The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has declared the People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), a proxy outfit of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, a “terrorist organisation”.
The Ministry also designated Arbaz Ahmad Mir, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) member, as an individual terrorist under the stringent anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 or UAPA.
In a notification, the MHA said PAFF has been regularly issuing threats to security forces, political leaders and civilians working in Jammu & Kashmir from other States. The PAFF, along with other organisations, is involved in proactively conspiring both physically and in social media to undertake violent terrorist acts in J&K and major cities in India, it said. Along with other organisations, the PAFF is indulging in the radicalisation of impressionable youth for recruitment and training in handling guns, ammunition and explosives. The group has also been involved in terrorism. It has committed and participated in various acts of terrorism in India, MHA said.
PAFF had released a video in October 2021 after the killing of nine soldiers in the Poonch-Rajouri belt of J&K. The video claimed that two unidentified terrorists watched over an Indian Army patrol party for around 10 hours before ambushing their tent around dawn the following day (October 11). The Army had launched a massive search operation in the forest areas of Poonch and Rajouri to track down the terrorists involved in the killing of nine soldiers.
In a separate notification, the MHA designated Arbaz Ahmad Mir, who hails from J&K but is presently based in Pakistan and working for the banned terror group, the LeT, as an individual terrorist.
It said Mir has been involved in target killings and has emerged as the main conspirator in the killing of a woman teacher, Rajni Bala, in Kulgam of J&K a few months ago. Mir has been involved in coordinating terrorism in the Kashmir Valley and supporting terrorists by transporting illegal arms or ammunition or explosives from across the border, the Ministry said.
The Central government believes that Mir has been involved in terrorism and therefore, exercising the powers conferred by Clause (a) of Sub-section (1) of Section 35 of the UAPA, designated him as an individual terrorist, the notification said.
Asif Maqbool Dar, a Kashmiri doctor based in Saudi Arabia was declared an individual terrorist through another notification on January 7.
MHA said Dar is associated with banned terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen andis one of the leading radical voices on social media and involved in nefariously influencing Kashmiri youth to take up arms against Indian Government and Security Forces. The notification said Dar is wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a terrorist conspiracy to undertake violent terrorist act in Jammu and Kashmir and major cities in India including New Delhi on the direction of handlers based across the border.
