London, Oct. 10: It was a day of sharp contrasts for Pakistanis in Britain.

On one hand, the British government was mobilising a well oiled machine to help with earthquake disaster relief in Pakistan Kashmir; on the other, home secretary Charles Clarke was announcing the names of 15 groups, several of them Pakistani, which he wants to put on a list of terrorist organisations.

In a sense, as Pakistanis in Bradford and Birmingham were coping with news of missing or dead relatives and friends from “back home”, Clarke’s timing could not have been worse.

The groups were named as: Al Ittihad Al Islamia; Ansar Al Islam; Ansar Al Sunna; Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain; Harakat-ul-Jihad-ul-Islami; Harakat-ul-Jihad-ul-Islami (Bangladesh); Harakat-ul-Mujahideen/Alami; Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin; Islamic Jihad Union; Jamaat ul-Furquan; Jundallah; Khuddam ul-Islam; Lashkar-e Jhangvi; Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and Sipah-e Sahaba Pakistan.

The names will mean nothing to the vast majority of British people who are being urged to put their faith in their government.

Explaining why he was asking Parliament to ban the 15 organisations under the Terrorism Act, 2000, Clarke said today: “Recent events in London and elsewhere in the world have shown all too clearly that the threat posed by global terrorism has not gone away.

“The attacks of 7 and 21 July have served as a stark reminder of the need to maintain a vigorous approach to dealing with terrorists and their supporters.”

He talked tough: “The United Kingdom is committed to playing a leading role in the international campaign against terrorism and sending the clear message that we are not prepared to tolerate terrorism here or anywhere in the world.”

What has changed from the Indian point of view is that the groups which were against India over Kashmir are now also considered to be anti-West.

Conscious that the government will be given a rough ride by the human rights lobby in the UK ? some senior judges have already spoken out against the anti-terrorist measures Prime Minister Tony Blair has in mind ? Clarke said: “Proscription is an important power, and not one to be used lightly. I am also determined to act against those who, while not involved in committing acts of terrorism, provide succour or support for terrorist groups and their acts.

“That is why I intend to bring forward further legislation to amend the current threshold of proscription to make it possible to proscribe any organisation which glorifies terrorism.”

Some lawyers say that the government will find it extremely difficult to define the expression “glorify”.

The battle between the government and the human rights lobby was tackled last night in a BBC Panorama programme, Blair vs Blair, with the Prime Minister, and his wife, Cherie, taking opposite sides in a fictionalised account of the dispute.