New Delhi: The banned outfit Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) continues to operate clandestinely and receive funds, the central government told the Supreme Court Tuesday.
In an affidavit filed before the top court, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said SIMI activists are in regular touch with their associates and “masters based in other countries”. An organisation working with the “objective of establishing Islamic rule in India can, under no circumstances, be permitted to subsist”, read the affidavit.
The affidavit was filed in response to a batch of petitions filed by SIMI challenging a series of notifications which effected a ban on it. The last such notification was issued in 2019, extending the ban on SIMI under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
A UAPA Tribunal headed by a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court had in August 2019 upheld the five-year extension of the ban on SIMI.
“…the evidence brought on record clearly and unambiguously establishes that despite being banned since 27th September, 2001, except for a brief period in between, the SIMI activists are associating, meeting, conspiring, acquiring arms & ammunitions, and indulging in activities which are disruptive in character and capable of threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India,” the affidavit submitted.
The matter came up for hearing before a bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, which gave time to SIMI to file its rejoinder to the central government’s affidavit. The matter will be heard next after a month.
SIMI came into existence on April 25 1977 in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) as an organisation of youth and students having faith in the Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind (JEIH). It declared itself independent in 1993.
The MHA in its submission claimed that the actions of SIMI activists “are capable of disrupting peace and communal harmony in the country”.
“Their stated objectives are contrary to the laws of our country. Especially their object of establishing Islamic rule in India can, under no circumstances, be permitted to subsist,” the affidavit added.
To bolster its case, the MHA elaborated on the procedure for inducting a new member in SIMI and the oath administered to recruits — “I would work for the liberation of humanity and establishment of Islamic system in my country”.
Reiterating that the objectives listed in its constitution are contrary to the basic fabric of the Indian Constitution, the affidavit added, “Any constitution which prescribes such an Oath of Allegiance to its members must be seen as in direct conflict with the democratic sovereign setup of India and should not be allowed to be perpetuated in our secular society.”
SIMI’s constitution not only disclaims, questions and intends to disrupt the sovereignty and integrity of our country, but also causes disaffection against India and the Constitution, said the affidavit.
As for its activities, MHA said SIMI is operating under the garb of cover organisations, allowing its cadres to regroup under the banner of ‘Wahdat-e-Islami’ in Tamil Nadu; ‘Indian Mujahideen’ in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi; ‘Ansarullah’ in Karnataka; ‘Muslim Muttahida Mihad’ in Uttar Pradesh; ‘Wahdat-e-Ummat’ in Madhya Pradesh; and ‘Nagarik Adhikar Suraksha Manch’ in West Bengal.
The affidavit goes further to state that the Kerala-based Karuna Foundation is also used by ex-SIMI members to counter threats against Islam, along with an organisation called Amanat Foundation which propagates SIMI’s agenda.
According to the MHA, SIMI has been operating through three dozen other front organisations which are actively collecting funds, circulating literature and regrouping cadres.
SIMI, said the affidavit, continues to raise funds within the country by way of the Jhatak — a kind of ‘religious tax’ — collected from SIMI’s ex-members and sympathisers. The government added that members of these front organisations also commit robberies and dacoities to raise funds.
“Therefore, the evidence adduced before this Tribunal and the material placed on record, it is evident that the activities of SIMI are continuing through its members/activists/sympathisers, wherein they are expanding the cadres by indoctrinating young boys and that its cadre is being used by other terrorist organisations to continue unlawful/terrorist activities in India,” the affidavit said.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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