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SRINAGAR: In a move to curb the spread of anti-national propaganda, a designated NIA court in Srinagar on Tuesday issued a proclamation against three Kashmiris, in an FIR registered by the Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK). Investigators have established their alleged role in propagating content deemed prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India. The court directed them to appear before it by Jan 31, 2026.The proclamation was issued against Mubeen Ahmad Shah, Azizul Hassan Ashai alias Tony Ashai, both residents of Srinagar, and Rifat Wani of Kupwara. All three have been living outside India for a long period.Mubeen Shah, former president of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is a prominent Kashmir-born businessman who was detained a day before the abrogation of Article 370. He was released from Agra jail in Dec 2019. He subsequently left the country.The CIK, in a statement, described the court ruling as a major crackdown on anti-national propaganda and secessionist misinformation. “These elements were masquerading as news portals, journalists and freelancers, while in reality weaponizing social media platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and WhatsApp to create, upload and circulate fake, motivated, exaggerated, secessionist and out-of-context content,” the CIK statement said. The deliberate objective of this digital misinformation campaign was to incite street violence, disrupt normal life, damage public property, disturb public order and fuel mass unrest, thereby promoting anti-national sentiments and advancing a secessionist agenda aimed at creating disaffection against the Union of India, the statement added.Despite being declared absconders, the accused are notorious for their continued hostile activities and remain highly active on social media platforms, where they persist in peddling false, fabricated and provocative content with the intention of inciting large-scale violence and destabilizing public order in the union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, it added.
