LAHORE: Despite the Punjab home department’s crackdown on illicit charities and the listing of 89 banned organisations, so-called “nameless donation boxes” continue to proliferate on street corners and electric poles, with their anonymous collectors leaving donors wondering who is really behind the appeals.
These “nameless donation boxes”, physically secured with heavy chains and locks, can be spotted at road intersections, markets, shopping malls and banks across Punjab.
Experts say billions of rupees in unregulated funds are being siphoned off under the guise of piety. They warn that this system has bypassed the core objectives of the National Action Plan, which was intended to dismantle the financial networks that fuel instability.
When contacted, a senior home department officer acknowledged that the “nameless donation boxes” were still in place, adding that the department would identify the ownership of such boxes once madaris (seminaries) were registered with the home department.
Identifying the network of “nameless donation boxes” as silent routes of funding, founder of the Civil Services Legacy Guide and former civil servant Yawar Mehdi called upon the federal and provincial governments to dismantle what he described as a dangerous network operating across Pakistan.
‘Silent routes’
Acknowledging the Punjab government’s recent notification banning extremist and illegal organisations from collecting funds, Mr Mehdi warned that the “silent crime” of anonymous donation boxes remained hidden in plain sight, effectively blinding the administration and bypassing the law.
He said funding collected through these boxes was undermining the core objectives of NAP aimed at dismantling destabilising financial networks. “The blood of martyrs and the loss of thousands of lives to domestic unrest will remain a grave concern for the state as long as these silent routes of funding stay open,” he warned.
State intervention sought
To reclaim the state writ, Mr Mehdi proposed that the prime minister issue emergency directives to the interior minister and all chief ministers, ordering that all illegal and anonymous donation boxes be taken into state custody under the direct supervision of divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and district police officers. He said this should be accompanied by a transparent official record of every rupee collected.
“If the state does not close these unregulated financial channels today, future generations will never forgive the silence of those in power, as the haunting question remains: where do those who spread unrest get their fuel?” he said.
