SRINAGAR, MAR 23: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has questioned the Narendra Modi government’s move to ban separatist leader Yasin Malik’s outfit Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
Mehbooba Mufti asked what will this ban achieve. In a Twitter post Mehbooba Mufti said, “Yasin Malik renounced violence as a way of resolving J&K issue a long time ago.” She said Malik was treated as a stakeholder in the dialogue process initiated by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“What will a ban on his organisation achieve?” she asked.
Mehbooba Mufti also said that “steps like these [ban on JKLF] will only turn Kashmir into an open air prison”.
Yasin Malik’s organisation has been banned under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Yasin Malik has been a prominent separatist leader in Kashmir and has been regularly under house arrest for his activities in the Kashmir Valley.
This is the second organisation in Jammu and Kashmir which has been banned this month. Earlier, the Centre had banned the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir.
Banning the outfit under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after a high-level meeting on security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said the Centre is of the opinion that the JKLF is “in close touch with militant outfits” and is supporting extremism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere. (PTK)
