PFI deemed an unlawful association by Center; banned for five years

New Delhi: On September 28, the Popular Front of India (PFI) and several affiliates or fronts were designated unlawful associations with immediate effect for a period of five years by the Central Government.

"...in exercise of powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the Central Government hereby declared the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associated or affiliates or fronts including Rehab India Foundation, Campus Front of India, All India Imams Council, National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women's Front NWF), Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala, as an 'unlawful association'," the notification read.

According to the notification, PFI and its partners, affiliates, or fronts have been engaging in illegal activity that threatens the integrity, sovereignty, and security of the nation and has the ability to disturb communal harmony and public peace as well as foster militancy there.

The PFI has connections to Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is a proscribed organisation, and some of its founding members are leaders of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which is also a proscribed organisation, the notification said.

The PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts have been working covertly to increase the radicalization of one community by fostering a sense of insecurity in the nation, which is substantiated by the fact that some PFI cadres have joined international terrorist organisations, according to the notification. There have been numerous instances of PFI's links to international terrorist organisations like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), it added.

"The Central Government, having regard to the above circumstances, is of the firm opinion that it is necessary to declare the PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts as an unlawful association with immediate effect, and accordingly, in the exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 3 of the said Act, the Central Government hereby directs that this notification shall, subject to any order that may be made under section 4 of the said Act, have effect for a period of five years from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette," it said.

The state police forces and its Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) began conducting raids on Tuesday in a number of states, including Karnataka, Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh, as part of a nationwide operation against PFI leaders, Livemint reported.

After operations in Mumbai and several districts throughout the state, the Maharashtra Police detained 32 PFI and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) activists, according to officials. Many other states' police also made similar crackdowns.

Based on an inquiry into PFI's actions and available evidence, the crackdown on the organisation was legal, according to deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. "Attempts were being made to create a division in society and weaken the country. This was being done systematically," said Fadnavis.

The ATS had apprehended 17 people in Gujarat because of their alleged connections to the PFI. The ATS made it clear that it alone carried out the operations in Gujarat, and not the NIA as had previously been assumed. The person claimed that although the PFI is not overtly visible in Gujarat, its political wing, the SDPI, is engaged there and just opened an office in Ahmedabad.

The PFI's district offices, leaders' homes, businesses, and other places of business throughout Kerala were raided on Tuesday. According to a senior police officer, 114 people have so far been detained in connection with recent disturbances on Hartal Day in the district; the raids were conducted as a follow-up to this and to gather more evidence.

Police in Assam detained 11 PFI worker leaders from different sections of the state, as well as one from Delhi.

More than 75 PFI members of its political wing SDPI and its leaders were put into preventive custody, according to information from the Karnataka Police. CM Basavaraj Bommai said, the police only used action against PFI activists as a preventative step after receiving information.

Prior to this, on September 22, the NIA conducted its largest-ever raids across 15 states, detaining over 106 PFI members.

(With inputs from agencies)