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| 23 more added to terrorists list, total reaches 57; HM Shah reaffirms zero-tolerance against terror | | | 
Early Times Report
Jammu, July 4: In a significant move aimed at tightening the legal and security framework against terrorism, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Saturday designated 23 more individuals, including 17 Pakistani nationals, as terrorists under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for their alleged involvement in terror-related activities targeting India.
According to an official notification published in The Gazette of India, all the 23 designated terrorists—including six Indian nationals—are currently operating from various locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), from where they are allegedly involved in planning, financing, facilitating and directing terrorist activities against India.
The latest notification has been issued under Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, which empowers the Central Government to designate individuals as terrorists and include their names in the Fourth Schedule of the Act.
With Saturday's notification, the total number of individuals declared as designated terrorists under the amended provisions of the UAPA has risen to 57 since Parliament amended the law in 2019 to allow the Government to notify individuals—not just organisations—as terrorists.
The 2019 amendment marked a major shift in India's counter-terrorism strategy by enabling authorities to directly target individuals involved in terrorism without having to first declare an organisation unlawful. The move was intended to strengthen the legal framework for combating terrorism by facilitating action against terror masterminds, financiers, recruiters, propagandists and handlers operating from across the border.
The notification stated that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, was enacted "to provide for the more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals and associations and for dealing with terrorist activities and matters connected therewith."
It further noted that Clause (a) of sub-section (1), read with sub-section (2) of Section 35 of the Act, authorises the Central Government to add the name of an individual to the Fourth Schedule if it believes that the person is involved in terrorism.
Officials said the newly designated individuals are affiliated with various banned terrorist organisations and have allegedly played key roles in carrying out terror attacks, facilitating infiltration, recruiting militants, trafficking arms and explosives, radicalising vulnerable youth, raising funds, and providing logistical and operational support to terrorist networks active against India.
The designation as terrorists is expected to enable security agencies to intensify action against the accused by restricting their financial transactions, freezing assets wherever possible, curbing their travel, disrupting their support networks and strengthening India's efforts to seek international cooperation against them.
The move also provides a stronger legal basis for initiating coordinated action through investigative agencies and pursuing diplomatic efforts to expose and isolate terror operatives and their facilitators operating from foreign soil.
Reacting to the decision, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Narendra Modi Government remains steadfast in its commitment to eliminating terrorism and dismantling every terror ecosystem that threatens India's sovereignty and security.
In a post on social media platform X, Shah said the latest action reflects the Government's unwavering commitment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policy of "zero tolerance against terrorism."
"Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of zero tolerance against terror, the Ministry of Home Affairs today designated 23 dreaded terror functionaries affiliated with banned organisations as terrorists under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act," Shah said.
He said the designated individuals have been involved in anti-India activities, orchestrating terrorist attacks, inciting violence, facilitating cross-border infiltration, trafficking arms and ammunition, raising funds for terrorist organisations, recruiting terrorists and providing support to terror infrastructure operating from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
"Of the 23 terrorists designated today, 17 are Pakistani nationals and six are Indian nationals. However, all of them are currently operating from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir," Shah said.
Security officials believe that formally designating these individuals as terrorists will significantly strengthen India's counter-terrorism architecture by disrupting the operational capabilities of terror networks and increasing pressure on those providing financial, logistical and ideological support to terrorism.
The latest notification is also expected to reinforce India's long-standing position that Pakistan continues to provide safe havens to terrorists and terror organisations involved in cross-border terrorism. New Delhi has consistently maintained that several wanted terrorists continue to operate freely from Pakistan and PoJK while directing violence in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country.
Officials said the designation would not only facilitate stronger domestic legal action but also help India seek enhanced international cooperation in tracking, sanctioning and prosecuting individuals involved in terrorism, besides strengthening efforts to dismantle the broader terror ecosystem operating across borders.
With the inclusion of these 23 names, the number of individuals designated as terrorists under the UAPA has increased to 57, underscoring the Centre's continued reliance on legal and institutional mechanisms to combat terrorism, choke its financial and logistical support structures, and hold individual terror operatives accountable irrespective of their location. |
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