India declares Yasin Malik-led JKLF as 'unlawful association' for another five years
File photo of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday (Mar 16) that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has declared the 'Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (Mohd. Yasin Malik faction)' as an 'Unlawful Association' for a further period of five years.
In a post on X, Home Minister Shah said, "The banned outfit continues to engage in activities that foment terror and secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir. Anyone found challenging the security, sovereignty and integrity of the nation will face harsh legal consequences."
Four factions of JKPL also named unlawful associations
In a subsequent post, Shah said, "Pursuing PM Narendra Modi Ji's policy of zero-tolerance towards terrorism, the MHA has 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 Jammu and Kashmir."
The two announcements came just hours before the dates of the Lok Sabha elections were set to be announced.
In a notification, the home ministry said that members of the four factions of the JKPLremain to beinvolved in supporting terrorist activities and anti-India propaganda for fuelling secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir.
"The leaders and members of the abovesaid factions of JKPL have been involved in mobilising violent protests in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir for perpetrating unlawful activities, including sustained stone-pelting on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir," the notification said.
These factions of JKPL "have constantly asked the people of Jammu and Kashmir to refrain from taking part in elections and thereby targeted and hampered the very basic constitutionally recognised fundamentals of Indian democracy," it added.
Who is Yasin Malik?
Yasin Malik is a Kashmiri separatist leader and the chief of the JKLF. Malik was awarded life imprisonment by a trial court in May 2022. He was guilty of various offences under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Malik had pleaded guilty to the charges, including those underUAPA.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought death penalty for Malik in a terror funding case.
The agency emphasised that it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that Malik spearheaded terrorist activities in the Valley and, with the help of dreaded foreign terrorist organisations, had been masterminding, planning, engineering and executing armed rebellion in Jammu and Kashmir in an attempt to usurp the sovereignty and integrity of a part of India.