MHA types tribunal to evaluate ULFA’s standing as illegal affiliation | India Information

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Dwelling Affairs (MHA) has established a tribunal to look at whether or not the United Liberation Entrance of Asom (ULFA) and its related teams needs to be labeled as an illegal group. Justice Michael Zothankhuma of the Gauhati Excessive Courtroom will lead the tribunal.
This motion, introduced through a gazette notification, makes use of the powers granted beneath the Illegal Actions (Prevention) Act of 1967. It comes roughly a month after the MHA renewed a five-year ban on ULFA. The federal government justified the ban citing ULFA’s ongoing efforts to separate Assam from India, connections with different rebel teams, and involvement in extortion and violence.
ULFA was initially banned in 1990, and the ban has been periodically prolonged, most just lately in November 2019. The MHA’s November notification justifying the ban extension said, “ULFA has declared its objective to secede Assam from India, continued intimidation and extortion of funds for their organisation, and maintained links with other insurgent groups for extortion and violence.
The outfit has possessed illegal arms and ammunition, indulged in 16 criminal cases, including several cases of explosions or planting of explosives in Assam during the period from November 27, 2019, to July 1, 2024, and planted several improvised explosive devices or explosives in the run-up to Independence Day, 2024 across Assam.”
The MHA additionally reported ULFA’s involvement in numerous felony actions through the previous 5 years, together with fatalities of ULFA members throughout safety operations, arrests, surrenders, and the restoration of weapons and explosives.
The five-year ban extension, efficient from November 27, 2024, designates ULFA and its associated teams as an illegal affiliation. ULFA is one among 17 organizations at present listed as illegal beneath the Illegal Actions (Prevention) Act, together with teams just like the College students Islamic Motion of India (SIMI) and the Fashionable Entrance of India (PFI). The Central Authorities has the authority to declare any group as illegal throughout India beneath this Act.