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Author: Pioneer News Service
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 29, 2006
Yet another round of confrontation between the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh Government seems to be brewing with the Samajwadi Party Government refusing to back the ban on Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
The move is seen as an attempt to woo the Muslim vote by pandering to the lowest common minority denominator. State Assembly election is expected any time in Uttar Pradesh.
An official spokesman of the Home department categorically said on Monday that the State Government did not agree with the Centre's move to ban SIMI. The Union Government had banned the activities of SIMI last February.
The spokesman said the State Government had made it clear to the tribunal that there were no SIMI activities in the State. "Therefore, the question of banning SIMI does not arise. The State Government had expressed similar views on June 21, 2005," the official said.
Despite the Government's claim, Lucknow and Kanpur have been the two main centres of SIMI activities during the last decade.
The organisation was founded in Aligarh in 1977. It came into the limelight in 1997-98 and during the BJP regime an intensive campaign was launched to curb its activities. However, subsequent State Governments developed cold feet on the issue.
Meanwhile, terming SIMI as an anti-national outfit, BJP spokesman Hriday Narayan Dixit said not long ago the supporters of SIMI had pasted posters of Mahmud Ghaznavi in Lucknow that not only applauded the invader but also appealed for another Ghaznavi.
"The outfit which has Mahmud Ghaznavi as its role model must be wiped out with an iron fist but the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government, in its bid to woo Muslims, is defending it," said Dixit.
The Congress has also criticised the Samajwadi Party Government over the issue. UPCC chief spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh said it was unfortunate that the State Government was indulging in vote-bank politics.
"The Congress-led UPA Government banned SIMI in national interest while the SP-led Government's decision of not following the Centre's directive is politically motivated," he said.
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