MHA mulls ban on PFI as intelligence agencies suspect its hand in violence during Ram Navami

"The intelligence agencies have pointed out PFI's involvement in violent incidents that took place recently," said a senior Home Ministry official quoting the intelligence report. The report further highlighted the growth of PFI in many other areas of the country.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is likely to take a call on banning the Popular Front of India (PFI), a controversial Islamic outfit, for its alleged involvement in violent activities across the country. Intelligence agencies in a dossier submitted to the Home Ministry recently have pointed out PFI's hand in violence that took place in several States during the Ram Navami procession on April 10.

States like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and West Bengal witnessed large-scale violence during the Ram Navami procession. "The intelligence agencies have pointed out PFI's involvement in violent incidents that took place recently," said a senior Home Ministry official quoting the intelligence report. The report further highlighted the growth of PFI in many other areas of the country.

Formed in 2006 following the merger of several organizations including the National Development Front (NDF), Tamil Nadu based Manitha Neethi Passarai, and Karnataka based Forum for Dignity, PFI was initially limited to a few south Indian states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka which subsequently setup its base across the country including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Assam.

A few state governments like Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka have already appealed to the Centre for imposing a ban on PFI. During his visit to New Delhi in February, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma appealed to the Home Ministry to impose a ban on the outfit. According to the Home Ministry official, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is also likely to have an elaborate discussion over intelligence reports involving PFI.

"If the government thinks that there is an imminent threat with wider ramifications due to PFI across the country, a ban on PFI may happen at any moment," the official said.

It is worth mentioning here that the hand of PFI was earlier suspected in the anti-CAA protest of 2018, Delhi riots of 2020, unrest in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh in 2021 as well as hijab row of Karnataka. Intelligence agencies as well as Assam Government have also suspected the role of PFI in the violence that took place during the eviction drive in the State's Darrang district in September last year.

The PFI, however, rejects these claims. "We are not at all involved in any anti-India activities. Neither we instigate communal violence. Instead, we fight for the rights of the minority community and other weaker sections of society. We intend to empower the weaker sections of the society," said Mohammed Iliyas, PFI general secretary to ETV Bharat.

Iliyas accused the BJP government of making "baseless allegations" against PFI. "The government is making baseless allegations against us. The central government has also been utilizing its agencies to put pressure on us," said Iliyas.

Significantly, the enforcement directorate (ED) is also investigating a money laundering case against PFI and its leaders on the basis of a case registered by NIA under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2013 for terror funding. In 2010, Intelligence Bureau (IB) had first submitted a dossier to Home Ministry calling the group "a confederation of Islamic organizations which was collaborating with the banned Islamist terrorist Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)."

In 2017, the NIA also submitted a dossier to MHA substantiating PFI's links with terror-related cases.