The Narendra Modi government has launched a large-scale campaign against the Muslim organization Popular Front of India on allegations of financial support to terrorism, carrying out terrorist activities, and several anti-national activities. Officially, 45 people have been arrested in this operation which has been going on since late night on Wednesday. Several documents including many booklets’ posters and banners were recovered.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at 93 places linked to PFI in 15 states of the country, including Assam, and Kolkata, from late Wednesday night to the evening of September 22, after conducting simultaneous searches at several places in Uttar Pradesh and then at a total of 23 places in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana last Sunday Multiple central agencies including NIA, ED, IB. The accused have been accused of directly participating in terrorist activities, running militant training camps, and spreading radicalism in the country, the NIA said.
Accusations against PFI
Allegedly, after the militant organization Students, Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was banned in the country, several of its top officials were working under the cover of creating this organization. After several years of allegations that PFI was behind various violent activities in the country, there were demands to ban the organization but the Center did not follow that path. The demand to ban PFIs has been strengthened again after the country’s joint search on the 22nd. However, according to the sources of the Ministry of Home Affairs, they want to proceed in this matter by looking at all aspects.
The PFI’s role in supporting terrorism in the country has long been under the scrutiny of investigative agencies. In 2019, BJP-ruled states like Assam and Uttar Pradesh demanded that the organization be banned for inciting minorities and rioting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. But then the center did not do that.
Report regarding hijab controversy
According to sources, spurred on by the hijab controversy in Karnataka recently, the Center is sitting on the back burner after allegations of running an anti-India terror module in a madrassa in Bihar’s Phulwari Sharif. A month ago, on August 29, the union home minister asked for detailed information about PFI in the meeting held between Amit Shah and the ministry officials on the issue of radicalism and terrorism. Different organizations are given the responsibility of communicating information separately to know the organization’s network, source of money, and attitude of employees.
In the meeting, Shah made it clear that action should be taken against them only after gathering the necessary information. Last April, the Telangana Police arrested 25 PFI workers for allegedly running a militant training camp. On the 22nd, NIA said that the operation of that day was based on the names and information that emerged in the investigation of that incident. The NIA claims that PFI has an active role in carrying out terrorist attacks in different parts of the country, recruiting cadres, and training them. The NIA also said that many of the arrested were in contact with the militant group Islamic State.