Hurriyat Conference to be banned? Government mulls over decision.

Government is mulling strongly the possibility of banning both factions of Hurriyat under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The ban will mean security agencies will be able to arrest any office bearer associated with Hurriyat and block funds.

According to sources in the Union Home Ministry, while discussions to declare both the hardline and moderate factions of the Hurriyat as “unlawful association” have started, file movement in this regard is yet to begin.

They said a recent probe into the granting of MBBS seats to Kashmiri students by institutions in Pakistan indicates that the money collected from aspirants by some organisations, which were part of the Hurriyat Conference conglomerate, was being used for funding terror organisations in the Union Territory.

A decision to ban an organisation is signed by the Union Home Secretary based on a comprehensive report that spells out the need for taking such action. It is later notified in the official gazette.

Certain quarters in the security establishment, however, termed the impending move as akin to “flogging a dead horse”. “Ever since its leaders have been jailed in Delhi, Hurriyat has been practically non-functional. Even their press releases are issued from Pakistan,” an officer in a security agency, who did not wish to be identified, said.

The Hurriyat Conference came into existence in 1993 with 26 groups. However, the conglomerate broke into two factions in 2005, with the moderate group being led by the Mirwaiz and the hard-line headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani