Students' Islamic Movement of India: Thinking jihad globally, waging jihad locally

from Jihad Watch
Posted by Marisol at April 10, 2008

It's not about Islam, we hear over and over. It's about politics, poverty -- something, anything, but Islam. But that's not the case when the jihadists themselves explain their goals. That fact should lead both counter-terrorism officials and regular citizens alike to examine Islamic texts and teachings for themselves -- the works themselves, not pre-digested summaries by apologists -- and discover what resonance they have with the jihadists' own stated goals. But we're not supposed to talk about that, either.

"Islamic India, Taliban reign in SIMI sight," from the Hindustan Times:
THE STUDENTS' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) might be an indigenous banned terror outfit but the roadmap to its ideological/political objectives seems global. It draws inspiration from Mullah Mohammed Omar, the reclusive head of the Taliban and one of the world's most wanted jihadi terrorists, and his ally and Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The SIMI also dreams of converting India to Islam through jihad and making it part of the Muslim Ummah, a boundaryless global religion-based community, and anoint Omar its caliph (political/religious head). As part of this caliphate, India would be a "pure" Islamic, Shariat-based nation state.

This is what Safdar Nagori, SIMI's national secretary general and terror mastermind, revealed to the Indore police during interrogation recently, Inspector General (Indore Range) Anil Kumar told the Hindustan Times. The police, led by Kumar, arrested Nagori and 12 of his top aides from various states during a pre-dawn swoop on March 26.

Since then, several other members of the banned group have been detained. "Nagori told us he looks upon Mullah Omar as his role model, not Osama.

Like Omar, Nagori said, SIMI wants to establish a Shariat-based true Islamic state in India," Kumar said. Sources close to the interrogators said that Nagori had articulated a clear aim of striving to convert India to Islam through jihad.

However, when asked to elaborate on how non-Muslims would be treated if such a "Talibanised Islamic state" were to come into existence, a source revealed that Nagori was evasive. "He said setting up of an Islamic state does not mean we will eliminate the non-Muslims here."

Nagori reportedly spoke about the extent of his and the group's admiration for Omar and the way they wanted to replicate his jihad-based political ideology in India. Audio and video content related to the Taliban was found in a hard disk recovered from Nagori's hideout in Indore's Shyam Nagar area.

The SIMI, Nagori is said to have told his interrogators, looks upon Osama as a true "mujahid" (warrior for a just cause) who has waged jihad for the cause of Islam. Meanwhile, the Indore Bar Association has officially decided not to represent Nagori and his arrested aides.
Posted by Marisol at April 10, 2008 12:06 AM Jihad Watch