The Centre has advised the Supreme Court that SIMI’s goal to set up Islamic rule in India can’t be permitted to subsist and activists of the banned outfit are nonetheless indulging in disruptive actions succesful of threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation.
In a counter affidavit filed in the apex courtroom, which is listening to a batch of pleas on the ban imposed on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), the Centre has stated the activists of the organisation are in “common contact” with their associates and masters based in other countries and their actions could disrupt peace and communal harmony in India.
“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,” stated the affidavit, filed by an below secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The matter got here up for listening to on Wednesday earlier than a bench comprising Justices S Okay Kaul, A S Oka and J B Pardiwala.
Advocate Rajat Nair, showing for the Centre, advised the bench they’ve submitted a counter affidavit to one of the petitions filed in the matter.
He stated the ban on SIMI is continuous and the petitions have challenged its imposition and subsequent extensions.
The counsel showing for some of the petitioners stated they might look at the counter affidavit filed by the Centre.
After each the events requested the courtroom to adjourn the listening to, the bench posted the matter for subsequent month.
In the counter affidavit, the federal government has stated the SIMI goals to mobilise college students and youth for propagation of Islam and acquire assist for ‘Jihad’ (non secular battle).
“The group additionally emphasizes on the formation of ‘Shariat’ based mostly Islamic rule via ‘Islami Inqalab’ (revolution). The group doesn’t consider in nation-state or in the Indian Constitution together with its secular nature. It additional regards idol worship as a sin, and propagates its ‘duty’ to finish such practices,” it said.
The affidavit said the evidence brought on record clearly establishes that despite being banned since September 27, 2001, except for a brief period in between, the SIMI activists are associating, meeting, conspiring, acquiring arms and ammunition, and indulging in activities “which are disruptive in character and capable of threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India”.
It stated that SIMI, via its members, has contacts in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and Nepal and, being an organisation of college students and youth, SIMI is influenced and utilized by numerous fundamentalist Islamic terrorist organisations working from Jammu and Kashmir.
“Also, terrorist organizations corresponding to Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba have efficiently managed to penetrate into the SIMI cadres to obtain their anti-national objectives,” it said, adding that SIMI has been active in states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and National Capital Territory of Delhi.
The affidavit said, “It is stated that SIMI is also known to have launched a countrywide campaign to mobilize the support of Muslims for creating a Caliphate. As stated above, SIMI is against Indian nationalism, and works to replace it with an international Islamic order.” It stated for the reason that ban, SIMI is finishing up its actions below the garb of cowl organisations in many states and its cadres have regrouped below a number of names.
“Besides the above, there are over three dozen different entrance organizations via which SIMI is being continued. These entrance organizations assist SIMI in numerous actions together with assortment of funds, circulation of literature, regrouping of cadres, and so on,” the affidavit said.
It said SIMI came into existence on April 25, 1977 in Aligarh as an organisation of youth and students having faith in the Jamait-e-Islami-Hind (JEIH) and, in 1993, the it declared itself independent.
It said the objectives of SIMI are — governing human life on the basis of Quran, propagation of Islam, ‘Jihad’ for the cause of Islam, destruction of nationalism and establishment of Islamic Rule or Caliphate.
The Centre has said the petitioner, on whose plea the counter affidavit has been filed, has challenged the July 29, 2019 order passed by Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal which had confirmed the declaration of SIMI as an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
“It is submitted that the ‘constitution’ of SIMI in sum and substance not only disclaims, questions, and intends to disrupt the sovereignty and integrity of our country but also cause disaffection against India and the Constitution of India,” it stated.
It stated regardless of being banned for a number of years, SIMI via numerous entrance organisations, continues to indulge in illegal actions.
The affidavit, whereas searching for dismissal of the petition, notes that some of the SIMI activists have hyperlinks with a quantity of different terrorist organisations just like the Al-Qaeda, LET (Lashkar-e-Toiba), ISIS and so on.
“It can be evident that they’re persevering with to obtain funds inside India and in addition via overseas funding regardless of SIMI having been declared a banned organisation in the yr 2001 which ban remains to be persevering with until date, apart from a really temporary interval,” it said.
It said the Central Government has sufficient credible material and grounds for taking action under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Act for declaring SIMI as an unlawful association.
The MHA, in its January 31, 2019 notification, had extended the ban imposed on SIMI for five years.
The SIMI was first banned in 2001 and since then the ban on the organisation has been banned extended regularly. This was for the eighth time that the ban was extended.
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