Author: TNN
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 20, 2008
Friday's encounter in the Capital left no
doubt on SIMI's hardline terrorist character - far from claims of it being
a cultural organization - as has been maintained by the Centre and security
agencies across the country all along.
Investigating agencies say that the shootout
which resulted in the tragic death of gallant cop, inspector Mohan Chand Sharma
of Delhi Police, has bared the real character of the Students Islamic Movement
of India as consisting of religious fanatics who have no compunction in massacring
innocents, possess deadly bomb making skills and are sitting on a cache of
sophisticated weapons.
But while the feeling of vindication is palpable
in the police ranks, they are also seeing the encounter as a wake-up call.
Agencies have long known that SIMI activists
were trained to use firearms by instructors, some of whom had trained in Pakistan.
The revelation came with the discovery of
elaborate camps across the country, namely Dharwad in Karnataka, near Ujjain
in Madhya Pradesh, and in Gujarat. But the jihadis were not known to engage
cops in gunbattles. Friday's continued firing on Delhi Police personnel shows
the increasing audacity of the outfit that has struck at will in cities across
India through its hardline faction now calling itself the Indian Mujahideen.
The findings come at a time the Centre is
building a strong case in Supreme Court for reversing the order of the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Tribunal lifting the ban on the group. The tribunal
turned down the Centre's plea to extend the ban on SIMI, saying the home ministry
had failed to back up its case with evidence. The Centre retorted saying the
tribunal had not taken the volumes of evidence put up before it; Friday's
encounter should more than strengthen the government's case.
The death of an inspector will also make it
difficult for powerful politicians in the government to argue for lifting
the ban on the outfit.
Two members of the Manmohan Singh Cabinet
- Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and Steel Minister Ramvilas Paswan - had hailed
the tribunal order against the ban as validation of their belief in the ''innocence''
of the organization. They were joined by UPA's new-found ally, Mulayam Singh
Yadav who as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh refused to enforce the ban on
SIMI in the state.
Besides politicians, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Shahi
Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, had rushed to Azamgarh to launch a spirited defence
of Abu Bashir, the prime suspect in the Ahmedabad blasts and now suspected
to be the chief ideologue of the Indian Mujahideen. Bashir, a hardline Deobandi
cleric, has also been linked by intelligence agencies and cops in different
states to the IM modules behind the blasts in UP, Jaipur and Delhi. SIMI's
emerging cadre profile - many of the terrorists being trained engineers, doctors
and IT professionals - too has suited international terror outfits that consistently
update their modus operandi.
''All defence counsels must be feeling very
embarrassed,'' said a senior cop, reflecting the sense of relief in the fraternity
that has grappled with political interference with investigations and allegations
of ''communal frame-ups''.
Early this year, police uncovered terror camps in the Karnataka forests where
radicalized youths belonging to SIMI were allegedly provided arms training.
The forest area also served as the recruitment centre for jihadis.
A few months later, in March, when SIMI's
general secretary Safdar Nagori was held with his top aides in Indore, it
was found that the group was working closely with Pakistan and Bangladesh-based
terror outfits such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and HuJI. Nagori and his men had an
elaborate network in south India, particularly in Karnataka, and were responsible
for setting up sleeper cells for Lashkar-e-Taiba and HuJI.
