New Delhi on Wednesday designated Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Hafiz Saeed, his deputy Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim as “terrorists”.
All these persons have been designated as global terrorists by the United Nations. Dawood Ibrahim is also linked in the Al-Qaida sanction list and the UN Security Council has issued a Special Notice in his name. The world body has also listed him for participating in financing, planning, and supporting Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban.
Ibrahim is the most wanted criminal of India, alleged to have had a role in the 1993 bombing in Mumbai (then Bombay). In 2011, he was named number three in "The World’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives" by the FBI and Forbes.
“Dawood Ibrahim runs an international underworld crime syndicate and is involved in perpetrating acts of terror, promoting religious fundamentalism, terror financing, arms smuggling, circulation of counterfeit currency, money laundering, narcotics, extortion and benami real estate business in India and abroad and is also involved in assassination attempts on prominent personalities to create social disharmony and terrorise common man”, said a Gazette Notification by the federal Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act is a step ahead of the existing law. Under it, the federal government can designate any individual as a terrorist. It also empowers the apex National Investigation Agency to carry out search and seizure throughout the country. The new law has shifted the burden of proof onto the suspect instead of the prosecution, while the government can detain suspected "terrorists" for up to two years without having to prove that an offense has been committed.