NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday extended the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for another five years as an ‘unlawful association’ under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act - UAPA.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), while announcing the decision, said it did so by exercising the powers conferred on it under the provisions of the UAPA.
The MHA in the notification said, “SIMI has been banned as an ‘unlawful association’ for a further period of five years under Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) 1967).”
The MHA had declared the SIMI as an unlawful association for the first time on September 27, 2001, and later kept extending the ban on September 26, 2003, February 8, 2006, February 7, 2008, February 5, 2010, February 3, 2012, February 1, 2014, and January 31, 2019.
A senior MHA official said that the latest decision has been taken keeping in view the role of the SIMI, which is “continuing to be involved in fomenting terrorism, disturbing the peace and communal harmony in the country”. Its acts continue to be prejudicial to the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, he added.
Many criminal cases have been registered against SIMI and its members under various sections of law including the UAPA.
Later in a post on micro-blogging site ‘X’ Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the move was part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy against terrorism.
“Bolstering PM @narendramodi Ji's vision of zero tolerance against terrorism 'Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)' has been declared as an 'Unlawful Association' for a further period of five years under the UAPA. The SIMI has been found involved in fomenting terrorism, disturbing peace and communal harmony to threaten the sovereignty, security and integrity of Bharat,” Shah said.
As per the fresh notification, the SIMI has been indulging in activities, which are “prejudicial to the security of the country and have the potential of disturbing peace and communal harmony and disrupting the secular fabric of the country”.
It also linked the SIMI’s role in several cases, including a case registered by the anti-terror federal probe agency NIA against Athar Parvej and Mohd Jalaluddin of Phulawari Sharif, Patna relating to a conspiracy to disrupt the visit of the Prime Minister in July 2022.
The MHA in the notification also pointed out that if the unlawful activities of the SIMI “are not curbed and controlled immediately, it will take the opportunity to continue its subversive activities and re-organise its activists, who are still absconding; disrupt the secular fabric of the country by polluting the minds of the people by creating communal disharmony; propagate anti-national sentiments; escalate secessionism by supporting militancy; and undertake activities which are prejudicial to the integrity and security of the country”.
The MHA had earlier received recommendations from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh governments to declare SIMI as an ‘unlawful association’ under the provisions of the UAPA.