NEW DELHI, Oct 5: The Centre on Thursday banned jailed separatist Shabir Ahmad Shah’s Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) for five years for its “anti-India” and “pro-Pakistan” activities, according to an official notification.
The ban was ordered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Founded in 1998 by Shah, a prominent separatist leader in Jammu and Kashmir, the JKDFP was a constituent of the separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference.
After the division of the Hurriyat Conference in 2003, the JKDFP became a part of the hardline faction headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani then.
Shah is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 25, 2017, in a 2005 money laundering case. (PTI)