Background
On April 25, 1977, SIMI was founded in Aligarh, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, with Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi as its founding president. (Siddiqi currently serves as a Professor of English and Journalism at Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL.)
SIMI originally emerged as a student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) in an effort to revitalize the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) established in 1956. In 1981, SIMI activists protested against PLO leader Yasser Arafat’s visit to India, and greeted him with black flags in New Delhi. Young SIMI activists viewed Arafat as a Western puppet, while the senior JIH leaders saw Arafat as a champion of the Palestinian cause. The JIH also became uncomfortable with SIMI's support of the Iranian Revolution and oriented itself towards the SIO as its student wing. When SIMI sought self governance and independence of operation from JIH, JIH declined. SIMI separated from JIH and continued as a hard line Islamic Organization.
Read more about this topic: Students Islamic Movement Of India
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