Author: Cithara Paul
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: February 4, 2010
URL: http://www.telegraphindia.com//1100205/jsp/nation/story_12069144.jsp
Several Muslim groups have come together to
question for the first time the ban on Simi, the student group blamed by the
government for involvement in anti-national activities in the country.
The initiative has come three days before
the ban on the Students' Islamic Movement of India expires on February 7.
"It is for the first time that the community
has shown the courage to come out in the open to protest against the ban on
Simi. Though this should have been done much earlier, we are happy that we
could gather the courage at least now," said Zafarul Islam Khan of Milli
Council, one of the groups involved in the campaign along with organisations
like the Jamiat Ulema and the Jamaat Islami-e-Hind.
So far, no Muslim organisation except the
Jamaat Islami-e-Hind had publicly sympathised with Simi since it was first
banned in 2001.
The ban, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act, 1967, had come in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the US. The
government said Simi was involved in anti-national and terrorist acts. The
outfit was outlawed again in 2003 and 2006.
The last time Simi - formed in April 1977
as the youth wing of the Jamaat Islami-e-Hind - had been banned was on February
8, 2008. A tribunal headed by Delhi High Court had stayed the order on August
6, but the next day the Centre had moved the Supreme Court, which stayed the
tribunal's order.
The Muslim organisations have already held
a conference in Delhi and have decided to hold more across the country to
put pressure on the government, fearing it might extend the ban.
Minority leaders say Simi is the only banned
outfit that has moved court against the decision to outlaw it. "None
of the other banned organisations like the Maoists have gone to court. Simi
did it because it believes in the Indian constitution," said Maulana
Arshad Farooqi, who heads the Markazi Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.
"We admit that Simi had an element of
fanaticism in it," said Milli Council's Zafarul Khan. "But that
does not make it a terrorist group. If fanaticism is a criterion, then organisations
like the RSS and the Bajrang Dal, should have been banned."
The minority groups have submitted memorandums
to the Prime Minister and the home minister, urging them to lift the ban.
They also plan to meet Sonia Gandhi, hoping that the "Congress's new-found
love for minorities" will encourage her to take a favourable stand.
