Kerala: Congress, IUML welcome PFI ban, urge same treatment for RSS

The opposition Congress in Kerala and its coalition partner Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Wednesday welcomed the Centre's decision to ban the Popular Front of India (PFI) for its alleged terror activities, but said that the RSS should also be similarly outlawed.

Strongly condemning the activities of the PFI, senior IUML leader M K Muneer said the radical outfit had misinterpreted the Quran and persuaded the community members to adopt the path of violence. The PFI not only tried to mislead the young generation but also tried to create division and hatred in the society, he said in Kozhikode. "All Islamic scholars in the state have strongly condemned the extremist ideologies. But, outfits like PFI have made even tiny children raise contemptuous slogans. Which Islam has persuaded them to do so?" the legislator asked.

Track updates on the PFI ban here

Stating that IUML has always opposed the deeds of both RSS and PFI-SDPI, Muneer said the respective communities should reject the communal ideologies of such outfits.

Sharing similar views, senior Congress leader and former state home minister Ramesh Chennithala said the Centre's decision to ban PFI was a "good thing". "RSS should also be banned like this. In Kerala, both majority communalism and minority communalism should be equally opposed. Both the outfits have flared up communal hatred and thus tried to create division in the society," he said.

Chennithala said Congress is a party which has taken a strong stand against communalism spread by both the majority and minority communities. The recent dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the PFI turned violent, affecting normal life in many parts of Kerala as agitated activists pelted stones at public transport buses, destroyed shops and vehicles and threatened the general public.

What is the PFI? Why has it been banned?

The hartal was called by the PFI to protest against the raids in offices and residences of its leaders and their subsequent arrests on September 22 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other agencies for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country. In a notification issued late Tuesday night, the Union Home Ministry banned the PFI saying the central government is of the opinion that the Islamist outfit and its affiliates have been involved in subversive activities, thereby disturbing public order and undermining constitutional set up of the country and encouraging and enforcing a terror-based regressive regime.

It continues "propagating anti-national sentiments and radicalising a particular section of society" with the intention to create disaffection against the country, it said.