Bhupen Goswami 

 GUWAHATI : The name of PFI (Popular Front of India) is once again coming up in the case of violence in the country. In every single riot that has taken place in the country for some time now, the connection of this organization is coming to the fore. Be it spreading anarchy in the country over the protests against the CAA and NRC against the Citizenship Amendment Act or a conspiracy to incite riots, the connection of the PFI is coming to the fore in everyone.

In Assam, several PFI personnel have already been arrested. Interrogation by the police after the arrest reveals that the PFI outfit is involved in any violence in the country. Talking to this reporter today, Special Branch ADGP of Assam Police Hiren Chandra Nath said that many cases are yet to come to light and the police are investigating.Nath, ADGP, Special Branch of Assam Police, said the Assam police had registered 18 cases against Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) and two against its student wing Campus Front of India (CFI). The ADGP of the Special Branch of Assam Police said that 18 cases have been registered against 56 people. Charge sheets have been filed in the cases while the remaining cases are under investigation. “On April 15, we registered a case in Barpeta district in which some (16) ABT activists were arrested,” the ADGP said. One of them was Makibul Hussain. During the interrogation, Hussain admitted that he was the president of the PFI of Barpeta district. He said the police have also found evidence that the PFI has blocked links with Ansarullah Bangla Team, a Bangladesh-based terror outfit.He said the police have also found evidence that the PFI has blocked links with Ansarullah Bangla Team, a Bangladesh-based terror outfit.

“Before joining the Ansarullah Bangla team, he was actively working for the PFI in lower Assam but later resigned to join the said group. where he was trained by Mehdi Hasan. Ansarullah Bangla Team is an al-Qaeda-inspired and based terrorist organization based in Bangladesh. He said that many PFI activists in the state are also working for the Islamic terror outfit. According to additional director general of police, PFI is active in 10 districts of the state. He said the Islamic outfit has a habit of raising sensitive issues unrelated to Assam to incite religious sentiments. One of the modus operandi of this group or activists is that anything is happening anywhere in the country that has no connection with Assam — be it a hijab issue or some temple, mosque — they will display it here, Nath said. Especially in the lower Assam region including Guwahati city, Goalpara, Barpeta, Baksa, Dhubri and parts of Barak Valley. Anything belonging to the minority community can be a road accident, nath said. It could be a quarrel between two groups, it could be a misunderstanding, it could be an investigation into the matter by law enforcement agencies.

They try to define it as an attack. He said the police have recovered the literature propagating PFI pamphlet jihad in Bengali and Arabic and printing material with anti-national slogans. ADGP Nath also questions why all people are silent about ABT and jihadi elements, why don’t they appeal to the Assam Muslim community not to support jihadi elements.AdGP also question that Why PFI leaders are silent against ABT and jihadi elements.Mention that PFI is considered as an alternative to the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). SIMI, built in 1977, was banned in 2006. After that, this organization was set up to talk about the rights of Muslims, Adivasis and Dalits, but the reality is exactly the opposite.

It is a hardcore Islamic organization whose name has come up in many riots across the country. Due to its suspicious activities, there has been a demand to ban it several times. The PFI is accused of spreading riots across the country. At the same time, the name of this organization has also come up in love jihad in addition to many political murders. Apart from this, there are many more allegations against the PFI.