The Central government is currently not thinking about any ban on the two Hurriyat factions, said a government official on Monday.
Responding to reports in a section of the media that the Centre was considering a ban on the Hurriyat factions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) , the official said there was no such plan at this stage.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had banned the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) under the UAPA in March 2019, days after the Jamat-e-Islami (JeI-J&K) was proscribed under Section 3(1) of the Act.
The decision to ban the JKLF followed a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Action against separatists
The government decides to ban any organisation based on evidence warranting such a step. In the past, probe agencies like the National Investigation Agency and the Enforcement Directorate have taken legal action against several separatists in Jammu and Kashmir.
In July 2017, the NIA arrested seven persons, including Altaf Ahmed Shah who is the son-in-law of Syed Ali Shah Geelani. In a charge sheet filed in January 2018, it arraigned several separatist leaders for their alleged involvement in orchestrating violent protests in J&K.
The NIA also conducted searches in February 2019 at multiple locations, including the premises of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, JKLF chief Yasin Malik, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party president Shabir Shah, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Mohammad Ashraf Khan and All Party Hurriyat Conference general secretary Masarat Alam.
