The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that it has revoked the charitable status of a Mississauga, Ont.-based group, the ISNA Development Foundation, citing concerns about possible links to a terrorist organization in Kashmir.

The CRA reports that it sent a letter to the group last month indicating its plans to revoke its charitable status after its audit concluded that ISNA has failed to comply with the requirements for continued registration.

In particular, it says that information obtained during the audit has led the CRA to believe that the organization had entered into a funding arrangement with the Kashmiri Canadian Council/Kashmiri Relief Fund of Canada (KCC/KRFC), with the ultimate goal of sending the raised funds to a Pakistan-based non-governmental organization named the Relief Organization for Kashmiri Muslims (ROKM) “without maintaining direction and control”.

The CRA says that its research indicates that ROKM is the charitable arm of Jamaat-e-Islami, a political organization that actively contests the legitimacy of India’s governance over the state of Jammu and Kashmir, “including reportedly through the activities of its armed wing Hizbul Mujahideen.” And, it notes that Hizbul Mujahideen is listed as a terrorist entity by the Council of the European Union and is declared a banned terrorist organization by the government of India.

“Given the commonalities in directorship between ROKM and Jamaat-e-Islami, concerns exist that the organization’s resources may have been used to support the political efforts of Jamaat-e-Islami and/or its armed wing, Hizbul Mujahideen,” it says.

The CRA says that the federal government does not tolerate the abuse of the charitable registration system to provide any sort of support to terrorism.

An organization that has had its registration as a charity revoked can no longer issue donation receipts for income tax purposes, and is no longer a qualified donee under the Income Tax Act. It’s also no longer exempt from income tax, unless it qualifies as a non-profit organization, it says.