J&K Govt Takes Over 215 Jamaat-e-Islami Affiliated Schools To 'Secure Students' Academic Future'

This follows the Ministry of Home Affairs' declarations on February 28, 2019, and February 27, 2024, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, labelling JeI as an unlawful organization.

The officials here said on Friday that intelligence reports identified these schools as directly or indirectly affiliated with JeI or FAT, with their managing committees' validity expired and flagged adversely.

As per an official order, district magistrates or deputy commissioners will, under the J&K School Education Rules, 2010, assume control of these schools, propose new managing committees after verification, and ensure uninterrupted education aligned with National Education Policy norms. The State Investigation Agency (SIA) had previously identified 188 JeI/FAT properties for attachment in 2022 and subsequently begun attaching these.

JeI, a socio-political and religious organization banned in 2019 and again in 2024 for five years, is accused of supporting terrorism, extremism, and anti-national activities. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had in February 2024 while justifying the extension of ban on the JeI emphasized the government's "zero tolerance" policy against terrorism.

JeI, independent from Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Pakistan, has a history of pro-Pakistan leanings and was a key player in the 1987 Muslim United Front. Its ban follows decades of controversy, including ties to militancy and separatist movements.

In 1987, it was the main driving force behind the formation of Muslim United Front (MUF) which fought State Assembly elections against the NC-Congress combine.It is said that the elections were rigged in favour of the ruling party leading to many of those associated with the MUF to turn to the gun. One of them was Muhammad Yusuf Shah who later became known as Syed Salahuddin, the ‘supreme commander’ of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and chief of United Jihad Council, the alliance of pro-Pakistani militant outfits.

The JeI, J&K, formed in 1942, was banned during the Emergency and later also during the heyday of militancy in J&K. It, however, distanced from militancy in 1997 and subsequently split with separatist patriarch Syed Ali Shah Geelani with like- minded Jamaat cadres forming his own group called J&K Tehrik-e-Hurriyat. The MHA had in December 2023 declared the Tehrik-e-Hurriyat too as an “unlawful association” and banned it for a period of five years under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.