NEW DELHI :
IN A decisive step, the
Government on Sunday
declared pro-Pakistan separatist groupTehreek-e-Hurriyat
(TeH), founded by late hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah
Geelani, as a banned
organisation for the
next five years.
The action,
a n n o u n c e d
by Union
H o m e
M i n i s t e r
Amit Shah, is
a response to
the group’s
involvement in
fomenting terrorism and
spreading anti-India sentiment
within the Union territory of
Jammu and Kashmir.
Under Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s zero-tolerance policy against terrorism,
Shah emphasised that any individual or organisation found
engaged in anti-India activities would face strict measures.
“The Tehreek-e-Hurriyat,
J&K (TeH), has been declared
an ‘Unlawful Association’
under the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act. The outfit is
involved in forbidden activities to separate J&K from
India and establish
Islamic rule,”
Shah posted
on ‘X’.
The decision to ban
the TeH was
made under
the Unlawful
A c t i v i t i e s
(Prevention) Act, citing the group’s propagation of anti-India messaging
and its efforts to sustain terror
activities, ultimately aiming to
fuel secessionism in Jammu
and Kashmir.
The TeH, previously led by
the late Syed Ali Shah Geelani and succeeded by Masarat
Alam Bhat, has been known
for its anti-India and proPakistan stance. Bhat, currently incarcerated, also
headed the banned organisation, Muslim League of
Jammu and Kashmir, which
was declared unlawful earlier in December. The TeH was
formed by Geelani in 2004
after he stepped out of the
moderate Hurriyat faction
led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.
Geelani, against whom
several cases were registered,
resigned from the Jamaat-eIslami and formed this group,
which later became a constituent of another faction of
the Hurriyat, a separatist
amalgam, led by the hardline
separatist. Several of members of the hardline Hurriyat
have been charge-sheeted by
the National Investigation
Agency for raising funds to
support terror in Kashmir.
They include Farooq
Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate,
Altaf Ahmad Shah alias
Fantoosh, Geelani’s son-inlaw and public relations officer of the TeH as well as secretary and strategist in the
Hurriyat, Mohammad Akbar
Khanday, spokesman of the
Hurriyat and a fund-raiser
for it, Raja Mehrajuddin
Kalwal and Bashir Ahmad
Bhat alias Peer Saifullah, personal assistant of Geelani as
well as secretary of the TeH.
Geelani died in September
2021 while his son-in-law in
October 2022.