Govt bans jailed separatist Shabir Shah’s party for 5 yrs

New Delhi, October 5

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The Centre on Thursday banned jailed separatist Shabir Ahmad Shah’s Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) for five years for its “anti-India” and “pro-Pakistan” activities, according to an official notification.

The ban was ordered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Founded in 1998 by Shah, a prominent separatist leader in Jammu and Kashmir, the JKDFP was a constituent of the separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference. After the division of the Hurriyat Conference in 2003, the JKDFP became a part of the hardline faction headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani then.

Shah is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 25, 2017, in a 2005 money laundering case. He has also been chargesheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a terror-funding case.

In November last year, the ED had attached his Srinagar house in connection with its money laundering probe linked to a case of fuelling terror activities in the Union territory. In 2019, the Centre had banned two Hurriyat constituents — Jamaat-e-Islami and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) — for five years for promoting secession of the militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India.

In the notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday evening, Additional Secretary Praveen Vashista said the JKDFP was formed by Shah for “anti-India” and “pro-Pakistan” propaganda.

“The central government is of firm opinion that it is necessary to declare the JKDFP as an unlawful association with immediate effect,” Vashista said.