A tribunal has upheld the Union government’s decision to declare the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP), founded by separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, an ‘unlawful association’ under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The ban is effective for five years.
The UAPA tribunal’s order quoted a chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019 which stated that, in 2016, the “Pakistan Government” had sent ₹1.1 crore to Shah to be distributed among the people who attacked security forces with stones after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter. Over 70 civilians were killed during the protests that followed Wani’s killing.
The NIA said that the money sent from Pakistan clearly showed that Shah, along with others, “is at the centre of the conspiracy to promote lawlessness and violence in Jammu and Kashmir orchestrated with an intention to secure secession of J&K from the Union of India.”
40 cases
Shah has been in jail since July 2017 when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case which the agency had registered in 2007.
The tribunal order mentions 40 cases registered against Shah. While 37 cases were registered by the J&K Police, a case each is being investigated by the NIA, the ED, and the Delhi Police.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a background note, said that “to subvert democracy in J&K during 2002-2004, JKDFP, on the instructions of the cross border agency, persuaded the people to boycott the elections in Kashmir.”
‘Mouthpiece of Pakistan’
“In the month of May 2006, Shabir Ahmad Shah continued to be an obedient mouthpiece of Pakistan establishment, urging India to resume dialogue with Pakistan, while advocating for involvement of militant leadership in the dialogue process. In June 2015, he also welcomed the statement of the then-Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif that Kashmir was an unfinished agenda of the partition of 1947, and added that General Sharif issued ‘exactly the right statement vis-à-vis Kashmir issue’. He also termed Pakistan’s role with regard to the Kashmir dispute as crucial,” the note said.
It added that, in April 2016, in a statement issued to the press, Shah appealed to people to strengthen the Hurriyat Conference, saying that only a strong platform could take the freedom movement to its logical end.
The MHA note said that JKDFP was formed in the year 1998, with Shah, a separatist leader, as its chairman. “The association is known for its anti-India and pro-Pakistan propaganda, referring to Kashmir as a ‘dispute’, and ruling out any settlement within the framework of the Constitution of India,” it added.
In September 2020, JKDFP had 11 Executive Committee members. Two of them — Mehmood Ahmad Sagar, the outfit’s acting chairman; and Bashir Ahmad Shah alias Meeras, the JKDFP’s spokesperson in Pakistan — are now settled in Pakistan. “It is stated that with Shabir Shah in jail, many of the functionaries of JKDFP are lying low,” the MHA said.
The MHA had banned the outfit on September 5, 2023.
‘Openly propagates secessionism’
On April 3, the UAPA tribunal headed by Justice Sachin Datta concluded: “...from the elaborate material/evidence placed on record in these proceedings, this Tribunal finds that there is ample justification to declare JKDFP as an unlawful association under the UAPA... [The] activities of the concerned association have had a deleterious effect on maintenance of law and order in the region of Jammu and Kashmir over the last several decades. The modicum of stability that has come about after 2019 (as is evident from the reduced number of unconducive incidents) could not have been allowed to be jeopardized on account of continuing activities of the concerned association.”
It added: “In the framework of the Indian Constitution and the UAPA, there is no space for an association like the JKDFP which openly propagates secessionism, avowedly expresses dis-allegiance to the Constitution of India, and undermines the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.”
As many as 23 police officials, MHA officials and ED officials deposed as witnesses against the outfit.
The order said that, despite opportunities afforded, no reply has been filed on behalf of the outfit and the “Tribunal has also not received any intimation from any interested party seeking to depose before this Tribunal.”
