Underlining zero tolerance against terrorism, Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced that the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) has been declared an "unlawful association" and the ban on it has been extended by another five years under the stringent anti-terror law.
The outfit has been found involved in fomenting terrorism, disturbing peace and communal harmony to threaten the sovereignty, security and integrity of Bharat, said Mr Shah.
"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," Mr Shah posted on X.
As many as 10 state governments - Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh - have recommended the declaration of SIMI as an "unlawful association" under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
In a notification, the Union Home Ministry said the SIMI has been continuing its subversive activities and re-organising its members who are still missing.
"The SIMI has been indulging in activities, which are prejudicial to the security of the country and have the potential of disturbing peace and communal harmony and disrupting the secular fabric of the country.
"And whereas, the central government for the above-mentioned reasons is firmly of the opinion that having regard to the activities of the SIMI, it is necessary to declare the SIMI as an unlawful association with immediate effect.. for five years," the notification said.
It was also banned under the UPA government on February 1, 2014, for a period of five years.
Among the terror acts in which SIMI members were allegedly involved are blasts in Gaya in 2017, Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore in 2014, and jail break in Bhopal in 2014.
The SIMI was established on April 25, 1977, in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh, and the organisation allegedly works on the agenda of liberating India by converting it into an Islamic state.
It was first banned in 2001 when the Atal Bihar Vajpayee government was in power and since then the ban has been extended every five years.
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