On Wednesday, 7th August, the Centre-appointed tribunal that examined the ninth renewal of the prohibition on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act maintained the ban on SIMI. The decision was based on the information from the Phulwarisharif PFI case, which involved an operation to disrupt Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Patna in July 2022, as well as other ISIS-inspired terror plots being investigated by the NIA and many state police agencies.
The UAPA tribunal’s judgment, released in a gazette announcement on Tuesday, 6th August, noted that it is evident that SIMI continues to engage in illegal and terrorist activities despite being banned, based on facts and information supplied to it.
“The organization is expanding its ranks by indoctrinating young boys and operating through front organizations. SIMI maintains connections with various terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, ISIS, and Indian Mujahideen. It continues to receive both domestic and international funding, which supports its activities in India… it is clear that several accused persons, who have committed various offences across different jurisdictions, have been identified as members or activists of SIMI. By conspiring together, they committed numerous offenses aligned with SIMI’s ideologies and propaganda,” it added.
The tribunal noted that the proof presented in cases including ex-SIMI cadres effectively established the fact that despite the previous bans, SIMI is still active through its members and activists. It observed that ex-SIMI cadres are now either associated with the extremist Popular Front of India (PFI), which is also banned under UAPA, or found to be carrying out ISIS propaganda and executing attacks to advance the global terror outfit’s beliefs of Islamic rule.
One of the key evidence statements relied on by the tribunal in confirming the SIMI ban is that of NIA officer Vipin Kumar, who testified that the key accused in the Phulwarisharif PFI case, Athar Parvej and Jalaluddin, were connected with SIMI members and sought their assistance in the planning and execution of terrorist acts.
The investigators discovered incriminating materials titled ‘India 2047: Towards rule of Islam in India’ that detailed how PFI plans to replace democratic governance in India with Islamic authority by inciting discontent and training cadres in the use of rudimentary weapons to commit violent acts. Parvej admitted that he was organizing a secret gang of ex-SIMI members to avenge “atrocities against Muslims and derogatory remarks against Islam” on PFI’s orders, citing planned attacks on Hindu individuals in Amravati and Udaipur. The PFI ‘vision document’ found in Parvej’s residence served as the foundation for the organization’s classification as an “unlawful association” under UAPA in 2022. The whole PFI management was arrested in the aftermath of the ban.
SIMI aims to govern human life on the basis of the Quran, destroy nationalism
As per the official gazette, the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was founded on April 25, 1977, at Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh, as a youth and student organization affiliated with Jamait-e-Islami-Hind (JEIH). In 1993, the organization declared independence through a resolution.
The objective of the organization has been to govern human life on the basis of the Quran; propagation of Islam; “Jihad” (religious war) for the cause of Islam and destruction of nationalism and establishment of Islamic Rule or Caliphate. SIMI has always aspired to mobilize students and young to spread Islam and promote Jihad. The organization promotes the establishment of “Shariat”-based Islamic rule through “Islami Inqilab”.
The organization opposes the nation-state, the Constitution, and the secular order. They consider idol worship to be a sin and believe it is their job to eradicate it. Since November 1996, the SIMI has been conducting a nationwide campaign to rally support for the Caliphate (Islamic rule) among Muslims. SIMI opposes Indian nationalism and aims to replace it with the International Islamic Order.
The Ministry of Home Affairs received reports of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activities and statements that harmed harmony among communities, hurt religious sentiments, incited violence, and questioned the country’s territorial integrity. Based on feedback from intelligence agencies and state/UT governments, the MInistry observed that SIMI advocated self-determination in Kashmir and was in close touch with Kashmiri militant outfits including pro-Pak Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). The leadership of SIMI also extended full support to extremists and terrorists in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir.
“SIMI was involved in various militant/terrorist activities in the country, especially in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Accordingly, the Central Government decided to ban SIMI by declaring it as an Unlawful Association under the provisions of the UAPA, and the SIMI was banned for the first time in September 2001. In view of the continuous activities of SIMI, the organization was further banned from time to time,” the gazette read.
