NEW DELHI: The tribunal established by the Centre to review the ninth extension of the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has upheld the ban. The decision was based on evidence from the Phulwarisharif PFI case, which involved a conspiracy to disrupt Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Patna in July 2022, as well as other ISIS-inspired terror plots under investigation by the NIA and several state police forces.
The order of the UAPA tribunal, put out in a gazette notification issued on Tuesday, stated that based on evidence and material provided to it, “it is evident that SIMI continues to engage in unlawful and terrorist activities despite being banned”.
It added: “The organization is expanding its ranks by indoctrinating young boys and operating through front organizations. SIMI maintains connections with various terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, ISIS and Indian Mujahideen. It continues to receive both domestic and international funding, which supports its activities in India… it is clear that several accused persons, who have committed various offences across different jurisdictions, have been identified as members or activists of SIMI. By conspiring together, they committed numerous offences aligned with SIMI’s ideologies and propaganda”.
The tribunal observed that the evidence in cases involving ex-SIMI cadres — who are now either affiliated with Popular Front of India (PFI), also banned under UAPA, or found to be carrying out ISIS propaganda and plotting/executing attacks to further the global terror outfit’s ideology favouring Islamic rule — “effectively establishes the fact that despite the previous bans, SIMI is still active through its members and activists.”
One of the key testimonies relied upon by the tribunal while confirming the ban on SIMI is that of NIA officer Vipin Kumar, who had deposed that the key accused in Phulwarisharif PFI case, Athar Parvej and Jalaluddin, were connected with SIMI members and taking their help for planning and commission of terrorist acts.
The investigators had recovered incriminating documents titled ‘India 2047: Towards Rule of Islam in India’ that chronicled how PFI intends to replace democratic govt in India with Islamic rule by creating disaffection and getting cadres trained in use of crude weapons, to commit violent acts. Parvej had confessed that he, on PFI’s direction, was preparing a secret group of ex-SIMI members to avenge “atrocities against Muslims and derogatory remarks against Islam” and cited the targeted attacks against Hindu individuals in Amravati and Udaipur. The PFI ‘vision document’ found his Parvej’s home was the basis for declaration of the organization as an “unlawful association” under UAPA in 2022. The entire PFI leadership was arrested in the wake of the ban.
The order of the UAPA tribunal, put out in a gazette notification issued on Tuesday, stated that based on evidence and material provided to it, “it is evident that SIMI continues to engage in unlawful and terrorist activities despite being banned”.
It added: “The organization is expanding its ranks by indoctrinating young boys and operating through front organizations. SIMI maintains connections with various terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, ISIS and Indian Mujahideen. It continues to receive both domestic and international funding, which supports its activities in India… it is clear that several accused persons, who have committed various offences across different jurisdictions, have been identified as members or activists of SIMI. By conspiring together, they committed numerous offences aligned with SIMI’s ideologies and propaganda”.
The tribunal observed that the evidence in cases involving ex-SIMI cadres — who are now either affiliated with Popular Front of India (PFI), also banned under UAPA, or found to be carrying out ISIS propaganda and plotting/executing attacks to further the global terror outfit’s ideology favouring Islamic rule — “effectively establishes the fact that despite the previous bans, SIMI is still active through its members and activists.”
One of the key testimonies relied upon by the tribunal while confirming the ban on SIMI is that of NIA officer Vipin Kumar, who had deposed that the key accused in Phulwarisharif PFI case, Athar Parvej and Jalaluddin, were connected with SIMI members and taking their help for planning and commission of terrorist acts.
The investigators had recovered incriminating documents titled ‘India 2047: Towards Rule of Islam in India’ that chronicled how PFI intends to replace democratic govt in India with Islamic rule by creating disaffection and getting cadres trained in use of crude weapons, to commit violent acts. Parvej had confessed that he, on PFI’s direction, was preparing a secret group of ex-SIMI members to avenge “atrocities against Muslims and derogatory remarks against Islam” and cited the targeted attacks against Hindu individuals in Amravati and Udaipur. The PFI ‘vision document’ found his Parvej’s home was the basis for declaration of the organization as an “unlawful association” under UAPA in 2022. The entire PFI leadership was arrested in the wake of the ban.
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