The five-year prohibition applies to the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliated organisations. According to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Central government declared them a ‘unlawful association’ with immediate effect (UAPA). Due to its suspected participation in terrorism and anti-national activities, PFI has been on the Central government’s radar for years. In the nationwide multi-city operations, more over 300 individuals connected to the extremist group were detained.
Timeline of Actions against PFI
Operation Octopus 2022: In the nationwide crackdown on the PFI, the central agencies carried out two rounds of raids across the country and arrested over 300 people. The government issued a notification that made some stunning revelations about the radical group on the basis of probe findings and their funding. ‘It is necessary to exercise its power under UAPA and declare PFI and its front to be an unlawful association’, stated the MHA notification.
RSS activist killed: In Kerala’s Palakkad district in November 2021, RSS activist Pramuk Sanjith was hacked to death in front of his wife. According to reports, members of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the islamist group Popular Front of India, committed the murder. According to police sources, 10 individuals—including the primary accused Muhammad Haroon—were detained in connection with the case.
I-T Dept. cancels PFI’s 80G benefits: When the Income Tax Department discovered that PFI’s operations were allegedly ‘not real’ as required to be carried out by a lawfully declared charity organisation, it cancelled PFI’s tax exemption in June 2021. In violation of section 13(1)(b) of the IT Act, 1961, and in violation of clause 12AA(4)(a) of the IT Act, the PFI was applying the benefits to one specific religious community, according to an official document from the IT Department.
The IT department therefore removed the designation that the PFI was a charity organisation as described in sections 80G and 12A read together of the Income Tax Act. Section 80G permits an individual who gives to a recognised charity or religious institution to deduct income tax from their taxable income, whereas Section 12A/12AA provides the taxation exemption system with relation to the income of charitable or religious trusts or organisations.
UP STF foils a terrorist plot: The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) foiled a terror plan in February 2021 by apprehending two individuals, Ansad Badruddin and Feroz Khan, who were discovered to be in possession of explosives in huge amounts as well as other papers. Both were PFI members who lived in Kerala. Among other things, the detained people turned up explosive devices, live battery detonators, firearms, ammo, and pen drives. The apprehended suspects planned to assault high-ranking officials of Hindu organisations and recruited PFI members to carry out the crime.
Action against PFI members in Money Laundering case: In February 2021, the ED filed a charge sheet against eight individuals connected to PFI and Campus Front of India (CFI) on suspicion of money laundering. The agency said that they were arrested for sedition, criminal conspiracy, sponsorship of terrorist operations, and other offences because they sought to ‘incite communal riots and sow fear’ in the wake of the Hathras gang rape case.
Riots in Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) detained 17 SDPI and PFI leaders in December 2020 for their participation in the violence at the KG Halli Police Station on August 11, which took place. Four offices of the Social Democratic Party of India were among the 43 sites in Bengaluru that were searched, leading to the arrests.
More than a thousand people gathered in front of Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s home to demand that Naveen’s cousin be punished right away. By the time the situation was under control at approximately one in the morning on August 12, three people had died, over 60 police officers, including DCP Bhimashankar Guled, had been hurt, and the violence had resulted in the burning of over 300 vehicles. For setting fires, throwing rocks, and assaulting police, more than 340 people were detained.
Delhi Riots: Two PFI members named Mohammad Iliyas and Parvez Ahmed were detained in March 2020 for allegedly supporting the Delhi riots in the northeastern areas. The sponsorship of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) demonstration in southeast Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood was another reason Iliyas was being investigated. The organization’s secretary was Iliyas, and Ahmed served as the PFI’s president in Delhi. Over Rs 120 crore, according to the ED, was utilised to fund anti-CAA rallies throughout the nation through a number of bank accounts.
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