Uttar Pradesh Police Arrests 9 Muslim Youth in Two Months in Crackdown Against ‘ISIS Module of AMU’

In the past two months, the Uttar Pradesh police have arrested nine Muslim youth, former and current students of the Aligarh Muslim University, over terror charges as part of its crackdown against what it has alleged to be an “ISIS module of AMU” and “ISIS module of Aligarh.”

The arrests were based on an FIR the UP Anti-Terrorism Squad lodged in Lucknow on November 3, 2023. The FIR invoked Sections 121a and 122 of the Indian Penal Code along with Sections 13, 18, 18B and 38 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

The charges relate to conspiring to commit offences against the state, collecting arms with the intention of waging war against the government of India, conspiring or attempting to commit a terrorist act, recruiting people for terrorist acts and association with a terror group.

The ATS has accused the accused persons of planning to carry out a major terrorist act in the state or in other parts of the country.

The first arrests took place in the first week of November. On January 8, 2024 (Monday), the ATS made the latest arrests in the matter. While one Aamas Ahmad was arrested in Aligarh, another accused Abdul Samad Malik (25), a native of Sambhal, surrendered in a local court, the police said.

Ahmad completed his graduation in psychology from the AMU in 2022 and had appeared in an MBA entrance examination last year. Malik is pursuing a Master in Social Works degree at the central university.

The UP ATS alleged that the two men, along with the previously arrested seven persons in the case, were preparing an ISIS module in AMU and recruiting others for it. All the arrested men had taken the “bayath” or oath of allegiance to the ISIS and were deeply inspired by the outfit, the police claimed. The arrested youth were linked to the SAMU (Students of Aligarh Muslim University), an informal student body on campus.

‘Violent jihad’
The crackdown in Aligarh started with the arrest of two former AMU students Abdullah Arsalan and Maaz Bin Tariq on November 5. Two days later, the UP ATS arrested a third person, Wazihuddin, who had completed his PhD from AMU, from Durg in Chhattisgarh. According to an AMU student, Wazihuddin headed the SAMU.

The UP ATS said it recovered “printed literature” of ISIS and AQIS (Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent) and a pen drive with ISIS propaganda from the arrested persons. Memory card of their electronic devices showed exchange of “banned literature” of AQIS and ISIS and information regarding several groups supporting terrorism and “anti-national” ideology, the ATS said.

On November 11, 2023, the ATS arrested four others as part of its investigation of the “Aligarh Module of ISIS.” Those arrested were identified as Raqib Imam, 29, who completed M.Tech from AMU; Naved Siddiqui, 23, who is studying B.Sc in AMU; Mohammad Noman, 27, who completed B.A. Honours from the university and Mohammad Nazim, 33, who police said, was linked to the “ISIS module of AMU” through Noman. Noman, Nazim and Siddiqui were arrested from their native Sambhal district while Imam was arrested in Aligarh, said police.

The arrested persons were planning to overthrow the government through a “violent jihad,” and impose Sharia law, the ATS claimed. The police also said that the four were allegedly distributing ISIS literature among “like-minded people” and recruiting them to join the outfit. They had come in touch with each other through meetings of SAMU and were using online platforms and physical meetings to physically and mentally train people at “secret locations” for jihad, the ATS said.

In 2008, the SAMU had organised a month-long campaign on campus, Al-Haya Min Allah, against immorality.

‘No information’
An AMU official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the narrative the police was trying to build was “baseless.” While stressing that the charges stated by the ATS were yet to be proven, the official said that the university had a “zero tolerance” policy against such deviance. “There is no compromise in that regard and the university is more than willing to co-operate [in the investigation],” the official said.

AMU proctor Wasim Ali said while he was aware that some former and current students of the varsity had been arrested, no state agency had provided them any official information.

“The truth about these allegations and on what basis they were made, will be known through the investigation or be decided in court,” Ali told The Wire.

Ali said the arrests and the UP police linking an alleged ISIS module to the central university would not deeply impact the image of AMU.

“We have 25,000 students enrolled in the university. Every year, thousands come and pass out. If 3-4 of these students, most of them passed out, come to face such allegations, I don’t think it impacts the image of the university. It is up to the individuals concerned,” he said.

However, Ali did feel that given the number of arrests made in the case, it was a “matter of concern.” “Our syllabus and system are transparent. There is nothing in our syllabus that promotes such things. The university functions and provides education as per the constitutional framework of the country.”

Source » thewire.in