New Delhi: Founded in 1953 as a splinter group of the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood to propagate fundamentalism and overthrow democratic governments to then bring in Sharia law in their place. These are the broad attributes of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT), banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Thursday.
The HuT has also been identified as a violent radical group in the UK, with its operatives said to be inspired by controversial and banned Islamist preacher Zakir Naik.
The declaration by the MHA under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, comes at a time when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been actively investigating six cases of terror modules linked to the group and has filed several chargesheets accusing it of anti-India activities.
The NIA Thursday arrested a “key member of the outfit” as part of its probe into cases filed by it on the basis of a separate Chennai police case. The accused, Faizul Rahman, is said to be the group’s amir (chief) in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Terming the HuT as a “grave threat” to India’s internal security and democratic setup, the MHA in its gazette notification said the group aims to establish an Islamist state and caliphate around the globe, for which it is making efforts through terrorist activities to overthrow democratically-elected governments including in India.
“And whereas, Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) is an organisation which aims to establish an Islamic state and caliphate globally including in India by overthrowing democratically elected governments through jihad and terrorist activities by involving citizens of the country, which is a grave threat to the democratic setup and internal security of the country,” the ministry stated.
“And whereas, the Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) is involved in radicalisation and motivation of gullible youth to join terrorist organisations, such as ISIS (which is listed as a terrorist organisation under the First Schedule to the said Act at serial number 38) and raising funds for terror activities… and whereas, the central government believes that Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) is involved in terrorism and has participated in various acts of terrorism in India…” it added.
With this move, India has joined the UK, Germany, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and several Central Asian and Arabian nations in declaring HuT as a proscribed terrorist organisation.
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Footprint in India
Founded by Palestinian Islamist scholar Sheikh Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, the HuT is said to operate across 50 countries, primarily working with the strategy of infiltrating into armies of Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh to facilitate coups.
The group first burst into prominence after allegedly orchestrating a protest outside the Indian High Commission in London in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Then, in December 2020, the Madurai police registered a case against one Mohammed Iqbal, who was allegedly in touch with ISIS and HuT operatives through digital media. The case originated from a Facebook post by Iqbal that attempted to stoke communal tension.
On the orders of the MHA, the NIA in April 2021 registered a case in the matter when the Madurai police filed another case related to alleged operatives of the HuT.
In the second FIR, the Madurai police documented one Abdullah alias Sarvanakumar as having posted “incendiary messages” on social media to instigate people and wage a religious war against India.
The counter-terrorism agency filed chargesheets in both cases alleging that the accused were from the HuT and were trying to recruit youth to establish a caliphate in the country on the lines of the draft constitution written by the HuT founder.
Investigators further alleged that HuT operatives were organising meetings to recruit members, conducting secret classes to indoctrinate and radicalise youth, and propagating the ideology of the group to establish new cells in districts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Two years later, the Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) received an input that HuT was looking to establish a module in the state, and its cadres were assembling arms and ammunition to launch attacks against leaders of Hindu groups.
The squad last year arrested Yasir Khan, who was alleged to be the head of the MP module of the HuT, along with five others from Bhopal, who were said to have confessed to being members of the MP module. The MP ATS also seized “incriminating material” such as papers with an organisation chart of the proposed caliphate, damaged idol of the Hindu deity Shiva along with ISIS flags, and pictures of explosives and anti-aircraft guns.
The NIA registered a case in May last year and filed a chargesheet against 17 people, including Yasir Khan, and alleged that they were preparing to launch attacks against police personnel and individuals from different communities.
To achieve this, the NIA stated in the chargesheet, these operatives were providing training of shooting and commando tactics to newly-recruited youth with an “explicit” goal of striking terror among the people.
In the UK, the HuT again made the news following Hamas’ attack against Israel on 7 October, 2023, and Israel’s onslaught in Gaza. After the emergence of videos of a rally organised last October by HuT followers in support of Palestine, including one where a supporter chanted “jihad”, the UK Home Office moved an order before the nation’s parliament in January this year and declared the HuT a terrorist organisation.
Jihad means “inner struggle” in Islamic theology, but is used as a call for holy war by Islamist terrorist organisations.
Inspired by Zakir Naik
The Chennai police in May arrested six persons said to be sympathisers of the HuT, with one identified as Hameed Hussain, who was a professor at engineering colleges till 2021.
The police also arrested Hussain’s father Ahmed Mansoor and brother Abdul Rahman. According to the FIR filed by the Tamil Nadu police, Hussain used to run a YouTube channel and had started a campaign for a caliphate inspired by the preachings of Zakir Naik.
Naik’s name also came up when the father of one of the alleged HuT sympathisers arrested from Bhopal, named Mohammed Saleem, blamed the preacher for indoctrinating Saleem.
The NIA took over the probe from the Tamil Nadu ATS and Thursday arrested Faizul Rahman in the case. The agency said in a statement that Rahman along with Hussain and others arrested by the Tamil Nadu police were promoting secessionism and seeking military assistance from Pakistan to liberate Kashmir.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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