SIMI and Educated Muslims?

SIMI and Educated Muslims?

By R. Upadhyay

Going by the account of the educational and economic background of a number of suspects of terror blasts in recent years provided by Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh police it appears that Islamist terrorism in no more only the career of uneducated and economically backward Muslim youths. Contrary to the mainstream notion that unemployment, inadequate education and economic deprivation have enticed the Muslim youths to seek the path of terrorism as career, the demographic composition of some of the terror suspects suggests that they also belong to the categories ranging from white colour professionals like doctors, engineers, IT specialists to small traders, religious preachers and underworld criminals. The language of e-mail sent to some TV channels before the Ahmadabad blasts in August 2008 by ‘Indian Mujahideen’ was in English and signed by Al-Arbi-al-Hind’ (Arab of India) also gives an indication that the sender was well educated person from within the Indian Muslim society. It may be recalled that most of the persons involved in September 11, 2001 terror incidents in USA were highly qualified Muslim youths. It is also said that a sizeable number of the followers of Oasma bin Laden are specialists in different areas of science and technology.

Profiles of some of the suspects as disclosed by police are as follows:

1. Dr. Bashid, MD in Forensic Sciences from the Aurangabad University. He was arrested by Bombay police in 2003. Other arrestees included a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from a well-known Mumbai college, a computer technologist, two chemical engineers and an aeronautical engineer.

2. Safdar Nagori national general secretary of SIMI belonging to a well to do family of transporters of Ujjain was arrested in March 2008. He was an engineering graduate. As per media report he has masters in journalism and mass communication.

3. Abdul Rashid alias Abul Bashir Qasami also known as Mufti Abu Bashir Ilahi from Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh and a SIMI activist had his education from Dar-ul- Uloom, Deoband. He confessed before the police about his involvement in Ahmadabad blasts.

4. Hafiz hussain Mulla alias Adnan alias Zaid is a young computer engineer and a prominent SIMI organizer. He was arrested along with some other SIMI leaders in Indore in March 2008

5. Shivli P.D. Ekkalalias Savit is a diploma holder in computer science from Model Polytechnic from Calicut in Kerala

6. Amil Parwaz is a holder of diploma in engineering

7. Sajid Mansuri aged 35 and a native of Surat has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He claimed as trader in acid and phenol. Arrested in Ahmadabad blast case in August 2008.

8. Imran Ibrahim Sheikh, aged 23 who did a course in human rights and journalism in the MS University of Vadodara was arrested in Vadodara in August 2008.

9. Usman Agarbattiwala, aged 24, a B.Com from MS University of Vadodara. His laptop was allegedly used for programming the plan for Surat blast which failed to explode.

10. Abdul Subban Qureshi, an explosive expert who holds a diploma in electronic engineering is the one who had reportedly procured ammonium nitrate and timers for the Ahmedabad operation and attended the meetings of the SIMI to plan the serial blasts.

11. Abrar Ahmed, a medical graduate doing internship in the Sawai Man Singh Medical College, from the college hostel here, and his colleague Anwar Hussain from his native place, Niwai, in Tonk district.

12. Arshad alias Ehtesham Ali is MA Iin Arabic.

13. Mohammad Aleem Qureshi is Msc in Chemistry.

14. Mohammad sahrab alias Babbu is LLB.

15. Waliullah, an activist of Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HUJI) who was sentenced to 13 years of rigorous imprisonment and a penalty of Rs 1 Lakh by Lucknow session court on August 26 for providing logistic support to terror modules involved in Varanasi blasts. He used to work as an Islamic cleric in Allahabad.

Given the educational background of the accused persons who have confessed before the police of their involvement in terror crimes, the question arises as to why the modern educated Muslim youths who are professionally quite competent to get dignified jobs are taking the path of terrorism as career which carries much risk? To find out the answer it is worth looking into the background of the on going menace of Islamist terrorism in India.

It is a known fact of Indian history that ever since the losses of Islamist power in the region, ‘Al-Arab Hind’ or Arab Indians are not found to have reconciled with the political reality on the ground. Carrying forward the legacy of the medieval mental load from generation to generation they always fought with successive governments by raising the bogey of religious identity which was nothing but revival of the political glory of Islamist power in the country.

Seventies of the last century was a turning point in the history of contemporary India after its independence in 1947 when a sizeable Muslim population stayed back in this country. Emergence of Bangladesh as a new nation in 1971 after seceding from Pakistan added fuel to the fire in their hearts. However, after the first loss of power to the Congress party in centre and emergence of Janata Party, a loose coalition of different ideological group, the demoralized Al Arab Hind Youths from within the Indian Muslim society formed Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) under the patronage of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in April 1977. In Bangladesh too the Jamaat-e-Islami of this country formed its student front known as Islami Chhartra Shibir. The development was a new effort of the Islamist radicals in the region to mobilise the educated Muslim youths for restoration of the institution of Caliphate by jihad.

Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979 was another major development which brought the Islamist establishments from all over the world to unite and fight in the name of Islam. Formation of Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) in 1980 which meant movement for Islamic Holy War or jihad against the Soviet army under the guidance of the ISI in Pakistan worked as a catalyst to energise the Islamist youths in the region to join this first terror group for restoration of the institution of Caliphate. Huge funding from the then Reagan administration of U.S.A. and Saudi Arabia encouraged the Islamist world to dispatch Mujahideens(Holy Warriors of Islam) to join this Pan- Islamic jihad against the Soviet army. In course of their training the Mujahideens were told, "If you had spent some time with a whore in Bangkok, you would come to fight jihad to purify yourself" (Warriors of the Prophet by Mark Huband, 1998, page 3).

Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Arab in his early twenties and an extremist Sunni Muslim of Wahabbi tradition emerged as a prominent hero in this jihad and founded an umbrella organization of the ‘Holy warriors of Islam’ known as Al-Qaida in 1988. "The goal of Al Qaida, a group that espoused a harsh, a more militant version of Islam was to unite all Muslims and to establish a government, which follows the rule of Caliphs and the only way to achieve this was through the use of force". (Terrorism and Low Intensity Conflict in South Asian Region - Edited by Om Prakash Mishra and Sucheta Ghosh, 2003, page 102). Withdrawal of Soviet army from Afghanistan in 1989 enhanced the popularity of Al Qaeda and worked as morale booster for the Al-Arab Hind youths. Getting support from the youths of Islamist world, Osama bin Laden also formed International Islamic Front in 1998 and gave a call for jihad against the Crusaders and the Jews.

Inspired with the success of Taliban led jihad in Afghan war against a super power like Soviet Union followed by the latter’s collapse, another call of jihad by Osama bin Laden against Crusaders and Jews in 1998 and a successful terror attack on World Trade Tower in USA on September 11, 2001, SIMI also adopted the path of militancy against the democratic Indian government with full support from ISI and financial assistance from oil rich Arab world.

What to talk of others when a progressive cinema actress like Shabana Azmi in a television interview said that she could not buy a flat in Mumbai on account of being a Muslim and therefore blamed Indian democracy not being fair to Indian Muslims. Is she not aware that how Amir Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan who are also Muslims could have palatial building in Bombay. Indian government in its 54th National Film Awards 2006 (Held on September 2, 2008) conferred first time life achievement award to Dilip Kumar, a Muslim actor of yesteryears. Is it a discrimination against Muslims in India?

However, the prevailing so called grievances among the Muslim youths provided suitable opportunity to SIMI for transforming a significant section of them for joining jihad. Accordingly, it succeeded in boosting the morale of a sizeable section of demoralized generation of Al-Arab Hind youths, encouraged them to take the path of terrorism as career, successfully activated thousands of sleeper terror cells being regularly created by radical Islamists within the Muslim society in the country and used them for assisting the ISI sponsored various terror outfits operating in India. If the statement of Ahmadullah Siddiqui, the first president of SIMI as appeared in a Hindi daily Rashtriya Sahara (August 6, 2008) is analysed, the objective of Simi is to transform India into Islamic society. It means Islamisation of India is the prime task before it. SIMI was banned in 2001 but its clandestine activities continued.

The arrestees in Ahmadabad blast case have confessed before the police of their prominent position in SIMI and also confirmed that ‘Indian Mujahideen’ is the pseudonym of the banned organization. Lot of funding from oil rich Arab world and ISI and also a belief in guarantee of luxurious style of living in heaven if they die in the holy war have worked as motivating factors to attract even the highly educated Muslim youths towards jihad as career. Since white colour crimes have attracted lot of youths all over the world it is not surprising if Muslim youths are also taking terror crimes as profession.

By and large people may not read too much in the above quoted examples of well educated Muslim youths taking terrorism as career. However, is not their fast changing profiles which also suggest that SIMI has made a significant dent in a section of opinion makers in Muslim community a matter of grave concern for country’s security? Even though the trend has sent a danger signal to the country in general and Indian Muslim society in particular, the most unfortunate part of the scenario is the pro-SIMI statements of political party leaders like Lau Prasad Yadav of Rastriya Janata Dal , Mulayam Singh Yadav of Samajvadi Party and Ram Bilas Paswan of Lok Jan Shakti Party. The statements are not only having a demoralizing impact on the security agencies, it also encourages Islamists to join Jihad as they have taken for granted the support of the vote seeking political class for whom country’s security is irrelevant if it increases their chances of winning election. This is a sad commentary on the current political situation in the country where the Muslims are still being looked as ‘vote banks’.

(The author can be reached at e-mail ramashray60@rediffmail.com)