Earlier, SIMI’s ban was maintained in the years 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2019. The tribunal marked that the SIMI activists every time continued their activities for which it was banned earlier, as a result of which it again faced a ban in the year 2024.
It raised funds from rich Muslims, and has been in touch with worldwide terrorist organizations
It has also come to the fore that SIMI raised funds through donations, from rich Muslims and sale of animal hides. In a national meeting held in Delhi in the year 2004, SIMI leadership emphasized the need to raise funds and fixed quarterly targets for each division. In Maharashtra, funds were raised from rich Muslims under the banner of ‘Al Islam’ (Malegaon) and ‘Ishat-e-Deen’ (Mumbai). The SIMI members also had contacts in places like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh. Being a group of students and youth, SIMI has been easily influenced by hard-core Islamist terrorist organizations operating from within the country and abroad.
Fundamentalist/terrorist outfits like the Pakistan-based Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba have successfully penetrated the SIMI Cadres to achieve their goals. SIMI is believed to have been operating for years in Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and National Capital Territory of Delhi. It is further believed that SIMI activities have also been noticed in the States of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.
SIMI advocates Islamic rule in India as well as other countries. They have been involved in using derogatory language against Hindu Gods and deities and exhorting Muslims for Jihad. The SIMI activists have been publishing objectionable posters to create hatred between Hindus and Muslims, for which they have faced bans multiple times in the past.
The Center imposed the present ban after the authorities discovered that the ex-SIMI activists continued their unlawful activities in various parts of the country. The activities were noticed in the states of Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. It was found that the ex-SIMI members were involved in a conspiracy to disrupt the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Patna, Bihar in July 2022.
Their involvement was also found in organizing and recruiting youth to establish Khilafat or Islamic rule in India. The attempts to radicalize and recruit the youth and collect funds in the Central Prison of Bengaluru were further exposed. SIMI activists have also been in contact touch with terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Indian Mujahideen (IM) to procure arms and funds needed to fulfill its objectives of spreading radicalization across the nation.
Some notable terrorist attacks involving SIMI include:
- 1992 Bombay Riots: SIMI was allegedly involved in the communal riots that took place in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in 1992-1993.
- 2001 Indian Parliament Attack: Several members of SIMI were suspected to have connections with the terrorist organizations responsible for the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001.
- 2006 Mumbai Train Bombings: SIMI was suspected to have been involved in the serial train bombings in Mumbai in July 2006 that claimed the innocent lives of over 209 people.
- 2008 Ahmedabad Bombings: SIMI members were alleged to have played a role in the coordinated bomb attacks in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in July 2008.
- 2013 Bodh Gaya Blast: Members of SIMI were suspected of being involved in the blasts at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, in July 2013.
- Abdul Sattar, a SIMI operative, was arrested in the case relating to a 2007 terror training camp held at Wagamon in Kerala after he was deported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). NIA also suspected Sattar’s involvement in other cases, including the 2008 Bangalore blasts.
- In April 2015, there was another incident in which two alleged SIMI members, Mohammed Eijazuddin and Mohammed Aslam, who had escaped from Khandwa Jail in Madhya Pradesh in October 2013, shot dead Telangana policemen.
SIMI also has a history of even aiding Pakistan’s ISI against India. The SIMI was originally banned in 2001 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and the organisation’s ban has been extended on a regular basis since then. The MHA extended the ban on SIMI for five years in its January 31, 2019 announcement. This was the eighth time the ban has been extended. Nevertheless, SIMI was active for nearly four decades in the country.
Association with PFI and the latter’s ban
SIMI is believed to be the student wing of a banned extremist terrorist organization named the Popular Front of India. The Central government in the year 2022 banned PFI and its 8 associated organizations involved in conducting anti-India activities. The objectives and vision of the PFI and the means to achieve them were enshrined in the document titled ‘India 2047: Towards Rule of Islam in India’ which was seized during the investigation of the case by the NIA.
