Center For Peace And Secular Studies

Safe Charity

Due to the increase in terrorist funding and acts of terrorism, CPSS – in collaboration with the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and the City District Government of Lahore – initiated a campaign in 2015 to spread awareness about safe charitable practices. The campaign appealed to the masses at large, with special emphasis on the business community to sensitize them about terrorism financing. The campaign consisted of two phases. In Phase I, the focus of the campaign was to target the various shopping centers during the holy month of Ramadan. Volunteers set up information desks in shopping malls to distribute brochures and flyers among customers. These flyers/brochures included information about the benefits of giving charity to those who were truly deserving. Members of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce were convinced to display this information at their business centers. The City District Government of Lahore facilitated the campaign by displaying safe charity banners on roads and metro bus stops. In Phase II of the project, volunteers were sent to bakra mandis (marketplaces where sacrificial animals are sold) to raise awareness about the importance of donating the hides of sacrificed animals only to registered institutions and to make sure that these organizations do not have links with terrorist or militant enterprises. CPSS volunteers spread awareness by verbal communication as well as by distributing pamphlets and brochures to the buyers and sellers. The campaign messages were also advertised on billboards, flexes and banners all over the city. Radio messages recorded by renowned artists like Shujat Hashmi, Hamid Rana, Aurangzeb Laghari, Naghma, Shaukat Ali, Iftikhar Thakur, and Abid Kashmiri were broadcasted on Pakistan Radio Stations. This activity was supported by Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI).