The Popular Front of India (PFI), a radical Islamic outfit which has shot into the limelight after some of its members were allegedly found involved in hacking off the palm of a college lecturer in Kerala recently, has said that there is no reason to ban the organisation.
While the Kerala high court deals with a petition seeking its ban, the PFI feels there is no reason for such a move. While admitting that its activists were responsible for the horrific palm chopping incident, its leaders also note that the organisation has condemned the incident and suspended those involved in the attack. PFI leaders choose to describe the outfit as one that is leading a “neo-social movement” and say there is no reason to ban it. “Why should we be afraid? We don’t find a single reason for the PFI to be banned. If it is banned, we will fight it legally and democratically,” said E.M. Abdul Rahiman, the chairman of the organisation.
Says yet another PFI leader, P. Koya, about the palm chopping incident, “It is a crime and we have condemned it. Let the police and the courts take action as per the law.” As for the charges of PFI cadres having been involved in acts of violence in the states, he said, “We’re basically a non-violent group that believes in strengthening communal harmony in the state.”
Ironically, the PFI of late has been increasingly accused of creating communal disharmony in Kerala. Founded in 2006 after three organisations came together, the PFI now boasts of 50,000 cadres spread over 16 states in the country. But it’s in Kerala where its presence appears very significant and where it has even been accused of carrying out a “love jihad” and holding Taliban-style courts in the state.
Not only does the PFI leadership deny these charges, but Mr Rahiman also maintained that the organisation’s main aim is to “empower the marginalised, including Muslims”.
Mr Rahiman claimed that with the outfit though not a political one giving importance to “political empowerment which may change the power equations (in Kerala)” a “smear campaign” had been launched against it. It also accuses the BJP, RSS and CPI(M) of being terror outfits.