The recently-amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act allows the government to designate individuals as terrorists.
Caravan News
NEW DELHI — Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, LeT’s supreme commander of operations in Kashmir Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, are declared on Wednesday as terrorists by the Ministry of Home, under the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The UAPA Bill seeks to empower the Central government to designate an individual a “terrorist” if they are found committing, preparing for, promoting, or involved in an act of terror. A similar provision already exists in Part 4 and 6 of the legislation for organisations that can be designated as a “terrorist organisation”.
The Home Ministry in a notification announced that Dawood Ibrahim, Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed have been designated as terrorists.
The notification was issued based on clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act which empowers the Central Government to notify the name of an individual in the fourth schedule to the Act if it believes that he is involved in terrorism, reports IANS.
“The Central government believes that Azhar is involved in terrorism and is to be notified as a terrorist under the UAPA…,” said the notification.
“Maulana Masood Azhar alias Maulana Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi alias Vali Adam Issa, having date of birth on July 10 July, 1968, son of Allah Baksh Sabir is founder, chief and key leader of proscribed terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is listed as a terrorist organisation under the First Schedule to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
“Azhar has been designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267 on May 1 this year and was declared as a proclaimed offender by the Special Judge (POTA), New Delhi, the notification said.
Azhar has been charged of his involvement in various terrorist attacks in India, which include terror attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly complex in Srinagar on October 1, 2001 wherein 38 people were killed, the terror attack on the Parliament of India on December 13, 2001 wherein six security force personnel, two parliament security service personnel and a civilian were killed, the terror attack on January 2, 2016, at Pathankot airbase in Punjab by militants coming from Pakistan, belonging to JeM, wherein seven security forces personnel were killed and 37 were injured.
On Hafiz Saeed, the Home Ministry said he was involved in various attacks, including Red Fort in 2000, a CRPF camp in Rampur (Uttar Pradesh), in Mumbai in 2008 in which 166 people were killed and the attack on a BSF convoy at Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015.
On LeT commander Lakhvi, the Ministry said he was involved in Red Fort attack in 2000, Rampur CRPF camp in 2008, Mumbai in 2008 and on a BSF convoy at Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir.
The ministry said Dawood ran an international underworld crime syndicate and was involved in perpetrating acts of terror, promoting religious fundamentalism, terror financing, arms smuggling, circulation of counterfeit currency, money laundering, narcotics, extortion, and benami real estate business in India and abroad.
