Al Ummah is a radical muslim terrorist organisation mainly based in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was banned by the Government of Tamil Nadu for perpetrating the 1998 Coimbatore bombings. [1]
Al Ummah was founded by Syed Ahmed Basha in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu in 1993, a year after the Babri Masjid demolition. [2] [3] It came under the spotlight after the 1993 bomb blast near an RSS office in Chennai which caused the deaths of 11 people. [4] In 1995, the organisation was involved with throwing home-made bombs at Mani Ratnam's house for portraying romance of a Hindu man with a Muslim woman in his film Bombay. [5] Basha and others were arrested under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act but they were released in 1997. In 1998, Al Ummah was planning to assassinate Bharatiya Janata Party leader L. K. Advani during the election campaign in Coimbatore. [6] Advani, however, eventually escaped due to a delay in his flight. The bomb blasts in 18 places, resulted in 58 deaths. [7] In 2013, Al Ummah also was involved in the bomb blast in Bangalore. [8]
The Students' Islamic Movement of India is a banned organisation organisation that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ by converting it to an Islamic land. The SIMI, an organisation of extremists has declared Jihad against India, the aim of which is to establish Dar-ul-Islam by converting everyone to Islam.
Koose Munusamy Veerappan(Tamil-வீரப்பன்) was an Indian poacher, smuggler, domestic terrorist and bandit who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching of elephants in the scrub lands and forests in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. He was wanted for killing approximately 184 people, about half of whom were police officers and forest officials. He was also responsible for poaching approximately 500 of the 2000 elephants killed in the peninsular region where he was active and for smuggling ivory worth US$2.6 million and about 65 tons of sandalwood worth approximately US$22 million.
Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK), literally meaning Hindu People's Party, also pronounced as Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK), is a right-wing, Hindu nationalist party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is a political party in Kerala, India. The PDP is known more as the party led by Abdul Nazer Mahdani, a popular Muslim leader in Kerala.
Abdul Nasar Ma'dani, also spelled Abdunnasir Ma'dani is an Indian politician and Islamic cleric. He is the leader of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Kerala.
Terrorism in India, according to the Home Ministry, poses a significant threat to the people of India. Compared to other countries, India faces a wide range of terror groups. Terrorism found in India includes Islamic terrorism, ultranationalist terrorism, and left-wing terrorism India is one of the countries most impacted by terrorism.
On 5 July 2005, five Lashkar-e-Taiba's terrorists attacked the makeshift Ram temple at the site of destroyed Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India. All five were shot dead in the ensuing gunfight with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), while one civilian died in the grenade attack that the attackers launched in order to breach the cordoned wall. The CRPF suffered three casualties, two of whom were seriously injured with multiple gunshot wounds.
The 1998 Coimbatore bombings occurred on Saturday, 14 February 1998, in the city of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. A total of 58 people were killed and over 200 injured in the 12 bomb attacks in 11 places, all within a 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) radius. The explosives used were found to be gelatin sticks activated by timer devices and were concealed in cars, motorcycles, bicycles, sideboxes of two-wheelers, denim and rexine bags, and fruit carts. Several bombs that failed to detonate were defused by bomb disposal squads of the Army, National Security Guards and Tamil Nadu Commando School. The bombings were apparently in retaliation to the 1997 Coimbatore riots during November – December the previous year, when Hindu fundamentalists groups killed 18 Muslims and 2 Hindus and looted several thousands of properties of Muslims following the murder of a traffic policeman named Selvaraj, by a member of the radical Islamist group Al Ummah. The main conspirator was found to be S A Basha, the founder of Al Ummah, an Islamic fundamentalist body. Investigators found out that the blasts were a part of larger conspiracy to target L.K.Advani, the leader of Bharatiya Janata Party on that day at 4 p.m in his election meeting.
The National Development Front (NDF) was a Sunni Muslim organisation set up in Kerala. It was established in India in 1994.
Popular Front of India (PFI) is an Islamic political organisation in India, that engages in a radical and exclusivist style of Muslim minority politics. Formed to counter Hindutva groups, it was banned by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on 28 September 2022 for a period of five years.
Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam or TMMK is a Muslim non-governmental organisation established in the state of Tamil Nadu in India in 1995. The TMMK has described itself in news releases as "a mass based" organisation.
Hindu Munnani is a right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation based in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hindu Munnani was set up by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) The organisation was founded in 1980 by Ramagopalan, a member of RSS and since its formation served as the platform for RSS and its subsidiaries known as the Sangh Parivar.
2008 Bangalore serial blasts occurred on 25 July 2008 in Bangalore, India. A series of nine bombs exploded in which 1 person was killed and 20 injured. According to the Bangalore City Police, the blasts were caused by low-intensity crude bombs triggered by timers.
The 2008 Ahmedabad bombings were a series of 21 bomb blasts that hit Ahmedabad, India, on 26 July 2008, within a span of 70 minutes. Fifty-six people were killed and over 200 people were injured. Ahmedabad is the cultural and commercial heart of Gujarat state and a large part of western India. The blasts were considered to be of low intensity and were similar to the Bangalore blasts, Karnataka which occurred the day before. This bombings were done by Pakistani Islamic Terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami.
Indian Mujahideen (IM) is an Islamist terrorist group which has been particularly active in India. The jihadist group was founded as an offshoot of the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) by several radicalized members including Iqbal Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal, Yasin Bhatkal, Abdul Subhan Qureshi, Amir Reza Khan and Sadiq Israr Sheikh, among others. It has been active since at least 2005 when it bombed the Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi. It carried out several serial-bombings in Indian cities in the following years notably the 2007 Uttar Pradesh bombings, 2008 Jaipur bombings, 2008 Ahmedabad bombings, 2008 Delhi bombings, 2010 Pune bombing, 2011 Mumbai bombings, 2011 Delhi bombing, 2013 Patna bombings, 2013 Hyderabad blasts and the 2013 Bodh Gaya bombings.
Social Democratic Party of India, popularly known as SDPI, is an Indian political party which was founded on 21 June 2009 in New Delhi.
A bomb explosion known as the 2013 Bangalore bombing occurred on 17 April 2013 in Bangalore, India, at 10:30 (IST) near the Bharatiya Janata Party Karnataka New State Office Jagannath Bhawan, on Temple Street 11th Cross, Malleswaram.
Operation Puttur was an anti-terror operation launched jointly by the Tamil Nadu Police and the Andhra Pradesh Police, which captured two terror suspects in Puttur on 5 October 2013. Part of the banned Al Ummah outfit, they were planning to plant bombs at the famed Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, the most visited temple in India. The suspects also had a plan to murder a famous person in Chennai in the name of the "Muslim Defence Force." The operation reportedly ended those conspiracies.
Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, IPS is an Indian Police Service Officer of the batch of 1983, belonging to the Tamil Nadu Cadre. Currently, he is serving as the Director General of Police of the Civil Supplies, CID department of Tamil Nadu. Dr. K. Radhakrishnan did his PhD from the Department of Criminology from the University of Madras for seminal research on 'Tactical and Strategic Police Response to Communal Violence: Coimbatore, a case study', in October 2009. He received the Queen's Award for Innovation in Police Training and Development in 2002 and 2004.
The 1997 Coimbatore riots occurred between 29 November 1997 and 1 December 1997 in Coimbatore triggered by a murder of a police constable allegedly by some Muslim youth over a dispute of detention of Al-Ummah functionaries by the police. The policemen revolted in response to the murder of the constable and in concert with the members of the Hindu Munnani and the Hindu Makkal Katchi, attacked Muslims and Muslim-owned properties. Clashes erupted between both the communities and the police reportedly opened fire targeting the Muslims killing ten. Many Muslim youth were beaten to death or burnt alive. Muslim-owned businesses in different parts of the city were looted and burnt down. At the end of the riots, 18 Muslims and 2 Hindus lost their lives.
Competitive communalism and the failure of state policy to respond to grievances and danger signals are to blame for the most deadly terrorist attack that Tamil Nadu has witnessed.