Mumbai bleeds again, India bleeds again … the saga terrorist attacks continue to loom large on us. The promises of Governments falls flat and humanity bites dust. Yes, Mumbai is back to business - but can any Government, any compensation, any support can bring back the people, that families lost. Lost with these people are emotions, forever.
& this time - its SIMI - as they say.
This time my blog stands beside the families of my fellow countrymen and takes a closer look at this peril called SIMI.
The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), proscribed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA), is an Islamist fundamentalist organization, which advocates the 'liberation of India' by converting it to an Islamic land. The SIMI, an organisation of young extremist students has declared Jehad against India, the aim of which is to establish Dar-ul-Islam (land of Islam) by either forcefully converting everyone to Islam or by violence.
Formation
The SIMI was formed at Aligarh in the State of Uttar Pradesh on April 25, 1977. Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi, Professor of Journalism and Public Relations at the Western Illinois University Macomb, Illinois, was the founding President of the outfit. It originally emerged as an offshoot of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JeIH).
Objectives and Ideology
1) Governing of human life on the basis of the Holy Quran
2) Propagation of Islam
3) Jehad for the cause of Islam
SIMI also attempts to utilize the youth in the propagation of Islam and also to mobilize support for Jehad and establish a Shariat-based Islamic rule through “Islami Inqulab”. As the organization does not believe in a nation-state, it does not believe in the Indian Constitution or the secular order. SIMI also regards idol worship as a sin and considers it to be a holy duty to terminate idol worship.
SIMI is widely believed to be against Hinduism, western beliefs and ideals, as well as other 'anti-Islamic cultures'. Among its various objectives, the SIMI aims to counter what it believes is the increasing moral degeneration, sexual anarchy in the Indian society as also the 'insensitiveness' of a 'decadent' west. Ideologically, SIMI maintains that the concepts of secularism, democracy and nationalism, keystones of the Indian Constitution, are antithetical to Islam. Parallel to its rejection of secularism, democracy and nationalism is its oft-repeated objective of restoration of the ‘khilafat’, emphasis on ‘ummah’ (Muslim brotherhood), and the need for a Jehad to establish the supremacy of Islam.
The outfit is known to have adopted an extremist and militant posture on various issues of concern to the Muslim community.
According to the SIMI, Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is an outstanding example of a true Mujahid, who has undertaken Jehad on behalf of the ‘ummah’.
Leadership
Dr Shahid Badar Falah functioned as the national president and Safdar Nagori as the secretary-general till the organization was proscribed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002. The Delhi Police arrested Falah on September 28, 2001, from its office in the Zakir Nagar area of Delhi and he has subsequently been charged with sedition and inciting communal disharmony in the State of Uttar Pradesh.
Currently, the outfit is reported to be operating underground under the leadership of Nagori. Nagori has been named in a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities Act, registered at the New Friends Colony Police station in South Delhi. Nagori, declared a Proclaimed Offender in the case, has been absconding since September 27, 2001. He is alleged to have established links with the operatives of Inter Service Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's external intelligence agency, and other Islamist fundamentalist leaders in a bid to revive SIMI cadres under the umbrella of a different outfit.
Linkages and Areas of Operation
SIMI reportedly secures generous financial assistance from the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), Riyadh, and also maintains close links with the International Islamic Federation of Students’ Organizations (IIFSO) in Kuwait.
The Chicago-based Consultative Committee of Indian Muslims is also reported to have supported SIMI morally and financially.
The SIMI also has links with the Jamaat-e-Islam (JeI) units in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The SIMI is also alleged to have close links with the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and the ISI. Certain SIMI leaders are reported to have had close links with Pakistan-based terrorist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Groups of SIMI sympathizers reportedly exist in several places in the Gulf States. Jamayyatul Ansar, an organisation of SIMI activists comprising expatriate Indian Muslims, reportedly operates in Saudi Arabia.
