<p class="title">Much of the violence in Kashmir is tied to organisations linked to separatist outfit Jamat-e-Islami and its partners, an influential US lawmaker has said, noting that the group has committed acts of violence against minority groups, including Hindus and Christians.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Congressman Jim Banks made the comments while addressing a seminar hosted by the Middle East Forum at the US Capitol on Wednesday. The programme was organised in association with the South Asia Minorities Alliance Foundation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jamat-e-Islami is a violent, theocratic group that has committed violent acts against minority Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and Ahmadis, he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Republican Congressman from Indiana said that “much of the violence in Kashmir is linked to the organisations linked to Jamat-e-Islami and its terrorist partners”.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India had earlier this year banned the Jamat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir for five years under the anti-terror law, on grounds that it was "in close touch" with militant outfits and was supporting extremism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Referring to the activities of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Banks said that it is a thinly veiled partner group of Jamat-e-Islami within the US.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The ICNA invites Jamat operatives to its conferences to raise funds to support group's cause, he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“We must prevent the spread of this threat before it starts impacting Americans at home. I introduced HR-160 resolution earlier this year, and this bipartisan resolution calls on the USAID and State Department to refrain from any partnership with organisations affiliated with radical Islamist groups,” Banks concluded.</p>.<p class="bodytext">South Asia Minority Alliance Chairman Nadeem Nusrat who also heads Voice of Karachi, said that no other religious group did more to radicalize Pakistan religiously than Jamat-e-Islami.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This group also played an abhorring role to suppress the freedom movement in the former East Pakistan (Bangladesh), where its affiliated terror groups- al-Badr and al-Shams- actively participated along with Pakistani military in the massacre of nearly three million Bengalis, he alleged.</p>
<p class="title">Much of the violence in Kashmir is tied to organisations linked to separatist outfit Jamat-e-Islami and its partners, an influential US lawmaker has said, noting that the group has committed acts of violence against minority groups, including Hindus and Christians.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Congressman Jim Banks made the comments while addressing a seminar hosted by the Middle East Forum at the US Capitol on Wednesday. The programme was organised in association with the South Asia Minorities Alliance Foundation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jamat-e-Islami is a violent, theocratic group that has committed violent acts against minority Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and Ahmadis, he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Republican Congressman from Indiana said that “much of the violence in Kashmir is linked to the organisations linked to Jamat-e-Islami and its terrorist partners”.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India had earlier this year banned the Jamat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir for five years under the anti-terror law, on grounds that it was "in close touch" with militant outfits and was supporting extremism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Referring to the activities of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Banks said that it is a thinly veiled partner group of Jamat-e-Islami within the US.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The ICNA invites Jamat operatives to its conferences to raise funds to support group's cause, he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“We must prevent the spread of this threat before it starts impacting Americans at home. I introduced HR-160 resolution earlier this year, and this bipartisan resolution calls on the USAID and State Department to refrain from any partnership with organisations affiliated with radical Islamist groups,” Banks concluded.</p>.<p class="bodytext">South Asia Minority Alliance Chairman Nadeem Nusrat who also heads Voice of Karachi, said that no other religious group did more to radicalize Pakistan religiously than Jamat-e-Islami.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This group also played an abhorring role to suppress the freedom movement in the former East Pakistan (Bangladesh), where its affiliated terror groups- al-Badr and al-Shams- actively participated along with Pakistani military in the massacre of nearly three million Bengalis, he alleged.</p>