The Advisory Council has given both provisional and final approval to the draft of the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, which includes provisions to ban individuals or entities involved in terrorist activities and their operations.
This approval was granted at a meeting of the Advisory Council held on Sunday (May 11) at the Jamuna State Guest House, chaired by Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus.
A summary of the meeting states, "The Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009 was enacted to establish provisions for preventing certain terrorist activities and providing effective punishment for such actions."
To fulfill the purpose of the law, the government may, based on reasonable grounds, list an individual or entity in a gazette notification if they are involved in terrorist activities, or declare the entity banned. However, the current law does not have any provisions regarding the banning of an entity`s activities. To address this gap, it has been deemed necessary to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009, to make it more relevant and up-to-date.
The summary further adds, "In light of this, the amendment of the Anti-Terrorism Law includes provisions to ban the activities of entities, adapt to current needs, and prohibit the promotion of terrorist activities on online and social media platforms."
The amendment is expected to be issued as an ordinance on Monday.
