3 min readNew Delhi, SrinagarMar 12, 2025 02:00 AM IST
First published on: Mar 11, 2025 at 07:27 PM IST
The Centre has banned two Jammu and Kashmir groups – Awami Action Committee (AAC) headed by Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen (JKIM) led by Mohammad Abbas Ansari — for five years for for their alleged anti-national activities, “supporting terrorism and fuelling secessionist activities”.
Both the organisations are constituents of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference chaired by Farooq. In separate notifications, the MHA said the AAC and the JKIM are indulging in unlawful activities that are prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty and security of the country. JKIM members have remained involved in supporting terrorist activities and anti-India propaganda for fuelling secessionism in J&K, the MHA said.
Considering all the facts available, the MHA declared both groups outlawed for five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, according to the notifications.
Reacting to the ban, Mirwaiz Farooq said the move seems to be a part of the continuation of the policy of “intimidation and disempowerment” that has been followed in J&K since August 2019 (when the Centre abrogated Article 370).
Farooq said that the AAC, founded by his father, Mirwaiz Molvi Farooq, at the peak of holy relic (moi muqadas) agitation in 1964, “has unwaveringly stood by the people of J&K advocating for their aspirations and rights through completely non-violent and democratic methods and calling for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conflict through dialogue and deliberation, for which it’s members suffered jails and incarceration and even martyrdom.” “The voice of truth may be suppressed through force but will not be silenced,” Mirwaiz said.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said that banning the two organisations “is another blow to Kashmir’s social and political landscape.”
“Suppressing dissent will only deepen tensions rather than resolve them,” the former J&K Chief Minister said and urged the Omar Abdullah led J&K government to intervene and stop such actions of the Centre.
“While silencing Kashmir’s voices may serve BJP’s political agenda, it undermines the very Constitution that safeguards these rights. The central government must reassess its approach and move away from heavy-handed tactics,” Mufti said.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, also a part of the APHC, was banned in 2019 and the ban was extended in 2024. In 2023, the Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam) was banned by the Centre under the UAPA for its alleged involvement in anti-national and secessionist activities in J&K. The Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH), founded by the late Syed Ali Shah Geelani, was also banned in December 2023.
In February last year, the MHA banned both factions of the Muslim Conference J&K, also part of the APHC, for “engaging in activities against the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.”
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is the chairman of the separatist amalgam All Parties Hurriyat Conference and head cleric of Srinagar's Jamia Masjid, Kashmir's grandest and most influential mosque, where he delivers sermons. (Express file photo by Shuaib Masoodi) 
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