Why does the government want to ban the Popular Front of India (PFI)

Enforcement Directorate attaches Popular Front of India accounts in money laundering cases. Volunteers of the Popular Front of India take out a procession in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu. As per the officials, the accounts hold more than ₹68 lakh. The orders have been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached at least 33 bank accounts of Islamist organization Popular Front ofIndiaqa (PFI) and a linked organization called Rehab India Foundation as part of an anti-money laundering investigation against them, officials said on June 1. The accounts hold more than ₹68 lakh. They said 23 accounts of the Popular Front of India (PFI) having ₹59,12,051 and 10 of Rehab India Foundation having ₹9,50,030 have been attached.

Origin–

Even though PFI as an organization came into existence in 2006, its origin dates back to 1993. Following the demolition of the Babri Masjid, a political organization by the name National Development Front (NDF) was created in Kerala, to protect the interests of the Muslim community in the state. Over the years, NDF claimed to be an organization working for the socio-economic welfare of the state’s Muslim community. Their work was noticed across the state and their popularity increased as well. However, over the years the extremist nature of the organization came to light. in 2003, some of its members were arrested for rioting and murdering eight Hindus in Marad Beach in Kerala’s Kozhikode. Following these killings, it was alleged that the NDF has links with foreign intelligence agencies – however, the claim could not be proven.

In its initial days, NDF’s activities were limited to Kerala. But after gaining popularity a decision was made that expand its influence across the state and to create a unified organization, merging like-minded organizations from Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Thus in 2006, The Popular Front of India (PFI) was formed, merging NDF, Karnataka Forum for Dignity, and Manitha Neethi Pasarai in Tamil Nadu. Over the next three years, a few more organizations – Goa’s Citizen’s Forum, Rajasthan’s Community Social and Educational Society, West Bengal’s Nagarik Adhikar Suraksha Samiti, Manipur’s Lilong Social Forum, and Andhra Pradesh’s Association of Social Justice – merged with the PFI. Despite the representations from different states, the activities of the PFI remain strongest in Kerala.

Now the PFI claims it has units in 22 states. Its growth is phenomenal, it successfully exploited a growing vacuum in the community donning the role of a savior. The successful portrayal of the image helps PFI to mobilize funds, especially from the rich middle-eastern countries. The PFI’s earlier headquarters was in Kozhikode, but after broadening its base, it was shifted to Delhi. PFI’s state president Nasaruddin Elamarom is one of the founding leaders of the outfit. And its all-India president E Abubaker also hails from Kerala. 

In Kerala, most of its erstwhile leaders were members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). The PFI describes itself as a neo-social movement committed to empowering people belonging to the minority communities, Dalits, and other weaker sections of society. In Kerala, a retired professor P Koya is considered as the tallest leader of the organization.

Who funds the PFI?

The Enforcement Directorate subjected office-bearers of the PFI to multiple raids in 2020 following allegations that the organization funded anti-CAA and NRC (National Register of Citizens) protests across the country.  The Islamic outfit has been repeatedly accused of receiving funds from foreign entities but says that donations from ordinary Muslims keep its engines running. On a single Friday evening, in a matter of 15 minutes PFI raised Rs 80 lakh to fight the Hadiya case just by standing outside mosques,” Ahmed said. The organization has two kinds of donation drives — one an annual donation drive during the month of Ramzan and another for targeted schemes like scholarships and flagship programs. Some funds also go towards controversial training camps for new cadres. Training and grooming camps may have a dark side.

Why does the government want to ban it?

Since its inception, the outfit had been involved in many clashes and political murders. It was allegedly involved in at least 30 political murders in Kerala. In 2015, 13 of its workers were awarded life-term for chopping the palm of a college professor T J Joseph who prepared a question paper alleged to be blasphemous. Two years ago, six PFI activists were held in connection with the murder of an ABVP leader in Kannur, and nine were arrested for allegedly killing SFI leader Abhimanyu in Maharajas College in Ernakulam last year.

In 2014, the Kerala government had submitted an affidavit in the High Court saying its activists were involved in at least 27 political murders, 86 attempts to murder cases, and more than 125 cases for whipping up communal passions. When the Hadiya Jehan case came up two years ago, Hadiya alias Akhila’s father K Asokan had alleged that her husband Shefin Jehan was an active member of the PFI. Police later found that Akihla was converted in Sathya Sarani, a religious school is controlled by the PFI in the Malappuram district. Its name had also cropped up in alleged cases of “love jihad” (an alleged activity through which girls belonging to one community are converted by feigning love).

