AZAMAGARH : Though intelligence sources suggest that elements within the banned SIMI and Zakir Naik’s IRF are poised to forge closer links, Shahid Badr Falahi, who was the president of the student outfit when it was banned in 2001, rejects the claims.
“There is no such SIMI-IRF understanding. Nor is there any new radical outfit going to be formed. As per the rules in SIMI, a member becomes automatically ineligible to continue after turning 30. In the IRF, no such rules exist. We are different from each other,’’ he told Express.
A Unani doctor from Azamgarh, Falahi said Naik had come to Azamgarh in 2012 for the golden jubilee celebrations of the seminary Jamiatul Falah.
“The IRF shouldn’t have been banned. Every Islamic organisation that works for betterment of the community is not a terrorist organisation, just like SIMI was not a terror outfit,’’ he said.
Asked whether the Indian Mujahideen was an offshoot of SIMI, Falahi said, “What is the Indian Mujahideen? Who are its members? Who is its founder? This is a creation of the Intelligence Bureau to harass Muslim youth. There’s not a shred of evidence to prove something called IM even exists,’’ he said.
Falahi refuted reports that the SIMI is still active despite the ban. “Had they been active, why are police not arresting them? I’m still fighting to ensure that the ban on SIMI is revoked and I will continue to fight this battle legally till my death. SIMI is not a terrorist organisation,” he asserted.