Lalu, Mulayam hail lifting of ban on SIMI

Two key allies of the UPA Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party welcomed the lifting of ban on SIMI by a special tribunal.

Two key allies of the UPA Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party on Wednesday welcomed the lifting of ban on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) by a special tribunal.

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RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said there should be no ban on SIMI, an outfit which the government has blamed for several terror attacks in the country.

"I have been saying that there should have been no ban on SIMI. And if at all SIMI has to be banned, then why no Shiv Sena and Durga Vahini," said Prasad who is the Union Railway Minister in UPA government.

Speaking in a similar vein, Yadav said when the SP was in power in Uttar Pradesh, it had not imposed any ban on SIMI. "If SIMI is banned, then RSS should also be," said the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

The specially-designated tribunal headed by Justice Geeta Mittal of the Delhi High Court said in its order that there was no fresh evidence to justify extension of the ban first imposed in 2001.