Students Islamic Movement of India
Encyclopedia
The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is an Islamic student organization that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ from Western materialistic cultural influence and to convert its Muslim society to live according to Muslim code of conduct. This organization is alleged by many, including the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

, to be involved in terrorism.

SIMI was banned by the Indian government in 2001, soon after the 9/11 attacks and declaration of the "War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...

" by the U.S. government, for its alleged involvement in terrorist attacks in India. It has been labelled a terrorist organisation by the administrations in India and U.S. In August 2008, a special tribunal lifted the ban on SIMI, after the long review process. The ban was immediately (in 24 hours) reinstated by K.G. Balakrishnan, then Chief Justice
Chief Justice of India
The Chief Justice of India is the highest-ranking judge in the Supreme Court of India, and thus holds the highest judicial position in India. As well as presiding in the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice also head its administrative functions....

 at Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...

, on the 6th of August, 2008, at the special request of the Congress-led
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 government on national security grounds. Though an appeal was submitted by SIMI leadership challenging the political ban, it has not been accepted in file by the Supreme Court.

Fears exist in some government circles that SIMI may have been operating at the influence of Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...

. Some analysts in the Indian Intelligence Bureau
Intelligence Bureau
Intelligence Bureau was the main internal intelligence agency of British India. It can also refer to:* Intelligence Bureau , the domestic intelligence organization of India...

 believe that SIMI also operates under the name of Indian Mujahideen
Indian Mujahideen
Indian Mujahideen is a terrorist group based in India, known for carrying out several attacks against civilian targets in India....

, an outfit that has reportedly taken responsibility for the 2008 Ahmedabad blasts, Jaipur blasts and 2008 Delhi blasts.
Indian Mujahideen has reportedly taken responsibility of several terrorist acts in India and communicates with the Indian media under the pseudonyms of Al-Arbi and Al-Hindi.

Background

On April 25, 1977, SIMI was founded in Aligarh, in the state of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, with Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi as its founding president. (Siddiqi currently serves as a Professor of English and Journalism at Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University is a public university founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. Like many similar institutions of the time, Western Illinois State Normal School focused on teacher training for its relatively small body of students. As the normal school grew, it became...

 in Macomb, IL.)

SIMI originally emerged as a student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is one of the influential and hardline Islamic organization and movement within Sunni Islam in India...

 (JIH) in an effort to revitalize the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) established in 1956. In 1981, SIMI activists protested against PLO leader Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...

’s visit to India, and greeted him with black flags in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

. Young SIMI activists viewed Arafat as a Western puppet, while the senior JIH leaders saw Arafat as a champion of the Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 cause. The JIH also became uncomfortable with SIMI's support of the Iranian Revolution and oriented itself towards the SIO as its student wing. When SIMI sought self governance and independence of operation from JIH, JIH declined. SIMI separated from JIH and continued as a hard line Islamic Organization.

Philosophy

Its slogan is "Allah is our Lord, the Qur’an is our constitution, Muhammad is our leader, jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...

 is our way and shahada
Shahada
The Shahada , means "to know and believe without suspicion, as if witnessed"/testification; it is the name of the Islamic creed. The shahada is the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet...

 is our desire".

SIMI became more militant and extremist in the backdrop of communal riots and violence between Hindu and Muslim groups in the 80s and 90s. Among its various objectives, SIMI aims to counter what it believes is the increasing moral degeneration, sexual anarchy in Indian society and the ‘in sensitiveness’ of a ‘decadent’ West. SIMI maintains that the concepts of secularism
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...

, democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

 and nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...

, keystones of the Indian Constitution, are antithetical to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. They aim to restore the supremacy of Islam through the resurrection of the khilafat, emphasis on the Muslim ummah
Ummah
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...

 and the waging of jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...

.

Organization

SIMI claims to have about 400 Ansar or registered members and about 20,000 supporting members known as IKHWANS. SIMI published several magazines in various languages, including Tahreek in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

, Iqraa in Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...

, Rupantar in Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

, Sedhi Madal in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

, Vivekam in Malayalam
Malayalam language
Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...

, Movement in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and Shaheen Times in English for children.

After being banned, SIMI faced serious differences of opinion among its members about starting an Armed struggle. SIMI President, Misbahul Islam along with the majority of SIMI members strongly opposes any armed conflict, believing such an approach to be against the interest of India and its citizens.

However, some members have advocated armed struggle against the Government of India. According to some media sources, this faction is led by the former general secretary of SIMI, Safdar Nagori
Safdar Nagori
Safdar Nagori is the current leader of the outlawed Islamist terrorist group, the Students Islamic Movement of India.Nagori, now in his late 30s, was born in a prominent and respected Pathan Sunni Muslim family in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh which had a history of service in the Police Force and...

. Safdar Nagori has denied responsibility for the recent bombings in Indian cities, although Security Agencies in India claim that they were carried by his group under his leadership.

