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Barelvi Muslims call for ban on PFI, support govt action against radical outfit
The president of All India Muslim Jamaat issued two-minute-long video statement demanding a ban on PFI, an extremist organisation under scanner for terror-related activities across the country.
The Barelvi Ulema has called for a ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) for its alleged terror-related activities which prompted nationwide raids by NIA, ED and state police at premises linked to its leaders. Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, the president of All India Muslim Jamaat, issued a recorded statement in which he stressed that the raids have made it clear that the Islamist fundamentalist organization has been “involved in communal riots in various states across the country.” (Also Read | Meticulous NIA raid execution leaves Islamist PFI in disarray)
“That's why, I urge all Sunni, Sufi, and Barelvi Muslims to not keep any relation with this organisation,” he said.
The Barelvi sect from Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly demanded the central government to impose an immediate ban on such organizations to protect the unity and integrity of the country. Maulana Barelvi also supported the action taken by the government to tighten the noose around terror activities across India.
“It is important to ban such organisations,” he said, adding that the actions taken by the government of India have his “full support.”
The statement came after NIA arrested scores of PFI leaders following simultaneous raids on the PFI-SDPI network in 15 states. A total of 106 people, including PFI chairman OMS Salam, were held in a massive exercise with coordination between NIA, 86 platoons of para-military forces, intelligence agencies and the state police.
The raids followed a meeting chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah with the concerned enforcement and security chiefs to review the evidence collected and mull over the future course of action. The government is likely to take a strong decision on the status of the outfit as the clamour for a blanket ban grows.
The PFI may call itself a socio-religious organization but the Islamist group’s larger aim is no different from the Islamic State—to establish an Islamic Caliphate in India. With a cadre of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) at its core, the PFI has meticulously spread all over India from Kerala with funds from West Asian countries where the Muslim Brotherhood is a dominant force like Qatar, Kuwait, and Turkey.
