By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: The Congress-led UPA Government at the centre yesterday extended the ban on Students Islamic Organization of India (SIMI) for another two years. The ban was to expire on February 7. This is the fifth ban on SIMI for their alleged terror activities in India. First time it was banned in September 2001. Since then, the government has extended the ban every two years.
While renewing the ban, the Central Government has, according to media reports, cited fresh terror cases registered against cadres of SIMI, arrests of former SIMI chief Safdar Nagori from Madhya Pradesh in 2008 and the role of Indian Mujahideen, said to be SIMI front, in the 2008 Delhi and Jaipur serial blasts.
Adv Mobeen Akhtar
The fourth ban on SIMI was lifted by a Delhi High Court tribunal headed by Justice Geeta Mittal in August 2008 but the centre approached the Supreme Court within hours and secured stay on the tribunal order. No hearing has since taken place on the stay nor on any petition the group filed in the apex court after every ban.
Advocate Mobeen Akhtar who has been SIMI counsel in the ban case says the group must continue its legal fight against the ban because when they are contesting the case they are so many terror cases against it and the minority community, if they sat home one can guess the quantum of such cases against them.
Asked if he will contest the ban in the tribunal again, Adv. Mobeen Akhtar said: “I can’t say. Until my client approaches me how can I say about it? But my sincere advice would be: if they are not willing to fight the case, they must decide to continue to fight the case because when they are defending the case, there are so many atrocities on the Muslim community. If they sit at home and do not face the case one can’t know how many more cases would slapped against them and how much more atrocities will be inflicted on the Muslim community.
Asked to comment on the new ban, the SIMI counsel said: “I can’t give any comment unless I come to know that on which ground the ban has been extended for two more years. As of now I don’t know whether the Home Ministry has taken the decision as a unit or a joint secretary in the ministry has decided individually. Last time when we cross-examined the joint secretary he said it was his individual decision. The question is that when it is a national matter only the cabinet should have decided about it. It is not clear again if the cabinet has decided this time or just a secretary. If only a secretary has decided then it should be know if he was briefed by all concerned authorities and intelligence agencies. For the last some time there has been no incident, so if the due exercise of law was done before taking this decision will be early to say.
On the report that the Centre has clamped fifth ban in the light of reports from states, he said: Why it is that most of the states that send reports on this issue are BJP ruled. I am sure Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh must have sent reports more than other states. Why no report is from UP where SIMI had more members than any other states, and West Bengal and South where also the group had strong presence before the ban in 2001.