The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associates, including the Rehab India Foundation (RIF) and Campus Front of India, All India Imams Council (AIIC), for five years placed it in the list of 42 banned terrorist organizations under Section 35 of (UAPA) on this Wednesday. The MHA also issued the gazette notification a day after conducting second nationwide raid of five days with police teams across seven states on Tuesday and in which more than 270 people were arrested.
It also stated “The Central Government is of the opinion that it is necessary to exercise its powers under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the UAPA Act as the PFI is involved in several criminal and terror cases and shows sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority of the country and with funds and ideological support from outside it has become a major threat to the internal security of the country, investigations in various cases have revealed that the PFI and its cadres have been repeatedly engaging in violent and subversive acts”.
“Rehab India Foundation collects funds through PFI members and some of the members of the PFI are also members of CFI, EIF, Rehab Foundation, Kerala, and the activities of the junior front, All India Imams Council, National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO) and National Women’s Front are monitored/ coordinated by the PFI leaders. The PFI has created all the associates or affiliates or fronts with the objective of enhancing its reach among different sections of the society such as youth, students, women, Imams, lawyers or weaker sections of the society with the sole objective of expanding its membership, influence and fundraising capacity”.
As per the notification“All the criminal activities and brutal murders have been carried out by PFI cadres for the sole objective of disturbing public peace and tranquillity and creating a reign of terror in the public mind, there had been a number of instances of international linkages of PFI with global terrorist Groups and some activists of the PFI have joined ISIS and participated in terror activities in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan”.
“The Income Tax Department also cancelled the registration granted to Rehab India Foundation under section 12A or section 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat have recommended to ban PFI,” it further stated.