Assam Eviction Drive: Popular Front denies role in violence, vows to cooperate with probe

The Popular Front of India has said that it is ready to cooperate with all government investigations and denied it has any role in instigating violence in the country. Party general secretary Mhd Iliyas alleges that the BJP government is trying to stop its struggle to fight for the marginalised section of the society. The PFI is often accused of radicalising Muslim youths and maintaining its relationships with a few anti-national outfits. Meanwhile, the Assam government has evicted around 4,500 people from their houses without providing any rehabilitation plan

New Delhi: The Popular Front of India (PFI) on Tuesday has said that it is ready to cooperate with all government investigations and denied that it has any role in instigating violence in the country. Days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma accused PFI of instigating violence in Assam's Darrang district, its general secretary Mhd Iliyas refuted such claims saying that the BJP government is trying to forcibly stop its struggle to fight for the marginalised section of the society.

"We are ready to answer all queries of the government in the court. However, it is clear that the BJP government is desperately trying to shut PFI movements," said Llyas to ETV Bharat in New Delhi.

Immediately after the violence in Assam's Darrang district where two people have lost their lives and several others were injured, Chief Minister Sarma claimed that PFI collected Rs28 lakh from the people of Dholpur over the past three months on the pretext of saving them from the ongoing eviction.

The Assam government has recently decided to evict all encroaches from the government land. The PFI said that in the past few days, the Assam government has evicted around 4,500 people from their houses without providing any rehabilitation plan. While the case filed against the movement is still in court, at least 800 families were forcibly thrown out to the street, the PFI said.

"Whether it is Assam or Uttar Pradesh, the BJP government with directions from the RSS always try to blame the PFI. If there is any violence anywhere in the country, it is PFI who is blamed without any proof," said Ilyas. Presently, the activities of PFI is under the scanner of different intelligence agencies. The members of PFI has been named by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case claiming it has incited communal riots in the aftermath of Hatharas gang rape of 2020.

In fact, the agency has been probing the PFI since 2018. The PFI was formed in 2006 in Kerala with its headquarter in Delhi. The ED is also investigating PFI's role in instigating violence in the Citizenships Amendment Act (CAA) related incidents. Government officials said that PFI's role in money laundering cases and the use of funds for different unlawful activities are in progress.

The PFI is often accused of radicalising Muslim youths and maintaining its relationships with a few anti-national outfits. Since its formation following the merging of three Muslim organisations, namely The National Development Front of Kerala, Karnataka Forum for Dignity and Manitha Neethi Pasari of Tamil Nadu, PFI at present has its units in 22 States across India.

A senior intelligence official said that PFI has successfully exploited a growing vacuum in the community branding the image of a saviour. The PFI describe itself as a social organisation committed to empowering people to ensure justice and security. To date, three states, including Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, have approached the Union Home Ministry to impose a ban on PFI.