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Specially Designated Global Terrorist

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June 28, 2017

Why in news?

The US administration has declared Syed Salahuddin a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’.

Who is Syed Salahuddin?

  • He is currently the chief of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), one of several homegrown militant groups that have been operating from the Valley for decades.
  • He is also the head of an alliance of anti-India militant groups, the United Jihad Council, that works to annex the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan.
  • He contested the 1987 elections from the Muslim United Front (MUF).
  • Salahuddin lost the election, then alleged it had been rigged.
  • Many Pakistanis think he is a well-educated Kashmiri from Srinagar who was forced to pick up the gun after the rigged in 1987.

What does the designation of global terrorist mean?

  • Such categorisation is aimed at disrupting the financial support network for terrorists and terrorist organisations.
  • It deters donations or contributions to designated individuals or entities.
  • The designation also authorises US government to block the assets of foreign individuals and entities that commit or pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism.
  • It also increases public awareness and knowledge of individuals or entities linked to terrorism.

How is the list different from the UN’s sanction list?

  • A UN designation is recognised by all countries and is considered a non-partisan global sanction.
  • Whereas, the US designation is limited only to the United States.
  • India had sought the UNSC’s global terrorist designation for Syed Salahuddin but the move was blocked by China.
  • Although the US sanction is confined to that country, it can compel other Western countries to follow suit.

What significance does this hold to India?

  • This is the first time a Kashmiri militant has been designated a “global terrorist”.
  • By branding Syed Salahuddin as SDGT, the US has accepted that HM is not an “indigenous terror group” in Kashmir and poses a greater threat to the world, eventhough the outfit has confined itself to the Kashmir Valley.
  • The US move is a recognition of India’s longstanding position that cross-border terrorism is behind the crisis in Kashmir.

 

Source: The Indian Express

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