Specially Designated Global Terrorist

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