Union govt working on declaring IS a terror outfit

The Union Home Ministry has initiated the process to ban terror outfit Islamic State (IS) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention), or the UAPA, Act.

The Ministry has sent the proposal for clearance, and a notification declaring IS and its affiliate organisations as proscribed outfits will be issued soon, said a senior Home Ministry official. IS had been declared a banned organised under a United Nations Schedule in December, and the process to bring it under UAPA is aimed at giving more teeth to security agencies to tackle the terrorist organisation. The question of banning IS came up after reports emerged that four Mumbai youths had gone to Iraq and Syria in May 2014 to join the outfit. 

A Bengaluru-based executive of a multi-national company was arrested last December for allegedly running a pro-IS Twitter handle. There are conflicting opinions regarding IS within the security community, with recently retired Intelligence Bureau chief Asif Ibrahim saying there was imminent danger of Indian youths moving to the conflict zone (Iraq-Syria), emerging as a role model, and such developments directly or indirectly posing a threat to the country.