"India needs to report Pakistan's funding of Lashkar terror camp to FATF": Manish Tewari

New Delhi [India], September 14 (ANI): Congress MP Manish Tewari on Sunday expressed serious concern over reports that Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is rebuilding its headquarters in Muridke. He urged the Government of India to take up the matter with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on priority.
Speaking to ANI, the Congress MP said, "If this information is correct and true, then India needs to take it to the Financial Action Task Force. If money provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is being used to reconstruct the headquarters of a UN-designated terror organisation, Lashkar-e-Taiba, then it is an extremely serious matter. Then the Government of india should take it up as a priority with the FATF."
Tewari emphasised the need for policy consistency in dealing with Pakistan. "If we are not engaging with Pakistan, and we should not engage because it continues to be a state sponsor of terror, then we should not play cricket with them also," he added.
Tewari pointed out the Lashkar-e-Taiba's long history of attacks on India, citing the 2000 Jammu & Kashmir Vidhan Sabha attack, the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, as well as the Uri, Pulwama, and Pahalgam attacks.
"If Lashkar's HQs are being reconstructed with developmental assistance provided by the IMF, and on the other hand, we play cricket with Pakistan, this means we have no consistency of policy. If the policy is that talks and terror cannot go hand in hand, then obviously cricket and terror cannot go hand in hand either," the Congress MP said.
Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) headquarters at Muridke, Markaz Taiba, was reduced to rubble by Indian Air Force strikes in Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025. The precision attack flattened key buildings including cadre accommodation, weapons storage, and the group's "Umm-ul-Qura" training blocks, crippling LeT's command hub.
Fresh intelligence inputs now reveal that Pakistan is directly funding the terror outfit's reconstruction. Islamabad has already allocated PKR 4 crore to LeT, while the group estimates the rebuild will cost over PKR 15 crore. Senior commanders Maulana Abu Zar and Yunus Shah Bukhari are overseeing the project, with a deadline set for February 5, 2026, timed with LeT's annual Kashmir Solidarity Day convention.
According to a dossier prepared by agencies, "LeT cadres have also launched fundraising campaigns under the guise of "flood relief", repeating a historical pattern where humanitarian aid was diverted to terror infrastructure. In 2005, nearly 80% of earthquake relief funds collected by LeT's front, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, were channeled into building militant camps.
Despite Pakistan's repeated claims at global platforms of fighting terrorism, the dossier confirms its Army and ISI remain complicit, ensuring LeT's survival and resurgence. Analysts warn that this deliberate rebuilding effort reflects Islamabad's double standards on counter-terrorism and signals the likelihood of fresh cross-border attacks being planned from Pakistani soil. (ANI)