Centre Extends Ban On SIMI Under UAPA For Another 5 Years

The Centre designated the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) as a 'unlawful association' for five years under UAPA.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Source : PTI

Underscoring zero tolerance for terrorism, Home Minister Amit Shah stated on Monday that the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) has been designated an "unlawful association" and its ban has been prolonged for another five years under the UAPA, anti-terror law. According to Shah, the organisation has been determined to be inciting terrorism, disrupting peace and communal harmony, and endangering Bharat's sovereignty, security, and integrity.

Taking to X, Ministry of Home Affairs stated: "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."

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,…

— गृहमंत्री कार्यालय, HMO India (@HMOIndia) January 29, 2024

On February 1, 2014, the Indian government outlawed the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). The restriction was extended for five years in 2019. This organisation was founded in 1977 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, with Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi, a professor of Journalism and Public Relations at Western Illinois University Macomb, as its founding president. Its mission is to turn India into an Islamic republic. SIMI was originally proclaimed an illegal organisation in 2001 and has been banned on many times.

SIMI members have been implicated in a number of terrorist incidents in the nation, including the Bhopal prison break in 2014, the M Chinnawamy stadium bomb in Bengaluru in 2014, and the Gaya explosives in 2017.

SIMI operated in several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and portions of Gujarat.