The Union Home Ministry has told the Supreme Court that SIMI’s objective to establish Islamic rule in India cannot be permitted to subsist and activists of the banned outfit are still indulging in disruptive activities capable of threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.
In a counter affidavit filed in the apex court, which is hearing a batch of pleas on the ban imposed on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said the activists of the organisation are in “regular touch” 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,” said the affidavit, filed MHA. The matter came up for hearing on Wednesday before a bench comprising Justices S K Kaul, A S Oka and J B Pardiwala. Advocate Rajat Nair, appearing for the Centre, told the bench they have submitted a counter affidavit to one of the petitions filed in the matter.
He said the ban on SIMI is continuing and the petitions have challenged its imposition and subsequent extensions. The counsel appearing for some of the petitioners said they would examine the counter affidavit filed by the Centre. After both the parties requested the court to adjourn the hearing, the bench posted the matter for next month.
In the counter affidavit, the Government has said the SIMI aims to mobilise students and youth for propagation of Islam and obtain support for ‘Jihad’ (religious war), formation of ‘Shariat’ based Islamic rule through ‘Islami Inqalab’. The organization does not believe in nation-state or in the Indian Constitution including its secular nature. It regards idol worship as a sin, and finds its ‘duty’ to end such practices,” it said.
It said that SIMI, through its members, has contacts in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and Nepal and, being an organisation of students and youth, SIMI is influenced and used by various fundamentalist Islamic terrorist organisations operating from Jammu and Kashmir.
“Also, terrorist organizations such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba have successfully managed to penetrate into the SIMI cadres to achieve their anti-national goals,” it said.