New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday declared ‘Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction) -MLJK-MA- as an Unlawful Association under the UAPA. Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction) and its members involved in anti-national activities in J-K, said Amit Shah.
Announcing the ban on the MLJK-MA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's message is loud and clear that anyone acting against the unity, sovereignty, and integrity of the nation will not be spared and face the full wrath of the law.
"The Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction) is declared as an 'Unlawful Association' under UAPA. This organisation and its members are involved in anti-national and secessionist activities in J&K, supporting terrorist activities and inciting people to establish Islamic rule in J&K," he wrote on 'X'.
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The ‘Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction)’/MLJK-MA is declared as an 'Unlawful Association' under UAPA.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 27, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
This organization and its members are involved in anti-national and secessionist activities in J&K supporting terrorist activities and inciting people to…
">The ‘Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction)’/MLJK-MA is declared as an 'Unlawful Association' under UAPA.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 27, 2023
This organization and its members are involved in anti-national and secessionist activities in J&K supporting terrorist activities and inciting people to…The ‘Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction)’/MLJK-MA is declared as an 'Unlawful Association' under UAPA.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 27, 2023
This organization and its members are involved in anti-national and secessionist activities in J&K supporting terrorist activities and inciting people to…
This comes after the imprisoned separatist Shabir Ahmad Shah's Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) was banned for five years for its 'anti-India' and 'pro-Pakistan' activities in October, this year.
JKDFP founded in 1998 by Shabir Ahmad Shah, a constituent of the separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference, was banned on October 5, 2023. After the division of the Hurriyat Conference in 2003, the JKDFP became a part of the hardline faction headed by Syed Ali Geelani. Ahmad is currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 25, 2017, in a 2005 money laundering case.
Who is Masarat Alam Bhat?
Following Syed Ali Geelani's death in 2021, separatist Masarat Alam Bhat reportedly received a nomination for Hurriyat Conference chairman. He was detained under the controversial Public safety Act and was in March 2015 released which caused a major political controversy and dominated Indian Parliament Proceedings.
Masarat Alam, 52, first joined militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in the early 1990s, but he later turned to separatist and allied himself with Geelani. He served as the local commander of Hizbullah, a militant group supported by Pakistan that was established by Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat, who had previously established the Muslim League, a separatist organisation, in 1988.
Prior to choosing to join in the Hurriyat Conference in the late 1990s, Masarat Alam had also joined Mushtaq in the Muslim League. Masarat Alam joined Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and sided with Geelani during the Hurriyat Conference's 2003 split. He became Geelani's confidant and quickly progressed through the Hurriyat ranks.
As an umbrella body for separatist factions, including Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), and Dukhtaran-e-Millat, the Hurriyat Conference was founded in 1993. Around 2008–2010, Masarat Alam, who kept developing within the Hurriyat organisation, started to make his own decisions and diverged from Geelani's position. Geelani's desire to call off the strike is claimed to have been undermined by Masarat, who incited stone-pelting demonstrations in the Kashmir Valley.
