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The central government has banned Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH), Jammu and Kashmir, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for “fomenting terrorism and anti-India propaganda”, a statement by the Union ministry of home affairs said on Sunday.
The decision was taken under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “zero-tolerance policy against” terror, Union home minister Amit Shah said, announcing the move on X, formerly Twitter.
“The Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, J&K (TeH) has been declared an ‘Unlawful Association’ under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The outfit is involved in forbidden activities to separate J&K from India and establish Islamic rule,” Shah said.
“Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji’s zero-tolerance policy against terrorism, any individual or organisation found involved in anti-India activities will be thwarted forthwith,” he added.
The pro-Pakistan group was formed by separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in 2004. It is a constituent of the hardline Hurriyat Conference which consists of 24 smaller outfits.
In its statement, MHA said the outfit’s objective was to separate Jammu and Kashmir from India, and “establish Islamic rule” in the Union territory.
“This organisation has been involved in fomenting terrorism and anti-India propaganda for fuelling secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir, which is prejudicial to the sovereignty, security and integrity of India,” the statement issued on Sunday said.
Many criminal cases have been registered against the organisation under various sections of UAPA, the Arms Act and the Indian Penal Code, it said, while members of the outfit “have been involved in raising funds through various sources including Pakistan and its proxy organisations for perpetrating unlawful activities, including supporting terrorist activities, sustained stone-pelting on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir”.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charge sheets against several members of the TeH for raising funds to support the terror network in Kashmir, officials familiar with the matter said.
Since 2017, the agency has carried out an intensive crackdown Hurriyat members, including Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Fantoosh, Geelani’s son-in-law and public relations officer of the TeH as well as secretary and strategist in the Hurriyat, Mohammad Akbar Khanday, spokesman of the Hurriyat and a fund-raiser for it, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal and Bashir Ahmad Bhat alias Peer Saifullah, personal assistant of Geelani as well as secretary of the TeH.
Following Geelani’s death in September 2021, the outfit is now headed by Masarat Alam Bhat. Bhat is currently lodged in prison and his party Muslim League, J&K, was last week banned under the terror law.
The MHA notification said “TeH members are paying tributes to terrorists who were killed in encounters with Security Forces and its members have been involved in supporting terrorist activities with an intent to create a reign of terror in the country, thereby endangering the security and public order of the State”.
The outfit never believed in a democratic system of governance and its leadership gave repeated calls to boycott assembly elections on multiple occasions, it said.
The Tehreek-e-Hurriyat is 17th organisation to be banned under the UAPA. Others include Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Popular Front of India (PFI), SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India), Jamaat-e-Islami (in which Geelani was an executive), Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), Muslim League Jammu and Kashmir among others.
Besides organisations, MHA has till date designated 55 persons as “individual terrorists” under the UAPA.
With inputs from Ashiq Hussain
Hardline Hurriyat faction banned by Centre, says Shah – Hindustan Times
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