Clashes with Hindu Organizations

SIMI identifies the Hindu organizations such as Sangh Parivar
Sangh Parivar
The Sangh Parivar refers to the family of organisations of Hindu nationalists which have been started by members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or are inspired by its ideas. The Sangh Parivar represents the Hindu nationalist movement. It includes the RSS and several dozen smaller...

 as enemies of Islam. As such, SIMI combines a social discourse with an Islamist one. In 1986 SIMI organized a national convention under the slogan "liberation of India through Islam". SIMI’s "Khilafat Campaign" denounced nationalism and advocated the return of khilafat to the Muslim world, although SIMI’s campaign was universal, rather than pertaining strictly to India in particular.

SIMI organized violent protests against the demolition of the Babri Mosque
Babri Mosque
The Babri Mosque , was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, on Ramkot Hill . It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organisers that the mosque...

. In the nationwide violence that followed the demolitions, SIMI activists clashed against the Police and the Sangh Parivar.

Allegations of terrorist activities

Indian Authorities (Federal and several State Governments) frequently charge that SIMI is involved in terrorist activities. SIMI has been accused of carrying out bomb blasts across India.

After the recent 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings
11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings
The 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts that took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai, the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the nation's financial capital. The bombs were set off in pressure cookers on trains...

, there have been 300 people detained as suspects in the attack. The police have said that most of the people that have been detained are members of SIMI. Activists of the organization have also been accused of being part of an earlier bombing in Mumbai in 2003 where 55 people were killed. Also, in 2008, a lot of attacks (2008 Ahmedabad bombings, 2008 Jaipur bombings, 2008 Delhi bombings) are widely believed to be perpetuated by SIMI.

Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav in Hindi मुलायम सिंह यादव is an Indian politician and has influence mainly in Uttar Pradesh state of India...

, Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav is an Indian politician from Bihar. He was the Minister of Railways from 2004 to 2009 in the ruling United Progressive Alliance government, and the President of the Rashtriya Janata Dal political party...

, Amar Singh
Amar Singh
Amar Singh may refer to:* Amar Singh , Indian test cricketer* Amar Singh , Indian politician* Amar Singh, son of Maharana Pratap...

, Former Chief Minister of Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

 withdrew proceedings against SIMI and said that it was not a terrorist organization.

Ban and Aftermath

The Government of India, by notification dated 08-02-2006 has banned SIMI for the third time. SIMI was first banned on 27 September 2001 immediately after the bombing of Twin Towers of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...

 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, USA on 11 September 2001. SIMI remained banned from 27 September 2001 to 27 September 2003 during which period several prosecutions were launched against its members under the provisions of [Terrorist And Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA
Tada
Tada is a town on the Chennai-Nellore highway, just over from Chennai, India and from Tirupathi. It is located in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh and is about north of the Andhra Pradesh border. This place is the exact border of the Andhra Pradesh.Its nearest major railway station is Tada and...

), the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
Unlawful Activities Act is Indian law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India.The National Integration Council appointed a Committee on National Integration and Regionalisation to look into, inter alia, the aspect of putting reasonable restrictions in the...

 1967.

SIMI was banned for the third time on 08-02-2006. The second ban of SIMI dated 27-09-2003 came to an end on 27-09-2005. Therefore SIMI was in existence between 28 September 2005 and 7 February 2006 but was believed to be dysfunctional due to the fact that many of its members were demoralized or had crossed the age of 30 years; which automatically made them ineligible to continue as a member of SIMI -SIMI has an age limit of 30 years for membership. Many of its members had to fight cases registered against them by the Government.

However, on 27 July 2006, a spokesperson of the Indian Government told the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal held in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

, that contrary to notions that SIMI's activities declined following its ban, the organization "had stepped up its subversive activities and was involved in almost all major explosions, communal violence and circulation of inflammatory material across the country."

The ban notification and the background note stated that SIMI deserved to be banned for clandestine activities and links with around 20 organizations through whom SIMI was allegedly operating. The background note clearly says that there was no violent incident in which SIMI was involved in the last 2–3 years.

To prove its case against SIMI, the Government cited several cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
Unlawful Activities Act is Indian law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India.The National Integration Council appointed a Committee on National Integration and Regionalisation to look into, inter alia, the aspect of putting reasonable restrictions in the...

 registered between 1998–2001.

The third ban on SIMI was lifted by the Delhi High Court
Delhi High Court
The High Court of Delhi was established on 31 October 1966. The High Court of Delhi was established with four judges. They were Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. K. Kapur.-History:...

 Tribunal on 5 August 2008. "Material given by the home ministry is insufficient, so ban cannot be continued,” Justice Geeta Mittal, a sitting Delhi High Court judge, said while lifting the ban. But the lifting of the ban was stayed by the supreme court of India on the next day itself(6 August 2008).

Relationship with Indian Mujahideen

The exact nature of the relationship between SIMI and Indian Mujahideen
Indian Mujahideen
Indian Mujahideen is a terrorist group based in India, known for carrying out several attacks against civilian targets in India....

 (IM) is debated. Some analysts contend that IM is a militant branch of SIMI while others believe that the two groups are distinct although linked.

