The Mujahideen and the Mullah
From 2003, two years after it was proscribed, SIMI began to rebuild its networks. Leaders of its two key groups were to make their way to Islahi’s home for his endorsement.
Expelled from the Jamaat-e-Islami after calling for militant action in the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Islahi was seen by many hardliners as the authentic voice of the organisation’s jihadist legacy. His books — among them, a 1991 tract on the Babri Masjid issue which was translated into several languages — provided the foundations for SIMI’s world view.
Islahi doesn’t deny these contacts. “We shared ideas on how Muslims could best be defended in these dark times,” he says, “but some of them had trouble understanding that violence wasn’t the only option.”
Shahid Badr Falahi’s faction first consulted Islahi on their political options in 2006, after they expelled the jihadists at a secret meeting held at Aluva that January. Later, the jihadists also lobbied for his support. In response to Falahi’s action, Safdar Nagori’s pro-terrorism faction had held a meeting in April 2007, where plans for setting up a mujahideen group were firmed up. Nagori, accompanied by Hussain and Qureshi, then travelled to Hyderabad to seek Islahi’s support.
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4:25 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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