“The PFI’s militant position on many issues attracted a lot of youngsters to it. To weaken the Muslim League, considered to be a secular party, some of the mainline political parties including CPI(M) supported it on several occasions. Now it has grown into a strong force. But the PFI dismisses these allegations, saying most recent campaigns were aimed at distracting attention from burning issues. 

These include, among other things, allegations of involvement in a gold smuggling racket in Kerala, marriage for conversion in Karnataka and Kerala, sponsoring anti-CAA riots in Delhi, committing “sedition”, and instigating communal violence in Uttar Pradesh. The NIA is currently investigating over 100 PFI members in various cases across India, and the ED is probing the organization for allegedly funding the 2020 riots in Delhi as well as the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Delhi Police Special Cell, too, is investigating the PFI’s role in allegedly “providing logistics” for the 2020 Delhi riots. With the allegations of hatching conspiracies and financing riots racking up, there have been several calls for a ban on the PFI.

In 2019, the Uttar Pradesh government sought to outlaw the PFI for allegedly provoking anti-CAA riots. The NIA, too, sent a detailed report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 2017, wanting a ban on the organization. The agency claimed that the PFI was a “threat to national security” and was using outfits like the Sathya Sarani in Malappuram to carry out “forced conversions”. The NIA also alleged that the organization was involved in terror attack plots and bomb-making.

According to sources in the Intelligence Bureau, PFI has been actively promoting jihad, and classes on jihad are being conducted by some of its members. However, its nature has been described as that of an ‘extremist organization’ and not a ‘terror outfit’. “They preach to their cadre to attack the right-wing organizations in the country. The attacks are either communal or political. However, unlike the Indian Mujahedeen and LeT, they have not taken up any large-scale terror attacks against a general civilian target. Regardless, they have been under constant surveillance for several years now. Officers added that PFI even preaches to its cadres that killing of right-wing activists who oppose Islam would provide them ‘with religious rewards in the afterlife.

 ATTACKS CARRIED OUT BY PFI IN KERALA?

One of the most infamous attacks carried out by PFI was the cutting of a professor’s hand-  TJ Joseph, a professor in Newman College, associated with Mahatma Gandhi University, included a question in a Malayalam exam, which was perceived as derogatory by some students as it ‘hurt the religious sentiments of some Muslim students by his remarks on Prophet Mohammed. The professor was booked on charges of causing communal hatred, however, he was released on bail.

A few days after he came out on bail, on 4 July 2010, Joseph’s vehicle was waylaid by a group of eight men, who chopped his right hand off. Police arrested and filed a charge sheet against 37 PFI members. Charges of an attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, and assault, among others, were filed against these men. The case is currently under trial. Even though this incident caught the public’s attention, there were several other attacks PFI members were part of. According to a Kerala government report submitted to the Kerala High Court, in 2012, PFI members were actively involved in 27 murder cases, mostly of cadres of CPI-M and RSS. In 2014, in another report, the Kerala government said 86 attempts to murder cases were registered against PFI as well.

PFI members in Karnataka have been involved in the political murders of the four RSS workers in the state. While two of the murders were reported in the coastal city of Mangaluru, one case each was reported in Bengaluru and Mysuru. Five people, including Bengaluru district president of Popular Front of India (PFI) Azim Sheriff, were arrested for the murder of RSS man Rudresh in October 2016, in Bengaluru’s Shivajinagar. All these cases are currently under trial.

Forced Conversion by PFI-

A sting operation by a National Television claimed that AS Zainab, president of the National Women’s Front – the PFI’s women’s wing – admitted having coordinated forced religious conversions to Islam at a Sathya Sarani, an educational and charitable trust associated with PFI. Although the PFI alleged that the sting operation was a vilification campaign against them, based on the news report, the Kerala police ordered an investigation into the allegation.

The report also came while the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was conducting an investigation into the alleged forceful conversions to Islam. In September, Kerala police had provided a list of 94 suspected cases of forced conversions to the NIA. During the investigation, the NIA had alleged that the PFI was involved in the conversions; however, the case is still under investigation.

