Request to proscribe Hizbul Mujahideen
A request to the Home Office to ban a terrorist organisation
The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Home Office, Direct Communications Unit, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P
privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
5th May 2018
Dear Home Secretary,
Re: Request to proscribe Hizbul Mujahideen
Kindly indulge us for taking up your valuable time with an urgent plea. We seek your judgement and action to proscribe the terrorist organisation, Hizbul Mujahideen, under the Terrorism Act 2000 and prevent celebration in the City of Birmingham of the alleged martyrdom of one of its leaders, the terrorist Burhan Wani, which constitutes unlawful encouragement of terrorism.
In August 2017, the United States designated Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest armed group in Indian-administered Kashmir, as a “foreign terrorist” organisation, imposing sanctions on it including the freezing of assets it may hold in the US. Its proscription as a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council has already elicited the support of HMG and enjoyed unanimous support and was only prevented by the exercise of a veto by China.
European Union (EU), already in 2005, added the Hizbul Mujahideen to its list of banned terror groups. This decision was taken by the EU Council of Ministers of all (then) 25 member states. It meant that the group’s financial assets in the EU were frozen and the UK also complied with the collective decision.
Many civilians and Indian security personnel have been murdered by Hizbul Mjahideen and its terror activities recall the murder of the young British serviceman, Lee Rigby in 2013. Allowing the celebration of the death of one of Hizbul’s commanders in Britain, which is in the forefront of combating terrorism globally, is deeply offensive to India and its people. You will also be aware of the concern expressed in 2017 by the Indian High Commissioner to the UK and the threat it posed to Indo-British relations, according to him.
We are sure that such provocative public events prompt the raising of funds for the terror organisation that cannot always be identified and interdicted by the authorities despite the existing EU-wide ban. There is also a connection between the spate of terrorist activities on British soil and the ideological motivation provided to potential terrorists by allowing the celebration of the death of a terrorist as martyrdom and therefore laudable.
Please allow us to remind you that there was a direct connection, which has since been recognised, between the official acquiescence to the raising of funds for the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s and the spawning of conditions for Islamic militancy subsequently in the UK. It is this militancy that has constituted the bedrock of incitement to carry out acts of terror against innocent British people.
We urge you in the security interests of this country and maintaining a high level of community cohesion to act and proscribe the terrorist organisation, Hizbul Mujahideen and end the tragic anomaly of allowing the celebration of the death of a known terrorist and the dire consequences that it provokes.
Yours sincerely on behalf of all the co-signatories below.
Mukesh Naker, Managing Editor DSP Publishing
Mobile: +44 77 1313 7425
Email: Mukesh.Naker@d-s-p.org.uk
Website: www.dsp.today