The Tamil Nadu Police, on the request of the Sufi Islamic Board, revoked permission for the radical Islamist organization Popular Front of India to organize a march at multiple locations across the state. The unity march for which the permission was cancelled was going to be held in Kanchipuram, Salem, Ramanathapuram, Pudukottai, and Tenkasi.
This action follows the Sufi Islamic Board’s comprehensive letter to the D.G.P. Tamil Nadu on March 2, 2022, requesting that the authorization granted to The Popular Front of India be revoked. Mr. Y. Shaukat All Mohammad, the Advisor of the Sufi Islamic Board, addressed the letter.
The Sufi Islamic Board stated in a notice that the permission for the march was cancelled after receiving the letter. Sufi Islamic Board National President Mansoor Khan stated that the Sufi Islamic Board’s action against the PFI is just another step in the organization’s National Campaign to Ban PFI across India.
The letter, submitted to the DGP of Tamil Nadu, outlined PFI’s involvement in anti-national and terror-related operations. The letter specifically said that the PFI is involved in a gold smuggling network in Kerala, marriage for conversion in Karnataka and Kerala, anti-CAA riots in Delhi, and committing “sedition,” hijab protest, and stirring communal violence in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
It further asserted that the NIA is now investigating over 100 PFI members in various instances throughout India, while the ED is investigating the group for allegedly supporting the 2020 Delhi riots as well as rallies against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Furthermore, in asking the termination of the permits, it noted that in April 2021, the Central Government assured the Supreme Court that it was “in the process” of banning the PFI, but that is yet to materialize, and the PFI is also operating as a proxy of the banned organization SIMI.
The Sufi Islamic Board
According to its website, the Sufi Islamic Board is a recognized body of trusts and individual personalities adhering to the Sufi Parampara as performed by Sufi Saints all throughout the world. They state that their goal is to raise awareness among the general public about authentic Sufi teachings and to spread true Sufi Parampara through the Sufi Islamic Board so that peace can be achieved amongst Bharat’s many practising religions.
They have been instrumental in opposing PFI and demanding its abandonment throughout the country. They have launched a dedicated movement to gather support for the banning of PFI. In view of new evidence from Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala that the PFI is engaging in anti-national activities, they have asked the Union Home Ministry to reiterate its call for the organization to be probed and restrictions imposed on an urgent basis.
