Any outfit seeking to establish Islamic rule can't be permitted, MHA to SC

The MHA, talking about the Students’ Islamic Movement of India, said their objectives are contrary to India's laws

The Union government has told the Supreme Court that any organisation that has the objective of establishing Islamic rule in India cannot be permitted to exist.

The Ministry of Home Affairs strongly defended the ban imposed on Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

"SIMI is against Indian nationalism and works to replace it with an international Islamic order. Their stated objectives are contrary to the laws of our country. Especially, their object of establishing Islamic rule in India can, under no circumstances, be permitted to subsist,” a reply filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

The government also claimed some of the members/activists of SIMI are working under the umbrella of the frontal organisation or have links with a number of other terrorist organizations e g Al-Qaeda, LET, JEM, ISIS, IM etc.

The government pointed out that the latest order of a five-year ban in 2019 was necessitated in view of the group carrying on its unlawful activities through more than three dozen front organisations, which had regrouped across several states under different names.

It said the SIMI continued to exist despite the continuous proscription since 2001.

The affidavit further said, “There are over three dozen other front organisations through which SIMI is being continued. These front organizations help SIMI in various activities including the collection of funds, circulation of literature, regrouping of cadres, etc. SIMI continues to indulge in unlawful activities causing a serious threat to the internal security of the country."

The MHA's response was filed in a petition by a former SIMI member challenging the 2019 ban order of a tribunal constituted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

It also sought to reject the suggestion that SIMI should be presumed to have ceased to exist because of continuous ban orders since 2001.

“Despite the ban on SIMI, its sympathizers have continued to carry on their unlawful activities under the garb of various cover organizations. They have indulged in radicalizing and brainwashing the minds of Muslim youth by Jehadi propaganda and through provocative Taqreers. It is stated that the arrest of various SIMI activists has revealed their plans to eliminate targeted individuals and establish nexus with like-minded Jehadi outfits in India and abroad," the affidavit said.