Supreme Court: Ban on SIMI to continue; BSF chief: 12,00,000 Bangladeshis went missing in India between 1972-2005
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  • The Supreme Court on August 25 extended its interim order of a six-week stay on the Special Tribunal's decision to lift the ban on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). This was in response to the Union government’s contention that SIMI was a threat to peace, integrity and the secular fabric of India. The government told the Supreme Court that SIMI activists were not just spreading the message of "jihad", but were also extending “full support to extremists and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab and have been involved in various militant and disruptive activities in Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu1.

    Director General of Border Security Force (BSF), A.K. Mitra told reporters in New Delhi on August 25 that the number of Bangladeshi nationals who had disappeared after entering India during 1972-2005 on valid travel documents was pegged at about 12 lakhs.
    An unspecified Union Home Ministry report noted that terror groups backed by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) could use chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological weapons against India. The report spoke of active terror modules mushrooming in Bihar, Assam and West Bengal2.

    In its section on ‘terror groups and weapons of mass destruction’, the report defines "super terrorism” as the “projected future use of chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological weapons by terrorist groups." It adds that terrorists may use aircraft, buses or other means commonly available to cause heavy casualties without having to go through the ‘rigorous’ process of acquisition of technological capabilities involved in the use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. It also states that technology-oriented terrorists camps could use explosive-laden unarmed aerial vehicles at selected high value targets.

    The report notes that the Indo-Nepal border was being used for smuggling of arms, explosives, fake currency into the country, while the ISI was focusing on Uttar Pradesh to fund Madrasas and recruit youngsters for subversive activities. South India too had become an important part of the overall ISI game-plan since it was being targeted to recruit unemployed youths.

    The report adds that the ISI was trying to revive militancy in Punjab. While Maharashtra has been a victim of underworld gangs with strong links to the ISI, the report mentions that ISI was also trying to liaison with the underworld in Gujarat and were using the coast for transporting arms and for drug-running operations. The report states that various insurgent groups active in Bangladesh were under the control of the ISI and were being used for pumping fake Indian currency notes3.

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