Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim designated as terrorists under UAPA

India has joined the league of countries like the United States, Pakistan, Israel and China that designate individuals as terrorists, by coming out with its first list of ''individuals'' who have been declared terrorists under the domestic anti-terror law.  

Jaish-e-Mohammad chief and Pulwama terror attack mastermind Maulana Masood Azhar, Jamaat ud Dawa chief and Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, LeT's chief operational commander and 26/11 attack key accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and UN designate global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim have been proscribed as “individual terrorists” under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). 

A gazette notification issued by the government said that the proscribed terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad under the patronage of Azhar “has extensively been undertaking recruitment drives for terrorist activities and his preaching wings regularly organise events in order to urge people to promote terrorism and support their actions against India”.

Under Azhar's patronage, the JeM carried out at least a dozen terrorist attacks in India, which included the terror attack on Jammu and Kashmir State Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar on October 1, 2001, in which 38 people were killed. The other major attacks linked to Azhar included the terror attack on the Parliament on December 13, 2001 in which six security force personnel, two Parliament security service personnel and a civilian were killed; the deadly attack on January 2, 2016 at Pathankot in Punjab by militants from Pakistan, where seven security personnel were killed and 37 others injured; terror attacks on the BSF camp at Humhama in Srinagar in October, 2017; the attack on a CRPF camp at Lethpora, Pulwama in December, 2017; the attack on an Army camp at Sunjwan in Jammu in February, 2018 and the deadly Pulwama terror attack on February 14 this year where forty security force personnel were killed. 

Azhar is an accused in various cases being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). A chargesheet has already been filed against him in the Pathankot air base attack case. An Interpol Red Corner Notice is also pending in his name.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed alias Hafiz Mohammad Saab has already been designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations. His involvement in various terrorist attacks in India included the Red Fort attack (December 22, 2000) where three persons including 2 Army jawans were killed; Rampur attack (January 1, 2008) in which seven CRPF personnel and one civilian were killed, and the 26/11 Mumbai attack in which 166 people including 25 foreigners were killed. The attack on a BSF Convoy at Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir (August 5, 2015) is also attributed to him. Saeed is accused by the NIA in various cases where chargesheet has been filed. An RCN is also pending against him. 

Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a founding member of the LeT, was designated as a global terrorist in December 2008, after the Mumbai attacks. Rehman was also the mastermind of Red Fort, Rampur and the Udhampur BSF convoy attacks. An RCN is pending against him. 

Meanwhile, dreaded gangster and the most wanted global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar alias Dawood Hasan Shiekh Kaskar has been designated as a terrorist by the government for ''running an international underworld crime syndicate'' and being ''involved in perpetrating acts of terror, promoting religious fundamentalism, terror financing, arms smuggling, circulation of counterfeit currency, money laundering, narcotics, extortion and benami real estate business in India and abroad''. Dawood is also accused of being involved in assassination attempts on prominent personalities to create social disharmony and terrorise common man.

The government said in its notification that the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant and Al-Qaeda Sanction Committee of United Nations Security Council had listed Dawood for lending support to Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

The involvement of Dawood in a series of bomb blasts in 1993 which killed 257 persons and injured over 1000 apart from destruction of properties on a massive scale prompted the government to declare him a terrorist. An RCN has been issued against him.

The NIA has got a shot in the arm with the government proscribing these individuals as terrorists. The agency, which was set up after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, had proposed to the government to bring “individual terrorist” in the ambit of the UAPA. The proposal had hanging fire till the BJP government successfully passed the amendment this year to bring individual activities of a  terrorist under the domain of the Act. With the new provision, the NIA will be able to seize properties of an individual terrorist under the UAPA which will also  put restrictions on their travel and other attempts to circumvent the law to keep up their terrorist activities.