Wednesday 4 September 2019

Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim declared individual terrorists

Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim declared individual terrorists under new anti-terror law

The government's decision comes a month after an amendment to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Amendment (UAPA) Bill, 1967, which sought to designate an individual as a "terrorist", was passed by the Parliament.
By Express Web Desk |
New Delhi |
Updated: September 4, 2019 4:03:19 pm


Masood Azhar, Dawood Ibrahim and Hafiz Saeed declared individual terrorists under new anti-terror law
Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim, Masood Azhar have been designated as terrorists by the Indian government. (File)

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder (LeT) Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, 1993 Mumbai blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim and 26/11 terror attack accused Zaki-ur-Rehman-Lakhvi were declared individual terrorists by the Home Ministry under the new anti-terror law.

The government’s decision comes a month after an amendment to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Amendment (UAPA) Bill, 1967, which sought to designate an individual as a “terrorist”, was passed by the Parliament. On August 2, the Rajya Sabha had passed the bill, paving the way for it to become law.

“And whereas, the Central government believes that Maulana Masood Azhar is involved in terrorism and Maulana Masood Azhar is to be notified as a terrorist under the said Act…And whereas, the Central government believes that Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is involved in terrorism and Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is to be notified as a terrorist under the said Act,” a Home Ministry notification said.

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”.

Home Minister Amit Shah, during a debate on the Bill in Lok Sabha, stressed on the need to designate individuals as terrorists to root out terrorism.

The designation of an individual as a global terrorist by the United Nations is associated with sanctions, including travel bans, freezing of assets and an embargo against procuring arms. The UAPA Bill, however, does not provide any such detail.

(with PTI inputs)

No comments:

Post a Comment