SRINAGAR: The Centre has instructed the Jammu and Kashmir administration to seize all assets and freeze bank accounts and finances associated with the pro-Pakistan separatist amalgam Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH) and Muslim League Jammu Kashmir, both recently banned by the Government.
Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, founded by the late separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has been outlawed for five years, with the Union Home Ministry stating that it is fomenting militancy and spreading anti-India propaganda in the Union Territory.
In identical notifications, the Union Home Ministry declared the Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction) an unlawful outfit on December 27, 2023, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and banned Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Jammu and Kashmir (TeH), on December 31, 2023, under the same law.
The notifications empower the State Governments and Union Territory administration to exercise the powers conferred by Section 7 and Section 8 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, related to prohibiting the use of funds and notifying places used for an unlawful association.
“Now, therefore, in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 42 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the Central Government hereby directs that all powers exercisable by it Under Section 7 and Section 8 of the said Act shall be exercised also by the State Governments and the Union Territory administration with the above said unlawful association,” reads the notification.
The objective of TeH, according to the Home Ministry, is to separate Jammu and Kashmir from India and establish Islamic rule in the region. Masarat Alam Bhat, who succeeded Geelani, is currently in jail and known for his anti-India and pro-Pakistan propaganda. Similarly, Bhat’s organization, Muslim League Jammu Kashmir, has also been banned by the Government for its involvement in anti-national and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir. The Home Ministry asserts that the outfit and its members are actively engaged in anti-national activities, supporting terrorism in the region.
