New Delhi (TIP)- After designating relatives of Lashkar-i-Toiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as terrorists under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Centre has now designated Kashmir resident Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar as a terrorist under the act. Hailing from Srinagar, Zargar, 52, was among the three terrorists released by India in exchange for the hostages in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight 814 in 1999. “Zargar is a threat to peace, not only to India, but across the world, with his contacts and proximity to radical terrorist groups like the Al-Qaeda and Jaish-e-Mohammed… The Central Government believes that Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar alias Latram is involved in terrorism and the said Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar is to be notified as a terrorist under the said Act,” said a gazette notification issued Wednesday by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

According to the notification, Zargar is the founder and chief commander of Al-Umar-Mujahideen, a proscribed organisation under the UAPA, and was affiliated with the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front earlier. He had gone to Pakistan for obtaining illegal arms and ammunition training. “Zargar has been running an incessant campaign from Pakistan to fuel terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir,” the notification has said.

The notification also said Zargar has been involved in various terror crimes including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, planning and execution of terrorist attacks, and terror funding.

In the past week, MHA has designated three top terror operatives as terrorists under UAPA. These include Hafiz Saeed’s son Talha, Masood Azhar’s brother and 2019 Pulwama attack planner Ammar Alvi, and Pathankot attack handler Ali Lashif Jan. The Centre had amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, in August 2019, to include the provision of designating an individual as a terrorist. Prior to this amendment, only organizations could be designated as terrorist organisations.

In the first orders under the new Act, in September 2019, the government had declared LeT’s Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, JeM’s Masood Azhar, and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim as terrorists.

Designation as a terrorist helps the government freeze finances and crack down on networks created by the individual terrorist. Clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 35 of the UAPA empowers the Centre to notify the name of an individual in the Fourth Schedule to the said Act, if it believes that he is involved in terrorism.

Who is Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar?

Born in Nowhatta area of Srinagar in the Kashmir Valley, Zargar was among the first batch of young Kashmiris who crossed over to Pakistan for terrorist training, and came back to wage war against the Indian state. In 1988, Zargar joined the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), and was considered to be close to its then chief Ashfaq Majeed Wani. In August that year, he crossed over to Pakistan through Trehgam with the help of Zahoor Sheikh, an Anantnag-based activist of the secessionist People’s League, and received training at a camp organised by the JKLF. He went back to Pakistan for a second round of training during May 1989, and returned through Uri. After Wani’s death, Zargar fell out with JKLF’s new chief Yasin Malik, and floated his own outfit, the Al Umar Mujahideen (AuM).

          Source: The Indian Express