UAPA tribunal confirms Centre’s decision to ban Muslim League, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat

Srinagar, June 22: A tribunal constituted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on Saturday confirmed the Centre’s declaration to enforce a five-year term ban on the senior separatist leader Masarat Alam led Muslim League Jammu & Kashmir and Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH) led by Late Syed Ali Geelani.

The tribunal led by Delhi High Court Judge Sachin Datta was constituted in January this year to ascertain the validity of the imposed ban.

The Muslim League Jammu Kashmir led by incarcerated separatist leader Masarat Alam was formally banned for five years by Union Ministry of Home Affairs on December 27, 2023, for alleged involvement in anti-national and secessionist activities in the region.

Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH) which was led by deceased Syed Ali Geelani was officially banned on December 31, 2023, for fomenting terrorism and spreading anti-India propaganda in Jammu and Kashmir.

In last five years, the Government of India has banned ten separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.

On February 28, 2019 the Union Home Ministry banned Jama’at-e-Islami Jammu & Kashmir, a cadre-based organization with pan-Kashmir presence. The MHA said that the outfit was involved in activities prejudicial to the security and integrity of India.

Nearly a month later, on March 22, 2019 the MHA declared JKLF as an unlawful association for “supporting extremism and militancy” and indulging in “anti-national activity”.

On March 12, 2023, the government banned the Jammu & Kashmir National Front over charges of “indulging in unlawful activities, which are prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty, and security of the country.

On October 5, 2023, the Union Home Ministry banned jailed separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah’s Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) for its “anti-India” and “pro-Pakistan” activities.

Two months later, on December 28, 2023, the MHA banned the Masarat Alam-led Muslim League, a separatist organisation, for “anti-national and secessionist” activities in J&K.

On December 31, 2023, the MHA banned Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH) which was earlier headed by deceased separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

On February 28, 2024, the MHA first banned the Muslim Conference Jammu & Kashmir (Sumji faction) and Muslim Conference Jammu & Kashmir (Bhat faction) over terror charges. They were respectively part of Hurriyat (G) and Hurriyat (M) before August 5, 2019.

On March 16, 2024 the Government of India banned four factions of Jammu & Kashmir Peoples League (JKPL) and Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Freedom League (JKPFL).

Further the MHA declared factions of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League (JKPL), namely, JKPL (Mukhtar Ahmed Waza), JKPL (Bashir Ahmad Tota), JKPL (Ghulam Mohammad Khan @Sopori) also known as Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Political League and JKPL (Aziz Sheikh) led by Yaqoob Sheikh, as unlawful associations under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act-1967.

On the same day, the Centre banned Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Freedom League headed by Farooq Rehmani.