Senior PFI leader from Tamil Nadu says outfit banned as it was becoming hurdle in RSS' path

A senior Popular Front of India leader on Wednesday described the outfit as a "social organisation" working to uplift underprivileged Muslims and alleged that the ban was imposed on the outfit as it was being seen as a "hurdle" in the agenda of the RSS of making India into a Hindu Rashtra".

A senior Popular Front of India leader on Wednesday described the outfit as a "social organisation" working to uplift underprivileged Muslims and alleged that the ban was imposed on the outfit as it was being seen as a "hurdle" in the agenda of the RSS of making India into a Hindu Rashtra". Blaming the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for the ban, PFI Tamil Nadu President Mohammad Sheikh Ansari vowed to fight legally so that the outfit can return to "serve the people with the same name".

"PFI is a social organisation working to uplift underprivileged Muslims in the country and also working for freedom, justice and safety. People are living without freedom, justice and safety. We see social inequality in India and we are working to change this," Ansari told ANI. "The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is trying to make India a 'Hindu Rashtra' and PFI is a hurdle in that effort. So they want to ban it. They could not implement their ideas so they banned our organisation for 5 years."

Ansari alleged that authorities have given them "no reasons" for the ban. "Our leaders had been arrested and till now no reasons were given for the arrest. Now they say we have a conspiracy to kill (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi. So far no complaint or FIR has been registered on this. Four years ago, it was told that we have funded for CAA protest by NIA. No evidence is there for this," he stated. Late Tuesday, the Centre declared the PFI and its associates as an unlawful association for a period of five years for having terror links. In a notification, the Home Ministry said these outfits operate openly as a socio-economic and political organization "but, they have been pursuing a secret agenda to radicalise a particular section of the society" to undermine democracy in India.

Several Central investigating agencies conducted two rounds of raids against the radical outfits across India, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Delhi, earlier this month and detained more than 100 activists linked to these organisations. Ansari said till now there is no report of sealing done at any of the organisation's offices but all activities that were done under the banner of PFI have been suspended. "We will fight (this ban) legally and we will return to serve the people in the same name. There is no question of PFI functioning with a new name," he added. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)