To counter Simi, involve Muslims in war on terror

By Joginder Singh

September 10, 2008

Since 2000, there have been 1,120 deaths from the Islamic jihadis’ 69 terrorist attacks in our country. In July 2008, at least 57 persons were killed in blasts on consecutive days in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. A day after the massive killings, 23 unexploded bombs were defused in Surat.

In the last few years, there have been bomb attacks in Mumbai, Coimbatore, Srinagar, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Jaipur. In some places there were repeated attacks. The US National Institute of Counter-Terrorism says that between January 2004 and March 2007, the death toll in India from terrorist attacks was 3,674, second only to Iraq during the same period.

The Gujarat police have claimed that Simi was responsible for the 17 serial bombs which ripped through Ahmedabad on July 26, killing at least 56 people. It has also established the trail to Simi, with 23 unexploded bombs found in Surat between July 26 and August 3, 2008. A number of Simi activists — and the suspected "mastermind" behind the blasts —have been arrested.

Simi (Students’ Islamic Movement of India), now a banned organisation, is a Muslim fundamentalist organisation which was founded in 1977. Its ostensible purpose was to "to educate and enlighten Muslim youth in India". Simi, in its publications, lists as its objectives the propagation of Islam and jihad for the cause of Islam. It claims in its literature that it wants to convert India into an Islamic land.

A recent study by two scholars from Oxford University says this is only part of a larger international trend. They have found that over the years, those with engineering degrees are over-represented in Islamic terror organisation. One of the 10 suspects arrested for his role in the Ahmedabad serial blasts holds a diploma in human rights from the M.S. University in Baroda. In the Jaipur blasts (May 2008), a medical student was reportedly involved. In the Bengaluru blasts (2005), the mastermind was an engineer, according to the investigating agencies.

Recently, highly qualified persons have been arrested for terrorist activities. In the Ahmedabad blasts (July 2008), the alleged mastermind is a teacher. Among the arrested Simi men, Safdar Nagori is a mechanical engineer. Another person behind the "Indian Mujahideen" terror email, Abdul Subhan Qureshi, alias Tauqeer, is considered a computer whiz. Others, like Iqbal Shaikh and Gyasuddin Ansari, hold ITI diplomas in electrical engineering and radio technology.

Jihadis are working under the illusion that they can cow down India and make it another Pakistan. They are taking advantage of the fact that India is a secular country where religion does not have any role. The preamble to the Constitution is very clear and categorical about the rights of every Indian, irrespective of his religion or religious beliefs. Secularism is the key to India’s unity and integrity.

The police is, naturally, under a lot of strain — not only to deal and arrest terrorists, but also to gather evidence. Terrorist organisations are closed outfits. They function only on a need-to-know basis. And we function under antique laws framed in 1863, when there was no problem of terrorism. Under the law, a confession made to the police is not admissible in courts. Terrorists cannot be expected to admit their guilt and put a hangman’s noose around their necks themselves. In India it takes decades for the courts to finish cases and there is no law against terrorism in the country — these are major problems faced by the investigating agencies.

Moreover, nobody wants to be involved with the police because of the harassment involved in being a court witness. The conditions of witnesses in our country are best illustrated by this extract from a letter written by a sessions judge to the National Police Commission:

"The single biggest hurdle which inhibits citizens from coming forward to help the police is the deplorable condition prevailing in the courts of law. The lot of witnesses appearing on behalf of the state against a criminal is certainly pitiable."

The police face an uphill task in all such cases. In the absence of witnesses, acquittals, not only in ordinary cases but also in terrorism cases, are common. In India, 99.9 per cent Muslims are peace-loving and have nothing to do with terrorists and terrorism. But since everybody, irrespective of community or religion, does not want to get involved with the law and terrorists, terrorists manage to get away. Either with the help of local supporters or the ISI’s sleeper cells, or because of the impossible standard of evidence required to prove their involvement, they manage to get away.

It is essential to involve the Muslim community in the fight against terrorism. In fact, the Deoband seminary has issued a fatwa against terrorism. The whole world has implemented tough laws against terrorism, while India does not have any law, whatsoever, to deter terrorists.

So the right signals have not been sent to anti-national elements. The question whether we should have laws against terrorism or not is, unfortunately, mired in politics, or to be precise, in vote-bank politics.

Citizens should be sensitised to the need of cooperating with the security agencies, and they should be enlisted to report suspicious strangers in their areas, or unattended objects and vehicles.

Moreover, closed-circuit cameras, sensor and other gadgets, as well as satellite photography and reconnaissance should be extensively employed to tackle this terrible problem facing the country. More than anything else, the government and Opposition parties should speak in one voice against terrorism, unlike now when some ministers jumped the gun and welcomed the lifting of the ban on Simi, which was stayed the very next day by the Supreme Court.

The truth about politicians has been stated by H.L. Mencken: "The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office."

Joginder Singh is a former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation

Source: Asian Age, New Delhi

URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/to-counter-simi,-involve-muslims/d/715