The Centre on Wednesday designated the Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction), or MLJK-MA, as an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities Prevention law.
The Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction) is a separatist organisation led by Hurriyat Conference chairman Masarat Alam Bhat, who is imprisoned in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in a social media post that the organisation and its members are involved in “anti-national and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir supporting terrorist activities and inciting people to establish Islamic rule” in the Union territory.
“The Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s message is loud and clear that anyone acting against the unity, sovereignty, and integrity of our nation will not be spared and face the full wrath of the law,” wrote Shah.
The home ministry, in a notification, said that the leaders of the organisation have been involved in raising funds through various sources, including Pakistan and its proxy organisations, “for perpetrating unlawful activities”.
The ministry said that Bhat has been involved in unlawful activities, which are “prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty, security and communal harmony of the country”.
It also said that the Central government believes that the Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction) will continue propagating false narratives and anti-national sentiments among the people of Jammu and Kashmir if there is no immediate curb or control of their activities.
In view of this, the ministry banned the organisation for five years.
Bhat was first arrested in 1990 and released over a year later. He was again detained in 1993 and remained in custody for more than four years before his release in February 1997.
Bhat also allegedly played pivotal roles in organising street agitations in Kashmir in 2008 and 2009.
He has been in jail since October 2010, when he was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police on charges of spearheading the street unrest in Kashmir.
He was briefly released in March 2015, when Mufti Muhammad Sayeed became the chief minister. Bhat’s release from prison had sparked an uproar.
The following month, Bhat was arrested on charges of sedition and “waging a war” against India after he allegedly raised pro-Pakistan slogans at a rally organised to welcome Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the former chairperson of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, in Srinagar. He was booked under the Public Safety Act.
In 2019, he was shifted to Delhi’s Tihar jail in connection with a terror funding case. The National Investigation Agency has alleged that he, along with other accused, was orchestrating violence in Jammu and Kashmir as a part of their “well-planned” criminal conspiracy, backed and funded by groups operating from Pakistan.
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