ISLAMABAD, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani government on Thursday prohibited 65 organizations from collecting hides of sacrificial animals during the upcoming holy festival of Eid-ul-Azha, officials said.
In its nationwide alert, the interior ministry of Pakistan also asked the general public not to donate sacrificial animals skins to the proscribed organizations on the eve of Eid festival being observed in Pakistan on Sept. 2, Saturday like other parts of the world.
Ahsan Iqbal, the country's interior minister, said that they took this step to ensure that no proscribed group can collect the animals' skins, a traditional way to collect millions of dollars of funds by some militant organizations for their illegal activities.
An unbanned group or organization, willing to collect the skins, is also bound to get the "No Objection Certificate" from the chief civil administrator of each district where the group is planning to collect skins.
The banned groups include Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, Balochistan National Liberation Army and others.
The ministry also warned that anyone caught violating the orders will be prosecuted under the Anti-Terrorism Act of the country.
The action is in practice by the ministry as part of the country's National Action Plan started in early 2015, which prevents fund collection by any banned outfit in Pakistan.
According to Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA), around 7.5 million animals, including goats, sheep, cows, buffaloes, and camels, are expected to be sacrificed this year during the three days of Eid from Saturday to Monday in Pakistan, the country with nearly 210 million population.
Traditionally, Pakistanis have been giving the hides to charitable institutions, orphanages, and seminaries, but during the last three decades a big number of militant groups under the disguise of religious welfare organizations entered into the field and succeeded in taking a big chunk of hides every year until the government banned it.
According to Pakistani security officials, all the funds collected by these banned groups from the animal hides or other charities were finally used in terrorist activities against the general public of the country.
