Author: Varsha Bhosle
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: June 9, 2003
On December 2, 2002, a blast in
a stationary double-decker bus in Ghatkopar, northeast Mumbai, killed 3
persons and injured 28; the same day, another bomb was defused in Andheri,
northwest Mumbai. On December 6, an explosion in Bombay Central injured
25. On January 28, 2003, a bomb exploded in the Vile Parle market, northwest
Mumbai, injuring 30. On March 13, a blast at Mulund railway station, northeast
Mumbai, killed 12 people and injured 70. Mumbai, once again, was under
attack.
Twenty days after the first blast,
the arrests began. Zaheer Sheikh, an electronics engineer, was arrested
for providing accommodation to one saboteur. Dr Abdul Mateen, a PhD professor
in forensic science and toxicology at the Grant Medical College, was picked
up in Aurangabad. Imran Rehman Khan, deported from the UAE, disclosed that
he had been summoned by a Lashkar-e-Tayiba front organisation in Saudi
Arabia to plan a "revenge of Gujarat killings." Taufiq Ahmed of the banned
Muslim Defence Force nabbed in Tirunelvelli for masterminding the 2002
Sai Baba Nagar blasts, was found to be involved in the Mulund blast. And
so on and so forth...
The number of arrests seems to be
around 15. The police have established that all the explosions were linked
to the same conspirators, and, 3 earlier murder cases and a Kolkata abduction
case were a fallout of the same conspiracy. Police have seized 4 AK-46
rifles, 3 pistols, 250 hand grenades, 160 live cartridges, etc, from Padgah
village near Thane. Of the pistols recovered, one had been among those
arms which had landed in Bombay during the 1993 blasts; one of the grenades
was made in an ordnance factory (the police didn't say which, but I'm sure
it's the Pakistani factory set up with Austrian assistance). Also recovered
were 1 kg of potassium cyanide, several bottles of sulphuric acid, ammonium
nitrate.
Thing is, the Mumbai police managed
to zero in on the devotees of the "religion of peace" so quickly because
some of them were already in their crosshairs since before the blasts:
The fundamentalist-divisive-communalist force routinely kept watch on a
certain banned organisation which has gallantly been defended by the "secular"
well-wishers of India:
September 5, 2000: A delegation
of teachers and students of the Aligarh Muslim University, led by its proctor,
protest against the arrest of SIMI member Abdul Mobin. Students go on a
rampage damaging property, despite the police informing them that Mobin
is wanted in connection with the serial bomb blasts all over UP.
October 16: The Milli Gazette states:
"[The UP police] have found a new target in the form of SIMI. Muslim youths,
who have not adopted pop culture and live simply and offer five times namaaz,
are being branded as SIMI activist and their activities and movements are
being observed."
October 29: The Imam of Tilewali
Masjid (Lucknow) Maulana Fazlur criticises the arrests of SIMI activists.
At the same meet, "noted Islamic scholar Dr Mohammed Anis said the US and
its allies who wanted to have absolute control over the natural resources
of poor countries had coined the term 'Islamic terrorism' to blame Muslims
who were opposing the hegemony of the superpower."
April 25, 2001: Jamaat-e-Islami
and Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, then elected as a member of
the Mecca-based World Muslim League, inaugurates the silver jubilee celebrations
of SIMI in Delhi.
September 27: Demonstrators protest
the arrest of 3 local SIMI leaders in Lucknow. Violence erupts when police
seal off SIMI offices after Delhi imposes a ban on the group.
September 28: The All India Muslim
Personal Law Board, led by Maulana Qazi MI Qasmi, calls a meeting to flay
the government for the ban on SIMI. The meeting is attended by Maulana
Mohd Sirajul Hasan of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Syed Shahabuddin. The Muslim
Political Council of India accuses the government of adopting a biased
attitude against Muslims, saying, "The ban on SIMI is unjust... and politically
motivated." Sunni and Shia Ulema, including the much-revered Maulana Kalbe
Jawwad and Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, tell the press that the ban on SIMI is
illegal.
September 28: Samajwadi Party president
Mulayam Singh Yadav demands an immediate withdrawal of the ban since SIMI
activists have been implicated on "flimsy charges" and are innocent of
anti-national activities.
