Ban on Deendar Anjuman extended for two more years

The Centre on Saturday extended the ban on the Deendar Anjuman, a fundamentalist organisation.

The government issued a notification extending the ban for another two years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, effective from April 26, 2003.

The government believes the organisation is trying to reorganise and create disturbances in the country.

The government charged the group with distributing objectionable anti-Christian literature and pamphlets and indulging in espionage.

While imposing the ban, the government said the organisation had links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

The Deendar Anjuman hit the headlines after it engineered explosions in nine churches, a temple and a mosque in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa from May to July 2000.

Founded as a religious sect by Syed Siddique Hussain Deendar Channa Basweshwar Qibla in 1924 in Karnataka, the Deendar Anjuman had its headquarters in Hyderabad.

Its present religious head, Zia-ul-Hassan, based in Mardan in Pakistan, developed contacts with the ISI and organised the blasts in India. He had plans to create communal tension in the country and antagonise the international Christian community against India.