Jamaat-e-Islami deplores NIA arresting PFI leaders

New Delhi: The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) condemned the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raids and the crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI) on Thursday.

In a statement released by the organisation, JIH president Syed Sadatullah Husaini said that central agencies probing organisations or individuals are fine, but they should be unbiased and free from political motivation. He alleged that the latest raid operations by NIA and Enforcement Directorate look suspicious since the nationwide drive comes in the backdrop of the Union government's stance against those opposing it in recent years. But it is turning a blind eye to certain sections that openly indulge in hate-mongering and violence.

The JIH statement read, "Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is highly concerned over the raids conducted by the NIA and ED on the Popular Front of India (PFI) offices and their leaders. Agencies like NIA can investigate people against whom they have clear evidence, but such actions should appear unbiased and free from political motivation. Are the NIA and ED following the standard operating procedure in the raids? The manner in which NIA and ED have made simultaneous raids across the country, targeting PFI, raises lots of questions for our society to answer. The operation has become suspicious, particularly in the backdrop of several actions by central government agencies against opposition groups and leaders in the last few years through various state agencies like NIA, ED, CBI, and the Police. This is hurting our democratic ethos and endangering the rights of citizens to criticise and appraise those in power. The action becomes questionable also because of the fact that action is not being taken against several groups openly indulging in hate-mongering and violence. Hence, these raids raise uncomfortable questions for society. Are the raids meant to appease a particular constituency? If that is the case, then is it not a kind of appeasement and vote-bank politics? The JIH deplores all such raids and actions in which people are subject to harassment in an unjust manner irrespective of whether they belong to the opposition, the minorities, or any social class of society. If the state agencies are taking coercive action against them in a biased manner without proof and justification, then it is not healthy for a vibrant and just society. The JIH never endorses hate and violence and condemns it unequivocally."