The Hadiya conversion case is among the cases being investigated by NIA. The case involves 24-year-old Akhila, who embraced Islam and took the name Hadiya without the knowledge of her family. Since January 2016, her parents, Ashokan and Ponnamma, have been waging a legal battle to get their daughter back. After the High Court admitted a second habeas corpus filed by Ashokan in August 2016, the court suddenly nullified Akhila’s marriage to Shafin Jahan. Now, the case has reached the Supreme Court, with the apex court asking Hadiya to appear before HC to give her version.

Is PFI Connected To The Islamic State?

According to the information provided by Kerala police, at least 10 men who were part of PFI have gone to Syria to fight for Islamic State. It was during the interrogation of Shahjahan, an Islamic State (IS) sympathizer from Kanjirangode in Kannur who was deported from Turkey following a failed attempt to cross the border, police learned that members of the PFI had gone to fight in Syria. PFI agreed that these men were part of their organization, however, claimed that they had left the party. “Shameer and Manaf were PFI activists, but they cut all ties with us after they left for the Gulf,” a Times of India report quoted VK Noufal, Kannur district president of the PFI, as saying. TOI report also quoted Noufal saying those who joined the IS had differences of opinion while they were in PFI.

Past Proposal To Ban PFI-

In the first week of October 2017, a series of meetings were held by the Ministry of Home Affairs to decide whether PFI should be banned. The Ministry also reviewed all the cases where members of the PFI were have been involved. One of the reasons cited by the ministry for proposing the ban was the number of cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act filed against the members of the organization. However, no decision has been taken on the matter so far. PFI has declined the allegations of terror links.

Last year, UNKion Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the role of PFI has been suspected in the anti-CAA protests in Uttar Pradesh and the Home Ministry would decide on the action to be taken against the organization. A day earlier, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya too said the PFI had fanned protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the state. He said the members of PFI were disguised as SIMI members.

Following these statements, UP police wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs with a fresh proposal to ban the PFI. Hormis Tharakan, former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and former Kerala police chief said that the PFI is under heavy scrutiny from the security agencies. However, the former official said that, unlike SIMI, pinning down PFI has become a tough task for investigating agencies as the PFI has projected itself as an organization for social change. It becomes difficult to prove, with sufficient evidence, that PFI is a terror organization. This will be challenging for the investigators.

PFI and politics

The PFI is frequently accused of raging up against the Muslim community over religion and politics, but the organization maintains that neither is its main concern. They say Religion is not our business. We are not a political party but we did look for political collaboration with other marginalized people like Dalits.

But, the PFI’s political wing SDPI has made some inroads in local elections. Last December, the SDPI won six seats in Karnataka’s urban local body elections. Of the six, three were in Kaup in Udupi district, and one each in Vittla and Kotekar in Dakshina Kannada district — all coastal regions with a sizeable Muslim population. The remaining seat was won by a Dalit candidate fielded by the party in Chikkamagaluru. The PFI was an offshoot of the radical NDF. After the People’s Democratic Party (Kerala-based PDP, different from its J&K namesake) leader Abdul Nasser Madani was arrested [in connection with terror attacks], the PDP turned into SDPI. Their politics is as communal as the RSS’s is.

While the SDPI looks to gain electoral victories, the PFI’s student wing — Campus Front of India (CFI) — is putting up a battle of cadres against the ABVP (RSS’s student wing) in Karnataka, where it has considerably more sway than the Congress’s student arm in certain pockets and has played an important role in keeping up the momentum of the hijab protests. There are some parallels and links between the SDPI and another Muslim-focused party — the Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), led by Asaduddin Owaisi. Like the AIMIM, the SDPI, too, has been accused by Congress of having a tacit understanding with the BJP, especially as elections close in, to whip up polarisation.

Leaders of the PFI openly profess their soft corner for the AIMIM. After the CAA-related violence in Murshidabad, West Bengal, in December 2019, central intelligence reports claimed to have evidence that the AIMIM had backed the PFI in planning public meetings there on 5 January 2020. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) scuppered the plan to hold the meetings, but two years later, Manirul Islam, TMC MLA from Farakka, stood side by side with PFI leaders in Murshirabad earlier this month, “overwhelmed” by the gathering.