After years of investigations and demands from BJP-ruled states, the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday banned Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) and its eight affiliates for five years, charging them with being involved in "several criminal and terror cases" and having links with the terror outfits like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
The ban, which was notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs in the gazette at 5:43 am, came following multi-agency raids in around 15 states, including Karnataka and Kerala, led by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that led to the arrest or detention of over 350 PFI leaders and activists on September 22 and 27. The MHA said in the notification that the ban was recommended by BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat governments.
Along with the PFI, its affiliates Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab India, Kerala were banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
The affiliates, which were the “roots and capillaries” through which the PFI was “fed and strengthened”, were created with the objective of “enhancing its reach among different sections of the society” such as youth, students, women, imams, lawyers and weaker sections of the society. These have a “Hub and Spoke relationship” with the PFI, which was acting as the hub and utilising the mass outreach and fundraising capacity of the affiliates.
The Centre justified its ban, saying that if there is "no immediate curb or control of unlawful activities” of the PFI and its affiliates or fronts, it will use the opportunity to "continue its subversive activities".
If there is no ban, the notification warned, it will also “encourage and enforce terror based regressive regime”.
The PFI and its affiliates "operate openly as socio-economic, educational and political organisations but they have been pursuing a secret agenda to radicalise a particular section of the society working towards undermining the concept of democracy and showing sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority and constitutional set up of the country".
With funds and ideological support from outside, it said, it has become a "major threat" to internal security. The PFI’s founding members were the leaders of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), the notification said.
The notification cited a number of incidents of "violent and subversive acts" carried out by the PFI, including that of chopping off the hands of Prof TJ Joseph in Kerala and cold blooded killings of a college student Abhimanyu in Kerala and youths Sharath, R Rudresh, Praveen Pujari and Praveen Nettaru, all from Karnataka between 2016 and 2022, to create “reign of terror in public mind”.
The MHA also spoke about PFI's links with global terrorist groups and instances of its activists joining ISIS and participating in terror acts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Some of these PFI cadres linked to ISIS have been killed in these conflict theatres and some have been arrested by state police and central agencies, it said.
The leaders and cadres of the PFI are also accused of conspiring and raising funds from within the country and abroad through the banking channels, and the hawala, donations, etc. as part of a "well-crafted criminal conspiracy, and then transferring, layering and integrating these funds through multiple accounts to project them as legitimate and eventually using these funds to carry out various criminal, unlawful and terrorist activities".
The notification also said the sources of deposits on behalf of PFI were not supported by the financial profiles of the account holders and the activities of PFI were not being carried out as per their declared objectives. It noted that the Income Tax Department had cancelled the registration granted to PFI and Rehab India Foundation.