Offices of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Kerala and other parts of the country on Wednesday wore a deserted look as the Centre announced a ban on the outfit for five years under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act over “links” with global terror groups and attempts to spread communal hatred in the country.
After violent protests against raids on PFI members and activities last week, the situation outside the outfit’s premises across the country remained largely peaceful, with local police maintaining strict vigilance to prevent any untoward incident.
“We are law-abiding citizens. We accept the Union government’s decision and we request all members to stop their activities. The PFI, hereby, informs all its members and general public that it has been disbanded,” Kerala secretary Abdul Sattar, who had given a call for a statewide bandh on September 23 to protest against the raids by central agencies and local police, said in a statement.
It was in a Kerala village that the organisation was set up in 2006 before it spread its base to 22 states.
Sattar, who was arrested on Wednesday and handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), further claimed the organisation worked for equal freedom, justice and equality in the past few decades. Before his arrest, he said that the organisation will be “disbanded”.
As news of the Centre’s ban spread, several affiliates of PFI such as Empower India Foundation and All India Imams Council, which were also banned, announced on social media that their activities were being suspended from Wednesday. Most of the websites of the affiliates also turned out to be inaccessible by the end of the day.
PFI leaders in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka said the ban was against democratic norms and that they will move the courts.
“We will fight (this ban) legally and we will return to serve the people in the same name,” Tamil Nadu PFI chief Mohammed Sheikh Ansari said.
After the Centre’s announcement, local police began the process of sealing PFI offices outside the concerned units.
All PFI offices will be sealed and police will keep a watch on their activities, Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra said. Few instances of protests were reported in a few southern states. In Idukki district of Kerala, a group of SDPI (political wing of PFI) activists took out a protest march against the ban. Police later registered a case against them.
