MHA extends ban on Yasin’s JKLF for five years

Naseer Ganai

Srinagar, March 16

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has banned the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League and all factions of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League associated with the separatist Hurriyat Conference under anti-terror laws. Besides, the ban on the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (Yasin Malik faction) has been extended for a further period of five years.

The JKLF was banned by the Centre in March 2019 for its alleged role in promoting secessionist activities in J&K. Union Home Minister Amit Shah wrote on X that the banned outfit continued to engage in activities that foment terror and secessionism in J&K. Anyone found challenging the security, sovereignty and integrity of the nation would face harsh legal consequences, he mentioned.

On May 24, 2022, a trial court held the JKLF chairman guilty for various offences under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the IPC. The court had awarded Malik 10-year jail term.

Earlier this year, the National Investigation Agency filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court, seeking enhancement of the sentence from life term to death penalty, which is the maximum punishment for the offence.

Besides JKLF, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) declared four factions of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League—namely, JKPL (Mukhtar Ahmed Waza), JKPL (Bashir Ahmad Tota), JKPL (Ghulam Mohammad Khan), and JKPL (Aziz Sheikh) led by Yaqoob Sheikh—as unlawful associations. “These organisations were involved in inciting terror and abetting secessionism in J&K. The Modi government is committed to suppressing terrorism ruthlessly,” the Home Minister said. On the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League (JKPFL), the Home Minister said the “organisation threatened India’s integrity by promoting, aiding and abetting the secession of Jammu and Kashmir through terrorism”.