The Narendra Modi government on Monday extended ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) as an ‘unlawful association’ for five years under the UAPA.
“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, disturbing peace and communal harmony to threaten the sovereignty, security and integrity of Bharat,” the home ministry’s office posted on social platform X.
The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was first banned on February 1, 2014 by the Indian government. The ban was extended by five years in 2019. Founded in 1977 in UP’s Aligarh with Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi, professor of Journalism and Public Relations at the Western Illinois University Macomb as its founding president, this organisation operates on the agenda to convert India into an Islamic nation. SIMI was first declared as an outlawed outfit in 2001 and has been banned on several occasions.
Members of SIMI have been involved in several terror attacks in the country, including the Bhopal jail break in 2014, M Chinnawamy stadium blast in Bengaluru in 2014, Gaya blasts in 2017.
SIMI operated in states including Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi, , Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat.