Days after attending the All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council (AISSC) that demanded a ban on the functioning of the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI), Lucknow-based Islamic cleric Salman Nadwi opposed the call and said that it was illogical to ban the entire organization due to mistake of a few members.
Nadwi also compared the organization to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) and blatantly contended that the two organizations worked on similar lines.
According to the reports, Nadwi was part of the inter-faith conference that was held in New Delhi last Saturday. The conference was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and AISSC which is an Islamist organization set up for four years. The conference passed the resolution to ban the PFI involved in radicalism or incidents like the recent killing of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur or the Bihar terror module.
However, Nadwi on July 31 made an about-face and refused to support the call for banning PFI.
He said that the law should punish those members of the organizations who are involved in the crimes but banning the entire organization because of such people is not a good idea. He alleged that he had no idea that a call to ban PFI was made at the conference.
The Islamic cleric went on to say that action should be taken against a few members of any organization who engage in illegal activity. They should be punished if there is evidence to support it but this cannot be used as justification to outlaw the entire group. “The same”, he said, “also holds for groups like the RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal”.
“It is not right to demand a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, Tablighi Jamaat or the RSS, its branches, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad just because some of their members are found indulging in cruelty or making unlawful remarks,” he said in a video interview that was uploaded on his Youtube channel on July 31. He added that RSS and PFI worked on similar lines. “RSS says that it works for the society. PFI also does the same. It is not good to target the entire organization”, he stated.
He reiterated that no such resolution to ban the PFI was brought before him at the conference on Saturday and said that he attended the conference just to promote interfaith harmony. “I was not even aware that some resolution was to be passed,” he said.
It is worth noting that Salman Nadwi’s volte-face comes days after participating in the All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council (AISSC), which was also attended by NSA Ajit Doval, and which passed the resolution calling for the ban on PFI. Visuals of Nadwi bear-hugging Mr Doval and animatedly shaking hands with other religious leaders had gone viral on the internet.
Swearing allegiance to ISIS, congratulating Al-Baghdadi for becoming Caliph
Nadwi, who is known to profess hardcore support for Muslim Brotherhood, had in the past made no bones about his allegiance to the Islamic State. He had also congratulated Al-Baghdadi for becoming the Caliph and expressed excitement at the establishment of ISIS.
Astonishing. Does @PMOIndia not carry out a simple background check before allowing such dangerous elements to meet with the NSA?
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) August 3, 2022
Turns out this man, Salman Nadwi, had congratulated Al Baghdadi on becoming a caliph and even expressed his excitement at the establishment of ISIS. pic.twitter.com/SzIWjDtLWf
The criminal antecedents of PFI
It, therefore, comes as no surprise that Salman Nadwi has a soft spot in his heart for a radical outfit like PFI, which is known for spreading Islamism in India and carrying out nefarious activities against non-Muslims.
Recently, the Bihar Police busted the terror module in Patna that had links with the Islamic extremist outfit PFI. The NIA also raided 10 locations in Patna, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Nalanda, and Madhubani districts in Bihar in the case in which the suspects involved were closely associated with the PFI. The accused had planned anti-national activities during PM Modi’s visit to Patna.
The PFI activists have been involved in several other crimes. The one accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case is associated with the PFI. Recently a BJP Youth Morcha member named Praveen was murdered in Karnataka. The arrested accused Shafiq and Zaqir have links with PFI and SDPI. The PFI has been working as a radical organization for years. It also had a major role to play in chopping off the right hand of a professor from Kerala named TJ Joseph. Also, in 2019 when the NIA was probing the murder of Ramalingam, the agency filed a charge sheet against 18 persons. All 18 persons are allegedly associated with the PFI and SDPI.