Several Islamist fundamentalist organisations in India are allegedly controlled by former SIMI cadres. Prominent among them are the Kerala-based National Democratic Front and Islamic Youth Centre (IYC), and the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) in Tamil Nadu.
According to official sources, in the year 1993 following the arrest of a Sikh terrorist, it was revealed that SIMI cadres, Sikh and Kashmiri terrorists, had been brought together by the ISI through the Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan to carry out subversive activities.
The outfit is currently regarded as having a national presence with strong bases in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra (Aurangabad, Malegaon, Jalgaon and Thane), Andhra Pradesh and Assam. It reportedly has a strong base in various universities in these States. SIMI is also believed to enjoy the support of a large section of the Muslim populace in cities such as Kanpur, Rampur, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Lucknow and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Official sources are reported to have identified nine districts in Uttar Pradesh, where the SIMI is suspected of engaging in subversive activities-Lucknow, Kanpur, Aligarh, Agra, Faizabad, Bahraich, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri and Azamgarh. The SIMI is also being utilised by various terrorist outfits because it has a well-knit network in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
Membership, Influence and Activities
Opposed to democracy, secularism and nationalism, SIMI has been advocating among its followers - some 400 ansars (full-time cadres) and the 20,000 ordinary members - the need to oppose “man-made” institutions and work for the ummah. Students up to the age of 30 years are eligible to be its members and after completing this age-limit they retire from the organization. SIMI cadres consider Osama bin Laden as a 'true believer of Islam' and regard him as an epitome of 'Islamic Hero'. According to Safdar Nagori, a prominent SIMI leader, bin Laden is “not a terrorist’” and neither is Jammu and Kashmir an “integral part of India.” At its congregations, messages and recorded speeches have been relayed from the Palestinian Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yasin and Qazi Hussein Ahmed, chief of the Pakistani Jamaat.
Official sources have indicated that the SIMI has established links with terrorist outfits and is also supporting extremism/militancy in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere. The outfit is reported to have published objectionable posters and literature, which are intended to incite communal feelings and which question the territorial integrity of India.
Shaheen Force, the outfit's wing for schoolchildren seeks to “protect the children from present-day misguidance and vices” and keeps them “under the shade of Islamic culture”. The outfit also has a wing that aims to channelise the talent of girls for the Islamist cause.
SIMI reportedly operates many special programmes for students of Arabic colleges and Islamic universities. Students receive training and other assistance in the study of languages and Islamic sciences. According to the SIMI, renaissance of the ummah depends on Islamic scholars because the community can attain its glory only when it will be led and guided by sincere ulema (scholars).
According to the SIMI, Israelis were responsible for the 9/11 attacks in New York. According to a press release issued by its secretary-general Safdar Nagori after 9/11, “there are strong reasons to believe that the recent attacks may be a conspiracy of the Zionist Israel, which is rapidly losing world support because of its inhuman and terrorist activities in Palestine.”
Publications
SIMI publishes several magazines in various languages, including Vivekam in Malayalam, Sedhi Madal in Tamil, Rupantar in Bengali, Iqraa in Gujarati, Tahreek in Hindi, Al Harkah in Urdu and the Shaheen Times.
(below is an excerpt from an article on rediff.com, on this subject)
If you are wondering just what SIMI is, and why it hogs headlines whenever bomb blasts occur in the country, read on:
What is SIMI?
The Student Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, is a fundamentalist student organisation that was formed at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in 1977. Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi, now a professor of journalism and public relations at Western Illinois University, Macomb, USA, was its founding president.SIMI activists say they want to convert India to an Islamic land. SIMI was outlawed in 2001 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Thought the Act has been scrapped by the United Progressive Alliance government, the ban on SIMI holds.
Where is Siddiqi now?
In the United States.
In an exclusive interview to rediff.com in 2003, Siddiqi said he founded SIMI in 1977 as part of his mission to educate and enlighten the Muslim community. He is also a founding member and secretary general of the North American Association of Muslim Professionals and Scholars. Siddiqi said SIMI was set up to study Islam like in a study circle and to present Islam through lectures and seminars to students at colleges and schools.
