Mrityunjay Dixit
The activities of the banned organization Popular Front of India (PFI) are still continuing in Awadh and the entire state, including Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. Taking major action, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) raided 30 teams in 20 districts of the state. During this, more than 70 suspects were taken into custody while in Varanasi, two prize members of Rs 50-50 thousand each, Parvez and Raees Ahmed, were also caught.
In Lucknow, ATS has detained seven suspects from Achramau village of Bakshi Ka Talab and their interrogation is underway. 11 in Shamli, 10 in Ghaziabad, eight in Varanasi, five in Bijnor, four in Meerut, three each in Barabanki, Azamgarh and Muzaffarnagar, two each in Bahraich, Deoria and Kanpur and Sitapur, Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Bulandshahr, Saharanpur, Moradabad. In , Rampur and Amroha, one member each is being detained and questioned.
It is known that the central government has banned PFI and its eight organizations in 2022, but still this organization involved in anti-national activities is trying to strengthen its network in the state in one way or the other, it is confirmed. After getting the news, the ATS raided quickly and took this action.
PFI started its roots in Lucknow 11 years ago when it built its first center on Kursi Road. Intelligence agencies became active regarding the activities of PFI when in April 2018, a convention on Islam was organized in Delhi and PFI members arrived in about 40 buses from Lucknow. In December 2018, the name of PFI figured prominently in the violence in Lucknow regarding CAA. PFI had targeted the settlements of Lucknow for religious conversion. Between 2012 and 2014, PFI activity increased in an area of ​​about 30 km from Kursi Road to Barabanki. A report of the army’s intelligence unit for the year 2018 was sent to several agencies including the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs. According to this report, the activities of PFI from 2012 to 2018 were mentioned. In this report, an alert was also given about Bakshi Ka Talab, the second base of PFI after Kursi Road.
PFI keeps an eye on the non-Muslim population who are socially, economically and educationally backward. By spreading the poison of social hatred, PFI associates children with them in the name of education and welfare, then brainwashes them and trains them to engage in anti-national activities.
PFI used to adopt innovative methods to prove the present government wrong among the public. PFI’s social media team used to collect information about government schemes and conduct a referendum among active members. Many evidences of this have been found in his mobile phone. He used to make some Muslim leaders sit and debate on YouTube channel. With the help of the Ulema Council, they used to make videos spreading religious frenzy. PFI members were roaming from village to village in search of youths who were staunch towards religion, who were being sent to Kerala for training and preparations were on to form a new organization.
These PFI members used to mislead the youth in the name of atrocities on Muslims. PFI members Parvez Ahmed and Raees Ahmed arrested from Varanasi were sending provocative messages to Muslim youth. The investigating agencies were keeping an eye on his mobile phone and social media accounts for the past several days. PFI has also been revealed to have massive funding from Gulf countries.
Despite the restrictions, the anti-national activities of PFI are continuing and these people are constantly plotting to terrorize the state on some pretext or the other. The NIA had also informed the ATS about the conspiracy of PFI to incite riots again in Uttar Pradesh. After investigating the Hathras incident, the police found evidence of riots being instigated by the PFI. In this case, PFI member Kamal KP from Kerala was arrested. The involvement of active members of PFI was also exposed in the violence that broke out in Bekamganj area of ​​Kanpur.
Even before the latest action, PFI members have been arrested several times from many places in the state and many dangerous revelations are being made during interrogation. Active members of PFI are also involved in political parties. This is the reason why when strict steps are taken against PFI, then all the parties doing politics of Muslim appeasement start making statements in support of PFI. Some of the PFI members who were caught recently, there are indications of involvement of Samajwadi Party, which is still under investigation.
(The author is an independent commentator)
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