The Centre banned PFI and several other associated organizations for five years. In the notification, the Union home ministry said some PFI activists joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and took part in terror activities there. In India, it engaged in violent acts like chopping off the limbs of a college professor, the MHA said.

The government of India has declared the Popular Front of India and its associates or affiliates or fronts as unlawful associations with immediate effect for a period of five years. The move follows two rounds of massive countrywide raids on PFI leaders in terror fund cases. In the notification, the Centre said the PFI is involved in several criminal and terror cases and shows sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority of the country with funds and ideological support from outside, it has become a major threat to the internal security of the country.

"...in the exercise of powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the Central Government hereby declared the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associated or affiliates or fronts including Rehab India Foundation, Campus Front of India, All India Imams Council, National Confederation of Human Rights Organization, National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala, as an 'unlawful association'," the notification read.

"And Whereas, the Central Government, having regard to the above circumstances, is of the firm opinion that it is necessary to declare the PFI and its associated or affiliates or fronts as an unlawful association with immediate effect, and accordingly, in exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 2 of the said Act, the Central Government hereby directs that this notification shall, subject to any order that may be made under section 4 of the said Act, have effect for a period of five years from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette," it said.

The government is of the opinion that there is no immediate curb or control of the unlawful activities of the PFI while they are continuing its subversive activities, disturbing public order, and encouraging terror-based regressive regime, the notification said.

"There had been a number of instances of international linkages of PFI with Global Terrorist Groups and some activists of the PFI have joined Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and participated in terror activities in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan," it said.

"Investigations in various cases have revealed that the PFI and its cadres have been repeatedly engaging in violent and subversive acts. Criminal violent acts carried out by PFI include chopping off a limb of a college professor, cold-blooded killings of persons associated with organizations espousing other faiths, obtaining explosives to target prominent people and places, and destruction of public property," it said.

PFI: A 16-year-long history of rows and terror charges

Founded in Kerala in the year 2006, the Popular Front of India (PFI) has seen exponential growth, spreading its wings to 22 states across India, out of which has even sprung a political offshoot that contests elections. Yet, for much of this decade and a half, the organization has been shrouded in controversy, with allegations of “radicalization” and involvement in violence, with the Kerala government telling the High Court in an affidavit in 2012 that the PFI was “nothing but a resurrection” of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, SIMI.

Experts say that there are two clear markers that led to the creation of the PFI. One, the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 that led to a wave of communal unrest in India, and second, the eventual ban on the SIMI in early 2001. Five years after this, the PFI came into existence, merging the National Development Front of Kerala, the Karnataka Forum for Dignity, and the Manitha Neethi Pasari of Tamil Nadu, as well as several erstwhile members of SIMI.

One of the key architects of this merger was professor P Koya (68), a retired English teacher from Kozhikode, and now one of its key ideologues. Koya was one of the 22 men arrested from Kerala on Thursday. In an interview to HT in 2017, Koya had said that a “growing disparity and exploitation of the community in the country had forced people like him to float an outfit to regain its pride.” In 2009, out of the PFI also emerged its political wing the Social Democratic Party of India which has contested elections, primarily in Karnataka.

In 2014, two years after the Kerala Government told the High Court that the PFI was the resurrection of SIMI, it also told the court that the PFI wanted the “Islamisation of society by promoting conversion, communalisation of issues with a view to the benefit of Islam, recruitment, and maintenance of a branded committed indoctrinated Muslim youth for undertaking actions including selective elimination of persons, who in their perception are enemies of Islam”.

Soon after its formation, the PFI began to expand, first to the other southern states.Today, the organisation has offices in 22 states, including a headquarters in Delhi, and had a reach that extends as far as Manipur in the north east, one of the locations to be raided on Thursday.

PFI has a uniform for its cadres, conducts drills in public places, and often holds “unity” marches in district headquarters in Kerala in a show of strength. In 2013, the Kerala government banned this parade, claiming that it would create a law and order issue.

Over the years, the PFI has found itself shrouded in allegations of violence and murder, most with communal undertones. Records of the Kerala government have the organization linked with as many as 30 murders since its inception. In one of the most high-profile cases of violence that brought national attention to PFI, 13 PFI activists were sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly chopping off the hands of Professor T J Joseph, a Malayalam teacher in New Man’s College in Ernakulam’s Muvattupuzha in July 2010, for preparing a question paper that they saw as blasphemous.

