Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, released during hijacking of IC-814 in 1999 declared as terrorist

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• Apr 17, 2022 | Dhupali Das

Zargar, a 52-year-old Srinagar native, was one of three terrorists released by India in return for the captives of Indian Airlines flight 814 in 1999.

Digital Desk: The Centre has declared Kashmir resident Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), following the declaration of relatives of Lashkar-i-Toiba (LeT) head Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as terrorists under the act.

Zargar, a 52-year-old Srinagar native, was one of three terrorists released by India in return for the captives of Indian Airlines flight 814 in 1999.

"With his links and proximity to radical terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and Jaish-e-Mohammed, Zargar is a menace to peace not only in India but around the world... the Central Government thinks that Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar alias Latram is involved in terrorism, and the said Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar is to be notified as a terrorist under the said Act," said a gazette notification issued Wednesday by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

"Zargar is the founder and top commander of Al-Umar-Mujahideen, a proscribed organisation under the UAPA, and was previously linked with the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front. He had gone to Pakistan to receive illicit weapons and ammunition training," as per the notification.

"Zargar has been running an ongoing campaign from Pakistan to fund terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir," the notification added. 

Zargar was also charged with murder, kidnapping, planning and execution of terrorist attacks, and terror funding, according to the announcement.

MHA identified three top terror operators as terrorists under UAPA last week. Hafiz Saeed's son Talha, Masood Azhar's brother Ammar Alvi, the 2019 Pulwama attack coordinator, and Pathankot attack manager Ali Lashif Jan is among them.

In August 2019, the Centre revised the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, to incorporate a provision for identifying a person as a terrorist. Only organisations could be labelled as terrorist groups before this change.

In September 2019, the government issued the first directives under the new Act, declaring terrorists Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi of the LeT, Masood Azhar of the JeM, and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Notably, the designation as a terrorist aids the government in freezing assets and disrupting networks set up by the particular terrorist. The Centre has the authority under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 35 of the UAPA to notify the name of an individual listed in the Fourth Schedule to the said Act if it believes he is involved in terrorism.