Underlining zero tolerance against terrorism, Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced that the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) has been declared an “unlawful association” and the ban on it has been extended by another five years under the stringent anti-terror law.
The outfit has been found involved in fomenting terrorism, disturbing peace and communal harmony to threaten the sovereignty, security and integrity of Bharat, said Mr Shah.
“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,” Mr Shah posted on X.
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,…— गृहमंत्री कार्यालय, HMO India (@HMOIndia) January 29, 2024
It was also banned under the UPA government on February 1, 2014, for a period of five years.
Among the terror acts in which SIMI members were allegedly involved are blasts in Gaya in 2017, Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore in 2014, and jail break in Bhopal in 2014.
The SIMI was established on April 25, 1977, in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh, and the organisation allegedly works on the agenda of liberating India by converting it into an Islamic state.
The SIMI was first banned in 2001 when the Atal Bihar Vajpayee government was in power and since then the ban has been extended every five years.