2003

  • 11 November: A court in New Delhi acquits SIMI president Shahid Badar Falah in a case of sedition, which was filed against him in September 2001.
  • 12 September: Five persons, including two SIMI activists, are arrested for the removal of railway sleepers.
  • 21 July: A POTA
    POTA
    POTA may refer to:*Port of the Americas *Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act*Planet of the Apes *Prevention of Terrorist Act, India...

     court in New Delhi sentences two SIMI activists to a five-year imprisonment under POTA for their membership of the proscribed organization and seven years imprisonment for sedition.
  • 16 July: A POTA Court in Delhi convicts two SIMI activists for their active involvement with the banned outfit.
  • 26 May: Mumbai
    Mumbai
    Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

     Police arrest two suspected activists of the SIMI in the Ghatkopar bomb blast case and remand them to police custody till 5 June.
  • 14 May: Mumbai Police arrest three persons from Padgah village and foil a plan that envisaged a series of explosions in Mumbai and Kerala
    Kerala
    or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

    , which was allegedly hatched by the SIMI and the Lashkar-e-Toiba
    Lashkar-e-Toiba
    Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...

    .

2005

  • 11 July: Police in Uttar Pradesh arrest six persons, from Faizabad in connection with the 5 July-attack on the disputed complex in Ayodhya. The arrested family members were associated with the banned SIMI, according to official sources.
  • 11 June: All eight accused in the Ghatkopar blast case, allegedly cadres of the SIMI, are acquitted by a POTA court in Mumbai due to lack of evidence.
  • 8 March: Delhi Police arrest a SIMI member, Mohammad Iftikar Ehsan Malick, from Dehradun
    Dehradun
    - Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...

    .

2006

  • 30 October: Noor-ul-Hooda, a SIMI activist, was arrested by the police for his alleged involvement in the 2006 Malegaon blasts
    2006 Malegaon blasts
    The 2006 Malegaon bombings were a series of bomb blasts that took place on 8 September 2006 in Malegaon, a town in the Nashik district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, located at some 290 km to the northeast of state capital Mumbai....

    . Authorities said the bombs used in the blasts were assembled in the garage of "main conspirator" Shabbir at Malegaon. Maharashtra police claims that 2006 Malegaon blasts
    2006 Malegaon blasts
    The 2006 Malegaon bombings were a series of bomb blasts that took place on 8 September 2006 in Malegaon, a town in the Nashik district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, located at some 290 km to the northeast of state capital Mumbai....

     were the handiwork of ex-SIMI members. But, on 18/12/2010 the real culprits of Malegaon blast were exposed after swami Aseemanand confessed that Malegaon blast were carried out by RSS pracharaks including himself.
  • 21 July: 3 men were arrested for the bombing in Mumbai
    Mumbai
    Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

    , all three of them part of SIMI.
  • 13 July: Mumbai Police arrested around 200 SIMI activists from different parts of Mumbai.
  • 6 July: The Supreme Court rejects a plea by the Students Islamic Movement of India to lift the ban that the Government of India imposed on the organisation in 2001.
  • 1 July: The Uttar Pradesh Government on 1 July withdrew a "treason" case against the banned SIMI president Dr Shahid Badr Falahi. The State Government order 26-21-wc-7-Nyaya 5-2006/10wc10-14-wc-2004 ordered the withdrawal of the case. A case was registered against him on charges of sedition, creating communal disharmony, inducement for armed struggle and hurting religious sentiments. The concerned authorities failed to substantiate these claims.

2007

  • 15 February: The Supreme Court describes the banned Students Islamic Movement of India as a "secessionist movement."

2008

  • 27 March: SIMI Ex-General Secretary Safdar Nagori
    Safdar Nagori
    Safdar Nagori is the current leader of the outlawed Islamist terrorist group, the Students Islamic Movement of India.Nagori, now in his late 30s, was born in a prominent and respected Pathan Sunni Muslim family in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh which had a history of service in the Police Force and...

     (Mahidpur), Amil Parvez(Unhel) arrested from Indore
    Indore
    Indore is one of the major city in India, the largest city and commercial center of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Indore is located 190 km west of the state capital Bhopal. According to the 2011 Indian census, Indore city has a population of 1,960,631...

    , along with 10 alleged members of the group by Madhya Pradesh
    Madhya Pradesh
    Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....

     State Police's Special Task Force
  • 26 July: Just a dat after the serial blasts in Bangalore
    Bangalore
    Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

    , 17 serial blasts ripped the city of Ahmedabad
    Ahmedabad
    Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...

     in the western state of Gujarat; for which too the outlawed SIMI or the IM claimed responsibility.
  • 5 August: Delhi High Court Tribunal lifts ban on SIMI. The lifting of the ban was subsequently stayed by the Supreme Court of India on 6 August 2008.
  • 13 September: A group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen
    Indian Mujahideen
    Indian Mujahideen is a terrorist group based in India, known for carrying out several attacks against civilian targets in India....

     claims responsibility for the serial blasts in New Delhi. 30 people were killed in these blasts & more than 90 injured.

2010

  • 7 December: Islamic terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen
    Indian Mujahideen
    Indian Mujahideen is a terrorist group based in India, known for carrying out several attacks against civilian targets in India....

    claims responsibility for the Varanasi bomb blast which claimed a life of a two-year old girl and left more than 30 people injured.

External links

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