September 28: The CPI(M-L) opposes
the ban on SIMI since it is imposed on "flimsy grounds like Osama Ben [sic]
Laden being their source of inspiration, or their belief in pan-Islamism."
October 8: The Samajwadi Party in
West Bengal threatens to call a bandh unless the crackdown on SIMI is halted.
Vijay Upadhyay says the police must halt the "illegal detention" and "harassment"
of SIMI activists. He reminds the CM that the CPI-M Politburo and other
"secular" parties have opposed the move. The Association for Protection
of Democratic Rights condemns the ban.
March 26, 2002: Sonia Gandhi, during
an extraordinary joint session convened for the introduction of the POTO
bill, says that the anti-terrorism measure had been selectively used to
ban an organisation that had nothing to do with terrorism in J&K. [This
bit goes unreported by every 'national,' English-language newspaper of
India.]
Here's my point: If an illness is
not recognised as such, it cannot be diagnosed and treated. All these aforesaid
Muslims instantly fell back on "Islam khatre mein hain" -- without considering
the subversive actions of SIMI. That makes them rank Islamists -- those
who want to, slowly but surely, see Dar-ul Islam in Hindustan. None are
interested in the well-being of pluralistic India and its citizens.
The "secularists," on the other
hand, use that Islamist perversity only to build up their electoral vote-banks.
Each time I indicate an Islamist perversity, I'm told that I sow discord,
hate Muslims, want to see them dead, etc, etc. Or, I'm asked why I don't
indict errant Hindus as well. In all this, not a single "secularist" actually
refutes my points or proves (and not just pronounces) my data to be fabricated.
This is the hallmark of a people only pretending to be asleep.
Whether Islamist or "secularist";
whether politician, reporter or commoner, everybody knew that SIMI was
involved in anti-national and anti-Hindu activities -- right up to the
point when the government banned it:
June 21, 2000; The Asian Age: The
Students' Islamic Movement of India, a frontal organisation of the Jamaat-e-Islami,
has started a campaign to prepare Muslim minorities for a full blown jihad
against Hindus...
September 8; The Daily Excelsior:
SIMI's new plans are meant to trigger bomb blasts in various parts of the
country. The plans, according to international sources, also cover certain
parts in the northeast, particularly Assam, where three Muslim militant
outfits have already been reported to have established close contacts with
SIMI... Kashmiri militants had already imparted training to a large number
of SIMI activists in the use of grenades and IEDs.
September 5; The Asian Age: SIMI
has been found to have masterminded and executed the series of bomb blasts
that rocked UP on the eve of Independence Day. Two SIMI activists, Mohd
Maroof and Abdul Mobin, who were arrested on Sunday from Agra and Aligarh
respectively, have confessed that they were involved in triggering off
the blasts on the Sabarmati Express on August 14 that had killed over a
dozen persons. The two also admitted their role in the blasts in Kanpur
on August 14 and 15, and in Lucknow on August 15.
September 24; rediff.com: Elaborating
on the awareness spread by SIMI, [national president Shahid] Badr said
his organisation wanted to establish a state ruled by followers of Allah
and in this regard, SIMI activists have undertaken a task to impart a true
Islamic way of life among people, particularly to Muslims.
October 12; The Asian Age: "All
allegations against Osama are concocted by the USA and there is a conspiracy
to provoke Indians into taking a position against him." [SIMI secretary
general Safdar] Nagauri's statement comes two days after a conference in
Kanpur, in which SIMI leaders had praised bin Laden and had claimed that
as long as he followed 'hadees', he would remain a role model for SIMI
activists.
March 29, 2001; The Asian Age: The
controversial SIMI Wednesday said that the prevailing circumstances in
India urgently needed "a character like Mahmud Ghaznavi to end the suppression
of minorities and dalits."
August 7; The Pioneer: Links between
Hizbul Mujahideen militants and some activists of SIMI have been revealed
following recent arrests in cases of terrorist violence... SIMI has some
20,000 dedicated members and hundreds of thousands of sympathisers.
