STARTING from the Musharraf era, the state has regularly been proscribing a variety of outfits, including sectarian death squads, jihadi militant groups as well as extreme nationalist organisations advocating separatism. This process of banning has yielded mixed results, with some outfits simply changing their names and carrying on with business as usual under new monikers. In the latest round of proscriptions, three Sindh-based groups have been banned by the state: the Sindhu Desh Revolution Army, the Sindhu Desh Liberation Army as well as the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz-Arisar group. While the first two are known to be involved in militant activities, JSQM-Arisar has mostly been involved in nationalist politics. With the latest listings, the number of proscribed groups in the country comes to 76.

The business of bans is a tricky one, for while there are clearly violent actors that need to be tackled with the full force of the law, other non-violent outfits have been proscribed because their narrative differs from that of the powers that be. The process of proscription must be transparent and effective. Indeed, all those groups that espouse violence within this country’s borders or beyond them, as well as those involved in spreading sectarian, religious and ethnic hatred, need to be put out of business. However, the bans should not be confined to proscribing groups on paper. Even after the Musharraf administration started banning groups, many of these outfits continued their activities, with the leaderships, central cadres and finances untouched. The present government has taken some solid steps, especially to meet the needs of FATF, but the process of keeping a watch on violent actors must be a continuous, proactive one, for the sake of this country’s security. As for those non-violent organisations that adhere to constitutional limits yet have been proscribed, the state needs to reconsider its decision. The focus of the state must be on violent extremists and those who reject the Constitution, not groups that simply advocate alternative narratives.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2020