Germany Bans Ansaar International For Financing Terror Through Humanitarian Aid. The Islamic Organisation Was Active In New Delhi Post Riots Too

An Islamic organisation that was found to be active in ‘humanitarian work’ post New Delhi riots has been banned by Germany.

The key allegation by Germany’s interior minister against the organisation, named Ansaar International, is that it “spread a Salafist world view and finance terror around the world under the guise of humanitarian aid”, as per a report by Deutsche Welle, Germany’s state-owned public broadcaster.

Salafist refers to strict Sunni Muslims who seek implementation of Sharia law, says the report.

Steve Alter, spokesperson of minister Horst Seehofer, took to Twitter to make the announcement on Wednesday.

Quoting Seehofer, Alter wrote (in German): "The network finances terrorism worldwide with donations.”

“If you want to fight terror, you have to dry up its sources of money,” the tweet added.

Along with Ansaar International, several of its sub-organisations have also been banned, reported DW. The organisation is based in Düsseldorf, a city in Germany.

The organisation’s website says that “Ansaar International eV was founded in Düsseldorf in 2012 and is a Muslim relief organization that provides humanitarian support to people in war and crisis areas, regardless of their faith”.

The website says it is active in around 50 “project countries”. India figures at number 12 in this list. The list says the organisation has already made an expenditure of 158,600 Euros (Rs 1.45 crore) in India.

The India section of the website features several photographs of people with aid packages with Ansaar International and its logo printed on them.

“Wake up Ummah,” reads a message on the packages.

Ummah is an Arabic word for a concept in Islam about the essential unity and theoretical equality of Muslims around the world.

The text accompanying the photographs says:

“After the bloody riots in March 2020, the Muslim minority in India lost a lot. The cause of the unrest is the new Indian naturalization law, which excludes people of Muslim faith from easier access to Indian citizenship.

“Houses and mosques were set on fire during the protests. Injured Muslims were turned down by hospitals and shops were burned down. There was support from some Christian pastors and churches who expressed themselves critical of Hindu nationalism and called for solidarity with Muslims.

“We are now providing emergency aid locally to rebuild the minority after their setback. With your donations we can distribute food and provide tents as emergency shelters.”

This is all the information available in public domain on the organisation’s activities in India.

A Reuters report quotes a statement by Germany’s interior ministry that raids were carried out on Wednesday on affiliates of Ansaar in 10 German states, with participation of about 1,000 police officers, which resulted in 150,000 Euros in cash being confiscated.

The DW report says that the organisation stands accused of sending funds to terrorist groups including the Al-Nusra Front in Syria, the Palestinian Hamas and Al-Shabab in Somalia.