15 Arrested In Assam For ‘Pro-Taliban’ Posts

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What has happened?

An 18-year-old B.Com student, a 24-year-old medical student, a 26-year-old local journalist and a 49-year-old associated with the AIUDF are among 15 people who have been arrested by the Assam Police — Almost all of them under the UAPA — for allegedly putting up social media posts that “support” the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Talking about the arrests, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he had directed police to “act without fear and favour”.
Assam Special DGP (Law and Order) G P Singh tweeted a list of 14 arrested people, belonging to 10 districts —Kamrup (Rural), Darrang, Barpeta, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Hojai, and the Barak Valley districts of Hailakandi, Cachar and Karimganj.
Most of them were arrested between Friday night and Saturday morning.
On Saturday evening, one more arrest, from Baksa district.

While most of the police officials refused to share the exact posts that were allegedly incriminating, Singh told:
“All the posts are such that they attract the penal provisions of Indian law.”
He said most of the arrests had been made under IPC Sections 120 (B)/ 153(A)/ 505 (1) (c) / 505(2) of IPC (covering conspiracy, posting of defamatory content, religious offence) and Section 39 of the UAPA (covering support to a terrorist organisation).
Deputy Inspector General Violet Baruah said they consider the comments posted by the accused “harmful for national security”.
“Our social media monitoring cell has been keeping a watch and we noticed these posts, so accordingly we took action,” she said.
On the use of the UAPA, Singh said, “Tehreek-e-Taliban finds an entry in the ISIS and Al Qaida sanctions list… established and maintained by United Nations…
Entry 33 of MHA list provides for organisations listed in UN Lists. Sufficient for us to take action at this stage.”

In 1961, then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru convened a National Integration Conference to find ways to combat communalism, casteism, regionalism, linguistic chauvinism
A National Integration Council was set up to recommend on matters of national integration.
Thereafter, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Bill was introduced in 1966.
It was purported to deal with associations engaged in secessionist activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of the nation.
It provided for the setting up a high-powered tribunal with a sitting or retired high court judge as the chairman and two others who qualified to be high court judges.
It was to identify and then outlaw such associations which were indulging in unlawful activities as stated above.
Any person who continued unlawful activities and associated himself with the outlawed association was to be tried by the tribunal in terms of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and could be punished with a sentence of three, seven or ten years.
However, this Bill lapsed and a fresh Bill was introduced, which was finally passed in 1967.
It was almost never used because the government had in the meanwhile been promulgating some other preventive laws
or the other like MISA 197, NSA 1980, TADA 1987, MCOCA 1999, POTA 2002 etc.

It is applicable across the entire country.
Any Indian or foreign national charged under UAPA is liable for punishment under this Act, irrespective of the location of crime/offense committed.
UAPA will be applicable to the offenders in the same manner, even if the crime is committed on foreign land, outside India.

Unlawful activity” refers to any action taken by individual or association whether by committing an act or by words, either spoken or written or by signs to questions, disclaims, disrupts, or is intended to disrupt the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.
This act also prohibits the cession of a part of the territory of India or the secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union, or which provoke any individual or group of individuals to bring about such cession or secession.

The central government may designate an individual as a terrorist through a notification in the official gazette, and add his name to the schedule supplemented to the UAPA Bill.
The government is not required to give an individual an opportunity to be heard before such a designation.
Before this, in line with the legal presumption of an individual being innocent until proven guilty, an individual who is convicted in a terror case is legally referred to as a terrorist, while those suspected of being involved in terrorist activities are referred to as terror accused.

The designation of an individual as a global terrorist by the United Nations is associated with sanctions including travel bans, freezing of assets and an embargo against procuring arms. The UAPA Act, however, does not provide any such detail.
The Act also does not require the filing of cases or arresting individuals while designating them as terrorists.

Deputy Inspector General Baruah asked the public to inform police if any such posts come to their notice.
“#assampolice are taking stern legal action against pro #Taliban comments in the social media platform that are harmful to the National Security.
We’re registering criminal cases against such persons. Please inform the police if any such thing comes to your notice,” she tweeted.

Q) Which of the following is not source of social problem?