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Hindutva snub:
Tribunal lifts India's ban on SIMI
 NEW
DELHI: After much brouhaha and persistent ultra-nationalist
propaganda aimed largely against Muslim community, Indian
establishment got the snub it richly deserved as a tribunal on
Tuesday lifted the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India
(SIMI), accused of involvement in terrorist activities across the
country.
The order comes at a time when the organisation’s role in the
Bangalore and Ahmedabad blasts is being probed by security agencies.
Indian establishment routinely names one or the other Muslim body
whenever there is a terrorist incident, and mostly the accusation
starts even before ambulances stop shrieking. Moments after the
Bangalore blasts, TV news anchors would start asking their reporters
still rushing to the blast sites whether there could be a johadi
hand in it.
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The order comes at a time when
the organisation’s role in the Bangalore and Ahmedabad blasts is
being probed by security agencies. |
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The situation was similar during the militancy
era in Punjab when many a Sikh youth were termed terrorists and
killed. So much so that some escaped the police terror and went into
hiding but the cops still declared them dead and took home the prize
on their head. Later, many of these "killed" youth re-appeared but
Indian establishment was not shamed one bit.
SIMI was declared unlawful in 2001 by the Union Home Ministry, for
"indulging in activities prejudicial to the security of the
country”. The ban was extended every year. Originally, the
organization was formed at Aligarh in April 1977 by a Journalism
professor.
Since 2006, 53 fresh criminal cases have been lodged by the police
against members of the organisation for "disruptive activities".
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Govt to challenge tribunal’s ruling on SIMI
New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry would challenge the order of a
tribunal which lifted the ban on Students Islamic Movement of India.
"The Ministry will examine the order of the specially-designated
tribunal in detail and take remedial action on a priority basis," a
Ministry spokesman said. |
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The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal headed by Justice Gita
Mittal of the Delhi High Court quashed the February 2008
notification of the Ministry on the ground that the government
failed to produce sufficient evidence to justify the extension of
the ban.
The government could only produce evidence from the Malegaon blast
in Maharashtra (it killed 37 people in 2006).
Only last week the tribunal had asked the centre to produce “fresh
evidence” to link SIMI to "bomb blasts, riots and destructive
activities" to sustain the latest ban imposed in February this year.
The tribunal was hearing an appeal filed by SIMI challenging the
ban. The court has forwarded the order to the Home Ministry in a
sealed envelope.
Tuesday’s decision will not make a difference to the existing cases
against SIMI activists, who face charges ranging from sedition to
organised crime, but SIMI activists can now come out in the open, as
any other political party and mobilise people.
The BJP immediately called the development as proof of
“incompetence” of the UPA government.
6 August, 2008
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