18-Jan-2023: Houthi rebels revive back-channel talks

Yemen's longest ever pause in fighting. Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi rebels revive back-channel talks.

Roots of the Houthi Movement

• "Believing Youth", a Zaydi revivalist group founded by Hussein al-Houthi and his father, Badr al-Din al-Houthi
• Movement turned political and started attacking the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh
• Saleh's support for the US’ war on terror

Rapid rise of the Houthis in Yemen

• Alarm bells in Saudi Arabia
• Houthis seen as Iranian proxies

Saudi Military Campaign in Yemen started in March 2015. The ongoing conflict in Yemen continues to be a source of tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

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19-Dec-2022: An era of peace in North East since 2014, 80% decline in civilian deaths, 6000 militants surrendered

The policy focus of Government of India is ‘Zero Tolerance Against Terrorism’, Union Minister Shri Anurag Thakur said today. In a detailed statement to the media at his residence, on the efforts of the Government to counter terrorism, Shri Thakur said that while Government has worked on the legal front by strengthening UAPA, at the same time it has also taken steps at the enforcement level by giving National Investigation Agency a truly federal structure by introducing National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Act and the collective effect of these measures has been a weakening of the ecosystem of terrorism.

Highlighting that India has raised its concerns at the highest global levels, he said that in international conferences and meetings, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has always pressed the world to unite against terror. The 90th Interpol General Assembly witnessed a participation of over 2000 foreign delegates and culminated in the announcement of ‘Global Action Against Act of Terrorism’, he added.

“The Governments resolve against terror has been displayed time and again from Surgical Strike to Balakot Strike. The action by our armed forces has caused a significant  drop in terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly, we have achieved a 94% conviction rate in terror financing cases” Shri Thakur said.

The Minister spoke at length about the efforts of the Government towards creating an atmosphere of peace in North East and said that an era of peace has dawned in North Eastern region of India since 2014 when insurgency violence has seen a sharp decline of 80 percent and civilian deaths have seen an 89 percent drop. Added to this is the achievement of surrender by six thousand militants since 2014, he underlined.

The Government is committed to go beyond armed action to counter terrorism and has worked to create an atmosphere of lasting peace across the region. These peace treatises are a legacy of the achievements of the Government. Underlining this aspect, Shri Thakur listed the peace agreements signed by the Government

1. Bodo Accord in January 2020,
2. Bru-Reang Agreement in January 2020,
3. NLFT-Tripura Agreement in August 2019,
4. Karbi Anglong Agreement Sept 2021,
5. Assam-Meghalaya Inter State Boundary Agreement in March 2022.

Speaking on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the Minister said that AFSPA roll back has been only a matter of discussion all this while but the Government rolled it back from a large part of North East including the whole of Tripura and Meghalaya. It remains in force in only 3 districts of Arunachal Pradesh, 60 percent of Assam is free of AFSPA, 15 police stations under 6 districts have been taken out of the category of Disturbed Area, Disturbed Area notification has been removed from 15 police stations in 7 districts, the Minister informed the media.

The Minister also delved into the rescue operations run by the Government over the years. Highlighting that rescuing Indian lives in distress are of a paramount concern for the Government and the country has been on the fore front of running rescue operations across the world, Shri Thakur listed the achievements.

1. 22,500 citizens were rescued under Operation Ganga in February-March 2022,
2. 670 Indian citizens were rescued from Afghanistan in Operation Devi Shakti.
3. In one of the biggest successes of rescue operations, 1.83 crore citizens were brought back home during COVID19 crisis, under Vande Bharat Mission in the year 2021-22.
4. India rescued 654 people from Wuhan in China.

Not just Indians, India has also offered a helping hand to foreign citizens under distress. In 2016, under Operation Sankat Mochan, 155 people including 2 Nepalese citizens were brought back from South Sudan. 5000 Indians were rescued from Nepal during Operation Maitree while 170 foreign nationals were also rescued from Nepal. Operation Rahat 6,710 people were rescued from Yemen including 1,962 foreigners.

Speaking on the status these efforts have created for India in the world, he said that India is increasingly being seen as a country that readily offers all assistance to other countries in their times of crisis and also as one that acts strongly against terrorism, while a neighboring country is only seen as one sheltering terrorism and propounding values of violence.

27-Oct-2020: Eighteen more individuals declared as terrorists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967

Under the strong and iron-willed leadership of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the Central Government had amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in August 2019, to include the provision of designating an individual as a terrorist. Prior to this amendment, only organizations could be designated as terrorist organizations.

The Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah has unequivocally reaffirmed the nation’s resolve to fight terrorism. By invoking the said amended provision, the Central Government designated four individuals in September, 2019 and nine individuals in July, 2020 as terrorists.

Reinforcing the commitment of strengthening national security and its policy of zero tolerance to terrorism, the Modi Government today has declared the following eighteen more individuals as designated terrorists, under the provisions of the UAPA Act 1967 (as amended in 2019) and included their names in the Fourth Schedule of the said Act.

These individuals are involved in various acts of terrorism from across the border and have been relentless in their nefarious efforts of destabilizing the country.

1-Jul-2020: Union Home Ministry declared nine individuals as designated terrorists under provisions of UAPA Act

Under the strong and iron-willed leadership of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the Central Government had amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in August 2019, to include the provision of designating an individual as a terrorist. Prior to this amendment, only organizations could be designated as terrorist organizations.

The Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah during the debate in Parliament last year on the amendment to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, had strongly expressed the Modi Government’s commitment to firmly fight the menace of terrorism and had unequivocally reaffirmed the nation’s resolve on this matter. By invoking the said amended provision, in September 2019, the Central Government designated four individuals as terrorists, viz. Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafeez Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim.

Reinforcing the commitment to strengthening national security and its policy of zero tolerance to terrorism, the Union Home Ministry under the leadership of the Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, today declared the following nine individuals as designated terrorists under the provisions of the UAPA Act 1967 (as amended in 2019) and included their names in the Fourth Schedule of the said Act. Their details are as under:-

1. Wadhawa Singh Babbar: Pakistan based Chief of terrorist organization, “Babbar Khalsa International”.
2. Lakhbir Singh: Pakistan based Chief of terrorist organization, “International Sikh Youth Federation”.
3. Ranjeet Singh: Pakistan based Chief of terrorist organization, “Khalistan Zindabad Force”.
4. Paramjit Singh: Pakistan based Chief of terrorist organization “Khalistan Commando Force”.
5. Bhupinder Singh Bhinda: Germany based key member of terrorist organization, “Khalistan Zindabad Force”.
6. Gurmeet Singh Bagga: Germany based key member of terrorist organisation, “Khalistan Zindabad Force”.
7. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun: USA based key member of Unlawful Association, “Sikh for Justice”.
8. Hardeep Singh Nijjar: Canada based Chief of “Khalistan Tiger Force”.
9. Paramjit Singh: United Kingdom based Chief of terrorist organization,“Babbar Khalsa International”.

These individuals are involved in various acts of terrorism from across the border and from foreign soil. They have been relentless in their nefarious efforts of destabilizing the country, by trying to revive militancy in Punjab through their anti-national activities and through their support to and involvement in the Khalistan Movement.

6-Sep-2019: UAPA amendment

The Supreme Court asked the Union government to respond to petitions challenging its decision to amend the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act giving it powers to categorise anyone as a terrorist.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi issued notice to the Centre on petitions filed by Sajal Awasthi and NGO Association for Protection of Civil Rights, which said the amended law allowed the government to freely encroach upon the fundamental rights of dignity, free speech, dissent and reputation.

The petitions said the UAPA Amendment Act of 2019, passed by Parliament, conferred the Centre with “discretionary, unfettered and unbound powers” to categorise a person as a terrorist. The law could now be used by the government to bring a person into disrepute, and even worse, rob him or her liberty. The heavy burden to prove the entire government machinery wrong would lie on the person.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019 seeks to substantially modify Chapter VI of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and Section 35 and 36 therein. The new Section 35 of the UAPA Act, 1967 empowers the Central government to categorise any individual as ‘terrorist’ and add name of such a person in Schedule 4 of the Act.

The petition said the right to reputation was an intrinsic part of fundamental right to life with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution and tagging an individual as “terrorist” even before the commencement of trial or any application of judicial mind over it, did not amount to following the ‘procedure established by law’.

The right of dissent is a part and parcel of fundamental right to free speech and expression and therefore, cannot be abridged in any circumstances except for mentioned in Article 19 (2). The UAPA, 2019 empowers the ruling government, under the garb of curbing terrorism, to impose indirect restriction on right of dissent which is detrimental for our developing democratic society.

24-May-2019: Govt bans Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh

Two months after Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Jammu and Kashmir was banned, the Home Ministry declared Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh an “unlawful organisation”.

In the 1st Schedule to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the following entries shall be inserted, namely- Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen India or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Hindustan and all its manifestations. The listing under the First Schedule of the UAPA means the outfit is now a banned organisation in India.

The Home Ministry said the outfit had committed acts of terrorism, promoted acts of terrorism and was engaged in radicalisation and recruitment of youths for terrorist activities in India.

Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh was engaged in recruitment and raising funds for terrorist activities, procurement of explosives/chemicals and assembling of IEDs. Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh came into existence in the year 1998 with the objective of establishing a Caliphate through Jihad.

Involvement of JMB cadres has been established in Burdwan bomb blast and Bodh Gaya blast. Assam Police has found involvement of JMB in five cases registered by them and a total of 56 accused belonging to JMB have been arrested.

The Home Ministry further said the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh planned to set up permanent bases within 10 km along the Indo-Bangladesh border near West Bengal, Assam and Tripura and spread its network in south India.

2-Jan-2019: Organisations Banned Under UAPA

In exercise of the powers vested in the Central Government under Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA), the Government, on being satisfied that the organizations have become Unlawful, has declared the following Organizations as Unlawful Associations during the last three years:

1. Islamic Research Foundation (IRF)
2. National Liberation Front in Tripura (NLFT)
3. All Tripura Tiger Forum (ATTF)

In exercise of powers vested in the Central Government under Section 35 of UAPA, the Government on being satisfied that the organization is involved in terrorism, has added the following organizations to the First Schedule of UAPA during the last three years:

1. Al-Qaida in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS) and all its manifestations
2. Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP)/ ISIS Wilayat Khorasan/ Islamic State of   Iraq and the Sham-Khorasan (ISIS-K) and all its manifestations
3. Khalistan Liberation Force and all its manifestations

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested 418 accused persons under UAPA during the last three years. However, the States Police also detain accused persons under UAPA, the details of which are not maintained by the Central Government. 

The Government has not removed any organisation from the list of banned organisations under the UAPA during the last three years.

The Government has not released any person detained under UAPA.  However, the data of persons detained under UAPA and released on the order of the competent courts is not maintained by the Government.