-Insaniyat, the Embassy spokesman’s counter for the banner was that the outfit must have distributed relief supplies independently of the U. S. interventions. “Mr. Shah was there to check on relief supplies and we are here to help the people.’’
The role of charities like Falah-e-Insaniyat has been a cause of concern for aid agencies as they fear that delay in providing relief would give extremist organizations an opportunity to fill the vacuum. Time and again, the Pakistan Government has also been maintaining that terrorists should not be allowed the chance to turn this catastrophe into an opportunity.