Siddiqi now says he has no links with SIMI because the organisation has been hijacked by radical elements.
Who heads SIMI now?
Safdar Nagori, the secretary general of SIMI, is the present head of the organisation. When SIMI was outlawed under POTA in 2001, the Delhi police arrested Nagori from the SIMI office in the Zakir Nagar area of Delhi. Since then, he has been in jail, charged with sedition and inciting communal trouble in Uttar Pradesh. The police say the outfit is now operating underground.
Why did the government ban SIMI?
SIMI was banned following requests made by the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, who said the organisation had been inciting communal violence in these states.
Was that reason enough for a ban on SIMI under the anti-terrorism law?
No. Police investigations revealed that in 2001, SIMI activists were responsible for the communal riots in Pune and Kanpur and for the bomb blast on the Sabarmati Express on Independence Day. Then, the Maharashtra police arrested nine SIMI members who attempted to bomb the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad offices in Nagpur in May 2001.
In which states of India does SIMI have a presence?
Reportedly, it has strong bases and support in various universities in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Assam. SIMI is also believed to enjoy local support in cities and towns like Aligarh, Kanpur, Rampur, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Lucknow and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.
It is believed that after the Gujarat riots of 2002, SIMI’s ranks swelled.
Does SIMI have links with terrorist outfits?
The police say SIMI has links with the Jamaat-e-Islam and the Hizbul Mujahideen in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. They also say SIMI is connected with Pakistan’s Inter-State Intelligence.
Reportedly, SIMI activists have had close links with other Pakistan-based terrorist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Who funds the outfit?
It is believed that SIMI secures funds from the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, Riyadh, and gets financial assistance from the Kuwait-based International Islamic Federation of Students Organisations.
What do the members believe in?
SIMI members are reportedly opposed to democracy, secularism and nationalism. They advocate among its followers the need to oppose ‘man-made’ institutions. SIMI also attempts to mobilise support for and establish Shariat-based Islamic rule through ‘Islami Inquilab.’ As the organisation does not believe in a nation-State, it does not believe in the Indian Constitution or the secular order.
How many SIMI members are there in India?
The police say SIMI has some 400 ansars (full-time cadres) and 20,000 ordinary members. But after the outfit was outlawed in 2001, most of the active members are in jail. Students up to the age of 30 years are eligible to become members. SIMI cadres consider Osama bin Laden a ‘true believer of Islam’ and regard him as an ‘Islamic hero.’
Whatever … the details, we know SIMI is definitely a peril ahead …
agree with prashanth.. as time passes the balance sure is shifting / tilting towards evil.. and it’’s shifting fast. people these days are more stuborn about their views and hardly take time or effort to learn the truth before taking a stance..
Aditya Builders in Pune(India) is FRAUD. Please don”t make any Property dealings with them.
Everywhere, ther are Bombblasts now, in Newyork, Kashmir, Bali, Madird
Now in Mumbai Blast. Yesterday, the blast was in my Home, you will not believe, complete society rocked. No any Organization taken the responsibility of that Blast. Because, it was a Gas Cylliner.
Thank god, nobody was there in Kitchen.
I have never read any holy books.. be in Quran, Bible or Bhagavadgita.. but I think no holy book will ever say that, crime against humanity is a solution to achieve peace, or universal brotherhood. And those who think they can achieve their idealism by terrorism are definitely on the path of peril. Good and Evil people were there in all period of time, but now balance is tilting towards Evil.
good work AC..u have put a lot of info here…keep going..
I am also from SIMI, you will get more information from me.
Email: naveedabrar@hotmail.com
ho is the Model waering the black Jacket & Mask?
“It is because Humanity has never known where it was going that it has been able to find its way.”–we are just going on fighting forming groups–but have we ever asked ourselves–are we getting what we want…DO WE HAVE PEACE–this article is very good and informative..keep it up dude