In a shocking revelation, it is learned that the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI) is allegedly involved in the communal violence that engulfed Karauli in Rajasthan earlier this month. During a Hindu New Year celebration rally in Karauli, a mob of Islamists attacked the procession resulting in large-scale violence in the area.
According to reports, PFI wrote to Rajasthan’s chief minister Ashok Gehlot and warned about possible violence due to Hindu processions passing through a Muslim-dominated locality. The president of PFI’s Rajasthan unit, Mohammad Asif, sought adequate police protection from Rajasthan’s CM Ashok Gehlot. With this letter, the Kerala-born organization PFI made its first public appearance in Rajasthan.
After Mohammad Asif wrote a letter to the chief minister and other government officials in the state, PFI released a press note on 1st April 2022 and shared information about the same. The press release stated, “From 2nd to 4th April, a saffron rally is being organized by RSS and its affiliated organizations in various districts, tehsils, and towns of the state to mark the Hindu New Year. Popular Front of India Rajasthan state president Mohammad Asif issued a press statement in this regard. He also wrote to the Chief Minister and the State Director of Police to ban the slogans that spread religious frenzy in the rallies, save the communal harmony of the state, maintain law and order and ensure peaceful conduct of these events.”
The press release further added, “In such rallies, often people from outside join the local people and raise provocative slogans and disturb the communal harmony of the local town. Instead of allowing the route for such a rally in the minority-dominated areas, it is demanded that an alternative route be set up and the entire information and accountability of the organizers and the saffron rally should be held peacefully. The State President appeals to the entire society to keep alert to the conspiracy of the fascist Sangh Parivar and its affiliated organizations and maintain mutual brotherhood and law and order in the state.”
Through this letter, PFI tried to put the onus of responsibility on Hindus in advance in case of any mishap. Taking religious processions on any suitable routes in a town is not prohibited by any law. When the Hindu New Year processions were passing through a Muslim-dominated area in Karauli in Rajasthan, a mob of Islamists pelted stones at the procession and this turned into riots in which many vehicles and shops were vandalized. Now when this press release appeared, questions are also being asked about how PFI knew about the probable communal tensions in the Muslim-dominated localities before the incident took place.
Intelligence officers in Kerala who are tracking PFI for the last many years said that the expansion of this group is really intriguing and claimed that its saviour tag has attracted many Muslim youths in various parts of the country.
Radical Islamist outfit PFI and its dangerous antecedents
The Popular front of India calls itself a neo-social movement allegedly committed to empowering people belonging to the minority communities, Dalits, and other weaker sections of the society. However, it finds its roots in the banned terrorist organization SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India). Many Islamic outfits emerged in 1992 after the disputed structure on the site of the Shri Ram Janam Bhoomi was demolished. These organizations were focused on exploiting the sentiments of the Muslims in India and mobilising them to strengthen their organisation structure. One such organization Islamic Seva Sangh (ISS) was founded by a cleric Abdul Nasser Madani. He was arrested and jailed in the Coimbatore bomb blasts case and ISS was banned by the Indian government.
Most leaders of ISS then moved to the terrorist organization SIMI which was later banned as well in 2001. After SIMI was banned, these leaders formed another organization named National Development Front. In 2006, this organization merged with two other organizations to form the Popular Front of India. Many of its frontline leaders are from Kerala and have been a part of SIMI in the past.
According to reports, the Modi government would soon ban the notorious Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), which has been accused of violence and communal tensions that erupted in parts of the country in the first two weeks of April 2022. According to sources, this decision might come as soon as next week.
