On Thursday, the United States said that it stands with India for using new anti-terror law to declare Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, and two others as terrorists on Wednesday.
US Lauds India for Naming Hafiz Saeed
US government’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs tweeted, “We stand w/ #India & commend it for utilizing new legal authorities to designate 4 notorious terrorists: Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi & Dawood Ibrahim. This new law expands possibilities for joint #USIndia efforts to combat the scourge of terrorism.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Masood Azhar, Muhammad Saeed, Mumbai terror attack accused Zaki-ur-Rehman-Lakhvi and fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim were declared individual terrorists by the government under the anti-terror law. The decisions came into existence nearly a month after Parliament approved a crucial amendment to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 1967.
According to the amendments in the UAPA Act, individuals can be declared as terrorists while earlier, only groups or organisations could be declared as terrorists. A home ministry notification said, “And whereas, the central government believes that Maulana Masood Azhar is involved in terrorism and Maulana Masood Azhar is to be notified as a terrorist under the said Act. And whereas, the central government believes that Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is involved in terrorism and Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is to be notified as a terrorist under the said Act.”
Meanwhile, the government has issued red corner notices against all four terrorists. The home ministry official said that they are the first to be declared terrorists under the new anti-law and further added that more such names will be included in the list in the coming days.
According to an official statement, “These four are involved in terrorist attacks in India and have been designated as global terrorists under United Nations. Earlier when terrorist organisations were banned, the individuals associated with them simply changed names and continued to carry out terrorist activities, which won’t be possible with the amendment in the UAPA law.”
