Following the trail of aid funds

One year ago this weekend, the Kashmir region of Pakistan was devastated by a massive earthquake.

In a matter of minutes 75,000 people were killed and three million made homeless.

Donations and aid flooded in from around the world as the international community responded to the plight of the Kashmiri people.

But now questions are being asked about whether money sent from abroad ended up funding militant groups.

Travel to the capital of Pakistan Kashmir - Muzaffarabad - and you can't miss the influence of Islam in everyday life.

In fact, many have said that the dignity with which the Kashmiris have borne the burdens of the disaster is linked to their faith.

But critics say this is only part of the story.

"The fact is that the jihadi charities were working in Kashmir before the earthquake"

They say that fundamentalist groups linked to armed militants also made gains out of the earthquake.

One international think tank says the Pakistani Government looked the other way as militant groups used relief work to extend their influence.

The International Crisis Group's Pakistan director Samina Ahmed puts it this way - the Pakistani Government supported many jihadi charities and their work in the earthquake zone.

That meant that they had a seal of approval which in turn meant they got approval from international NGOs.

The accusation is simple.

The jihadis worked in the disaster to extend their reputation and through that support for their political programme of jihad - or holy war - against the West.

But one director of an international charity says there's a need for a sense of proportion.

The fact is that the jihadi charities were working in Kashmir before the earthquake so it's hardly astonishing that their humanitarian work would not extend their influence in some measure.

Dorothy Blane, the Pakistan director of the charity Concern, says it's impossible to say how much money went to these groups.

"Some commentators fear militant groups in Kashmir could use their relief work to extend their influence"

She said: "They were in Kashmir before the earthquake anyway. Many have humanitarian/social sections and it's my view that money received probably went to buy tents not guns."

So how did we get here with charities standing accused of being in favour of armed struggle and using disaster for their own ends?

In this connection perhaps the lessons of Hamas in the Gaza Strip are significant.

Hamas ran welfare and social programmes in Gaza which benefited hundreds of thousands.

They also ran armed attacks in Israel and suicide bombers.

Then in the end they won an election.

Some commentators fear militant groups in Kashmir could use their relief work to extend their influence which in turn will gather greater political support for armed struggle elsewhere.

But the President of AJK, Raja Zulqar Khan, repudiates such charges.

He denies any foreign funds went to militant groups because of the rigorous checks which take place.

He says all foreign NGOs are rigorously audited and the whole idea is a result of Indian propaganda which has influenced the government of the US.

So to my meeting with the leaders of Jamaat ud-Dawa, one of the biggest Pakistani charities which worked in the earthquake.

Its critics say Jamaat ud-Dawa is the humanitarian front of the banned armed group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Laskhar was banned by the Pakistan government four years ago as a terrorist organisation.

That followed its designation as terrorist by the US Government in 2001.

Jamaat ud-Dawa's second in command Rehman Makki did not deny that his organisation supported Lashkar-e-Taiba as freedom fighters but he did deny that any charity money had ever gone to buy guns.

And he said Jamaat was no Hamas Mark 2. Hamas has a political programme which Jamaat ud-Dawa hasn't and they repudiate the killing of innocent people in suicide bombings.

Assembly elections

When the interview was set up there were no preconditions set and no line of questioning was ruled out.

So I put it to Rehman Makki that the US had applied pressure on Pakistan's President Musharraf to force Jamaat ud-Dawa to withdraw from Kashmir.

"That's not true. President Musharraf is on record as resisting such calls and indeed praising our group's work. And during the time working with the UN in the earthquake zone, the UN registered the group as an official NGO," he said.

There's no doubt that some commentators believe that groups with jihadi connections exploited the Pakistan earthquake.

But if Jamaat ud-Dawa are to be believed then donations given for bread were not used for guns and rocket launchers.

And if we are to seek evidence that this might be accurate then perhaps the recent elections to the Kashmir Assembly may be significant.

Not one militant group or a jihadi charity or fundamentalist sect won a single seat in the 42 seat assembly.

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