New Delhi. Showcasing zero tolerance against terrorism, Union Government on Monday extended ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) as an ‘unlawful association’ for five years under the UAPA. The group is known to be responsible for some of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in history. The group wants to establish Islamic Rule in Bharat based on Sharia law and doesn’t believe in the idea of nation state or a secular democratic state structure.
As per the ministry, the SIMI has been found involved in fomenting terrorism, disturbing peace and communal harmony to threaten the sovereignty, security and integrity of Bharat.
According to the fresh notification, SIMI has been involved in activities which are “prejudicial to the security of the country and have the potential of disturbing peace and communal harmony and disrupting the secular fabric of the country”.
It also pointed to SIMI’s links to various cases, including the one registered by the National Investigation Agency against Athar Parvej and Mohd Jalaluddin of Phulawari Sharif, Patna relating to a conspiracy to disrupt the visit of the Prime Minister in July 2022.
SIMI’s hand in terror attacks
SIMI has been active for nearly four decades now. The group is known to be responsible for some of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in history. Several criminal cases have been filed against SIMI and its members under multiple sections of law including the UAPA.
Founded in 1977 in UP’s Aligarh with Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi, professor of Journalism and Public Relations at the Western Illinois University Macomb as its founding president, this organisation operates on the agenda to convert Bharat into an Islamic nation. SIMI was first declared as an outlawed outfit in 2001 and has been banned on several occasions.
SIMI is an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organisation which works to the agenda of liberating Bharat by converting it into an Islamic country.
The organisation is run by fundamentalist and extremist students who aim to establish Dar-ul-Islam (Islamic land) in Bharat by either converting people forcefully or with violence. The group wants to establish Islamic Rule in Bharat based on Sharia law and doesn’t believe in the idea of nation state or a secular democratic state structure.
Responsible for 2006 Mumbai blast
Members of SIMI have been involved in several terror attacks in the country, including the Bhopal jail break in 2014, M Chinnawamy stadium blast in Bengaluru in 2014, Gaya blasts in 2017.
SIMI is understood to be responsible for conducting bomb blasts inside commuter trains in Maharashtra’s capital Mumbai in 2006. The blasts killed 187 people and the outfit is being probed for a number of other attacks and bombings carried out in states likes Gujarat. One bombing incident in Gujarat understood to be conducted by SIMI claimed 45 lives in 2008.