Most recently, Alok Kumar, the Additional Director General of Police of the Karnataka police said that the alleged killers of BJP leader Praveen Nettaru in Bellary on July 26 this year had links to both the PFI and SDPI. Ten people have been arrested in the case thus far. In 2016, five people, including Bengaluru district president of PFI Azim Sheriff, were arrested for the murder of RSS man Rudresh in Bengaluru’s Shivajinagar. The Karnataka police have also accused the PFI of being involved in a violent clash in Bengaluru’s DJ Halli area on August 11, 2020, which left four people dead. The organization has also been accused of instigating the controversy that raged in Karnataka in February 2022, which saw Muslim girls in educational institutes in the state insisting on wearing the Hijab.

In the Supreme Court, the Uttar Pradesh police have also maintained that jailed journalist Siddique Kappan, who was picked up on his way to Hathras to visit the home of the Dalit girl who was raped and killed in September 2020, had “deep links” with the PFI, and was going there to foment trouble. Kappan, who was booked under charges of UAPA and sedition, was given bail by the apex court on September 10, 2022.

The PFI has however consistently rejected these charges. In a statement issued on Thursday, it said that it would “never surrender” and that the NIA’s “baseless claims and sensationalism are solely aimed at creating an atmosphere of terror.

239 held after raids across the country in a fresh PFI crackdown

About 250 people associated with the Popular Front of India (PFI) were on Tuesday arrested or detained for questioning in the second round of raids within a week across eight states as part of the largest-ever crackdown against the Islamic group over alleged terror links.

Conducted by state police teams, the raids were spread across Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh, and come at a time when calls have grown to ban the outfit.

The fresh raids came five days after 108 PFI functionaries, including its chairman OMA Salam, were arrested in multi-agency raids spearheaded by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in coordination with the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and state police forces at 102 locations across 15 states over charges of terror-funding, radicalization and attempts at “violent jihad”. NIA is investigating 19 cases involving PFI amid calls for banning the organization.

The fresh crackdown was carried out to break the organizational network, which is instrumental in violent protests in respective states since last week’s arrest of its top leadership, people familiar with the development said. The majority of those taken into custody on Tuesday were members of SDPI (Social Democratic Party of India) – the political wing of PFI, they said.

Incidents of targeted attacks including the use of Molotov cocktails on properties of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) office-bearers were reported at Erode, Salem, and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and about a dozen more locations in other states between September 23 and 26.

“Following PFI top leadership’s arrest by the NIA on September 22, several middles- and lower-rung members of PFI and SDPI ran campaigns against the law enforcement agencies and attacked members of Hindu community. The local police in these states developed intelligence which revealed there could be further attempts to foment trouble such as inciting communal violence and action has been taken accordingly,” said an official in New Delhi, asking not to be named.

This person added that “state police are also better equipped to unearth the micro-level PFI network, hideouts, people who attend regular meetings, etc”.

An ED officer, who did not want to be named, said: “Investigations are going on into all funding activities of PFI and SDPI. While several of their funding sources in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, and other countries have already been identified, efforts are on to trace immovable and movable properties, which may have been created using the funds received from abroad”.

Did you know these 5 groups are also outlawed in India? 

International Sikh Youth Federation (ISFY)

Along with other similar organizations like Khalistan Zindabad Force and Khalistan Commando Force, International Sikh Youth Federation is banned in India. However, it is not only India that has legally disqualified its operative status. It is considered a terrorist organization in Japan, Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the United States. The ISYF seeks to create Khalistan, an autonomous country for Sikhs.

United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)

The Government of India banned the United Liberation Front of Assam, also known as the United Liberation Front of Asom, in 1990 due to its separatist activities. As per numerous reports, politicians, bureaucrats, and businesspeople have been extorted to raise money. In addition to drug trafficking, it is involved in other organized criminal activities.

Deendar Anjuman

The Hyderabad-based Islamic religious group believes that the founding principles of Islam and Lingayatism are similar. After having been charged with carrying out a string of bombings in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in 2000, it was outlawed in 2001. The group, however, denied any involvement in the incidents and asserted that it was a sect that practiced and preached Islam in order to bring together Indians of all faiths.

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) -- People’s War (PW)

In 1992, the CPI (ML) PW was outlawed in Andhra Pradesh. After that, the Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa states were asked to outlaw the party by the central government's home ministry. At the national level, however, the party was still allowed to exist. The party had thousands of activists mainly in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, and the Midnapore district in West Bengal. In 2004, CPI (ML) PW and all its front organizations were banned as 'terrorist’ organizations.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

The LTTE’s main objective was to form an independent Tamil state. Several high-profile assassinations, including that of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, helped the LTTE gain international disrepute. As a result, 33 nations, including India, Canada, the United States, and the European Union classified the LTTE as a terrorist group and banned it.

References:

• hindustantimes.com
• thesquadron.in
• livemint.com