The PFI, as mentioned in the anti-India incriminating document, broadly aimed at
i. Establishment of the Rule of Islam in India.
ii. Political power to Muslims and establishment of Islamic Government in India by 2047.
iii. Strengthening at least 10% of the Muslim population and associating them with the PFI to subjugate the majority community and bring back the glory of Islam.
iv. Unite Muslims & provide weapons training to PFI cadres
v. Selective use of violence to demonstrate strength and terrorize opponents
vi. Alliances with SCs/STs/OBCs to divide Hindus for political gains
vii. Infiltrate Police, Army and Judiciary
viii. Unveil a new Constitution based on Islamic Shariah law with the help of external forces.
ix. To organize Physical Efficiency (PE) training in handling weapons, arms, and explosives under the guise of Yoga Classes & ‘Healthy People Healthy Nation’ and such like campaigns.
x. Identification, reconnaissance, and elimination of all those who do not believe in the establishment of Islamic rule in India.
While the NIA officials recovered the ‘Mission 2047’ document and PE training material from the PFI hideout in Maharashtra, it recovered GPS-enabled wireless communication devices and marine radio sets from the PFI leaders of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Two wireless sets, Lowrance LHR-80 Floating Handheld VHF with GPS, were seized. Wireless gadgets are used to map water routes and as reported earlier, the PFI members may have been utilizing them for terror actions and money exchange.
The NIA during the raids also recovered several USB drives and other digital devices including three mobile phones from the PFI hideout in Uttar Pradesh. The devices contained a video of ISIS, a video of Gajwa-e-Hind, and a video of a provocative speech. The USB drive also contained videos related to the 1993 Bombay riots and Kashmiri Mujahid. The PFI members had plans to spread the roots of the organization to almost every household by 2047. They also had plans to establish Islamic rule in the country by 2047, the year that would mark 100 years of the country’s independence.
Promoting Love Jihad and religious conversion
The investigating agencies also revealed that the PFI activists were deliberately encouraging the Islamists to trap Hindu women in love affairs and produce more children, ultimately expanding the Muslim community. The PFI asked its cadres and other Muslims to force the Hindu women to convert their religion to Islam. At every PFI gathering, they would try to influence Muslims to run the agenda of love jihad and religious conversion. The organization had also declared a financial reward of Rs 2 lakh, a shop, and a house to anyone who would convert a Hindu girl to Islam. Reports mention that several Islamic organizations from several Islamic countries provided funds to the PFI for this purpose.
Investigations also revealed that PFI cadres had also been linked to a series of crimes with religious angle. Some of these are Professor T.J. Joseph’s hand-chopping case, Hindu Munani activist Sasi Kumar’s murder in Tamil Nadu, RSS leader Rudresh’s murder in 2016 in Bangalore, Ramalingam’s murder in Thirupuvanam in Tamil Nadu for interfering in religious conversion
activity, RSS worker Sanjith’s murder in 2021 in Kerala’s Palakkad, RSS leader Srinivasan’s murder in Kerala’s Palakkad, and RSS’s Praveen Nettaru murder case.
The Center in its gazette mentioned that PFI cadres maintained a database of detailed information about the leaders of certain organizations who oppose the ideology of PFI. They eliminated all those who opposed their ideology or interfered in their anti-India activities.
The ban on the SIMI and the Popular Front of India (PFI) is viewed as beneficial due to its involvement in various unlawful activities, including terror-related incidents. By banning such organizations, the government aims to mitigate potential threats to national security. The ban is also seen as a measure to prevent the spread of extremist ideologies, protect vulnerable populations from radicalization, maintain public order, and promote communal harmony. India by this shall improve its international standing by demonstrating a commitment to combating terrorism and maintaining global security.