August 18; Newspaper Today: Among
the startling revelations of the Hizbul Mujahideen militants arrested by
the Delhi Police earlier this month was that large consignments of explosives
have been changing hands from the courtyards of popular mosques like the
Jama Masjid, ostensibly to provide an air of sanctimony to the 'jehadi'
missions. Also, the Delhi-headquartered SIMI has been providing safehouses
to militants and even helping them in subversive acts. The revelations
are corroborated by interrogation reports of 23 SIMI activists rounded
up from Hyderabad, Kanpur, Jalgaon and Nagpur soon after the arrests of
the HM militants.
September 13; The Times of India:
Ask how peace would prevail if the [Ayodhya] site remained disputed, and
[SIMI's Khalid Shaikh] says, "Peace will come only when Islam rules."
September 28; rediff.com: A meeting
held in Bahraich town of UP by SIMI a fortnight ago provided authorities
the clinching evidence they were looking for to ban the outfit, say officials.
"SIMI president Shahid Badr and former chief Mohammad Anees had openly
tried to incite communal passion and even called upon the gathering to
defy the Indian Constitution and Parliament," he said.
It was after knowing all this that
the protests in support of SIMI -- on the streets and in Parliament --
took place...
On March 29 this year, a Mumbai
crime branch team went to the majority-Muslim Padgah village near Thane
to arrest Sakib Abdul Hamid Nachen, a SIMI activist involved in the Ghatkopar
blast. When they were taking Nachen towards the jeep, a mob -- including
women -- surrounded the jeep and prevented the police from taking him.
This is what Raj means by "critical mass."
On May 3, two militant training
camps were unearthed on hilltops near Mumbai; all the blasts-accused had
visited the camps for giving training in use of firearms. The camps were
being used for the past 2 years for training jihadis. Who trained in them?
Another PhD professor like Dr Abdul Mateen? Another NDA lecturer like Anwar
Ali...? Fact is, there are more Islamists in India than "secularists" will
admit even to themselves. And, it is not "poverty" and "no opportunity"
that makes them jihadis. As with their idol Osama, it is pure Khilafah
-- the urge to impose Islamic supremacy in India -- that guides them. This
must be accepted by the so-called M&Ms and the "secularists" before
India can take steps towards communal harmony.
Depressed enough...? Antagonised
enough...?
Now for the good news. And I mean,
REALLY GOOD NEWS: A new organisation called the Muslim Youths of India
is preaching to Muslims that it's time to break away and debunk the "anti-national"
stereotype. Syed Khan, the 32-year-old convener of MY India, says, "What
we are saying is that for long people have put religion over nation and
it's time to change that... Community, whosever it is, should not come
ahead of nation."
Khan says the organisation became
a necessity after Mumbai police busted the 2 Mumbai jihad camps run by
SIMI; word had spread that young Muslims attended the camps in large numbers.
"What we are saying is that Muslims have for long been misled in the name
of religion. These forces are destroying the very fabric of our community,
which is lagging behind anyway." He plans to start the movement in Mumbai,
taking it to other cities and then finally to the villages. The 250-odd
members will intensively campaign to keep Muslims away from the "gun and
religion trap."
"There are many who are asking me
'why are you conceding that Muslims have taken up the gun or are joining
the SIMI -- it will only increase the atrocities against us.' But I tell
them that this has to stop... I tell them that I offer namaaz five times
a day. I love my religion but I will not let my country disintegrate...
MY India will tackle the adversity because we are convinced this movement
is for the good of everybody," Khan says.
Of course, the climb is going to
VERY steep: Ahmed H Hussain, a businessman from Mumbai, declares, "It is
ridiculous. This new breed of boys just want to reap some benefits for
themselves. They have to take into account what we have gone through all
these years and recently in Gujarat. What aggression are they talking about,
who is the aggressor?"
This information about MY India
was published only by The Telegraph till the time of writing. Obviously,
the 'national' papers don't think much of Muslim nationalism...
Therefore, all those M&Ms who
claim to have "no voice" better put their money where their mouth is. This
is a one-time opportunity to strengthen nationalist forces and make a death-dent
in the AIMPLB type of groups and make dorks like Shahabuddin and Bukhari
irrelevant. If you don't move now, this tiny, nascent organisation will
be swamped over by all the anti-nationalist forces till it exists no more.
And then, another Muslim won't dare to take stand against the Islamism
and the perverted form of secularism rooted in this country. It's up to
you.