The Union home ministry on Tuesday imposed a five-year ban on the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen and the Awami Action Committee for “promoting and aiding the secession” of the Union Territory from India by “indulging in anti-national and subversive activities”.

The ban was imposed under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Both organisations are part of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella body formed in 1993 by groups, aimed at providing a political platform for Kashmiri separatism.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on social media that “anyone found involved in activities against the nation’s peace, order and sovereignty is bound to face the crushing blow of the Modi government”.

The Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen was established by Mohammad Abbas Ansari in 1962. He was also a founding member of the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference and later became its chairperson. Ansari died in 2022.

The Ittihadul Muslimeen, a Shia socio-religious group, has for long advocated Shia-Sunni unity in Jammu and Kashmir, The Indian Express reported.

The Awami Action Committee was founded by Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq Shah, Kashmir’s chief cleric at the time, in 1963. He was killed by Hizbul Mujahideen militants in 1990. The organisation is currently headed by his son Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is also the chairperson of the Hurriyat Conference.

Criticising the ban, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that the “move seems part of the continuation of the policy of intimidation and disempowerment that is being followed vis a vis Jammu & Kashmir since August 2019”.

Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party chief, also opposed the ban and said the Union government “must reassess its approach and move away from heavy-handed tactics”.