MHA extends ban on SIMI for further five years
SIMI was first banned in September 2001 and since then the ban has been extended on it by the government
The ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Monday extended the ban on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a radical Islamic outfit, for five years.
Announcing the decision on X (formerly Twitter), Union home minister Amit Shah said, “Bolstering PM @narendramodi Ji’s vision of zero tolerance against terrorism ‘Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)’ has been declared as an ‘unlawful association’ for a further period of five years under the UAPA (unlawful activities prevention act). The SIMI has been found involved in fomenting terrorism, disturbing peace and communal harmony to threaten the sovereignty, security and integrity of Bharat.”
SIMI was first banned in September 2001 and since then the ban has been extended by the government.
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Officials in central intelligence agencies say that SIMI has caused problems for the government and police over the years especially after the organisation split in 2005 into two groups – moderate one led by Shahid Badr Falahi and radical faction led by Safdar Nagori.
Its leaders, including Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal (now in Pakistan), formed Indian Mujahideen (IM) in 2006-07 along with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) to carry out attacks in India, while SIMI started providing logistical support.
“SIMI leaders also held important meetings and training camps vowing to avenge the atrocities against Muslims. SIMI members, led by IM leader Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer, carried attacks on their own after crackdown on Indian Mujahideen. They targeted PM Narendra Modi’s rally in Patna in 2013, Bodhgaya temple, several trains in Chennai and other states, Bangalore’s Church Street, Roorkee and other places between 2007 and 2013,” said an official who didn’t want to be named.
Although banned, its operatives have been found in activities in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat.
Popular Front of India (PFI), banned in September 2022, also drew its large number of cadres from SIMI.
According to latest extension of ban, governments of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, MP, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and UP have recommended declaration of SIMI as an unlawful association under UAPA, the notification issued on Monday stated.
It said that if not banned, the organisation will continue its subversive activities and reorganise activists who are still absconding; disrupt secular fabric of the country; propagate anti-national sentiment; and escalate secessionism by supporting militancy.
