LUCKNOW: Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh government seems to be in favour of lifting ban from Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which was declared unlawful 12 years ago after some of its members were allegedly found to be involved in terror activities. Health minister Ahmad Hasan on Tuesday said that there have been no activity in the last six months which suggests that the outfit was involved in any activity against the country.

Addressing a convention in the city, Hasan accused the previous Mayawati government of falsely implicating Muslim youths on terror charges and recommended the central government to continue ban on SIMI. Hasan said that the SP had promised in its poll manifesto that it will release Muslims falsely implicated on terror charges. The state government has already formed a commission to look into cases where Muslims have been allegedly booked under false charges.

Hasan's statement has come after recent meet in Lucknow in which several civil society groups, Muslims organizations and Jutice Rajendra Sachar raised question over the 'secular credential' of the political parties. He said that parties claiming to be secular are ruling at the Centre and in the state but still Muslim youth are not getting justice. He had also demanded speedy probe and trial so that innocent people are released as soon as possible and guilty are punished.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav , also father of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, in the past had supported lifting of ban from SIMI, which as per intelligence agencies is now working under a new name Indian Mujahideen. Some organizations at a conference in Lucknow had recently released a list 68 Muslims allegedly framed in terror acts. They had also raised doubts over 2008 Batla house encounter in which two youth from Azamgarh were killed.

BJP on the other hand has announced to oppose any move to release terror suspects and lifting ban from SIMI. State BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai described SP's stand on terror suspects and SIMI as communalisation of politics and appeasement of fundamentalists for Muslim votes. Political observers, however, said that both the SP and BJP are trying to polarise people on religious lines in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections scheduled in 2014.