Pakistani officials tweeted in support of PFI, day before 5-year ban: Reports
A day before the PFI was banned, the organisation took to Twitter to gather support against the crackdown on PFI. According to a viral screenshot, Pakistan Consulate General Vancouver replied to the tweet.
A screenshot of a now-deleted tweet by Pakistan's Canadian Embassy which was a reply to a tweet of the Popular Front of India is doing the rounds on social media. According to reports, the verified handle of Pakistan Consulate General Vancouver replied to a tweet of the now-banned PFI and tagged UN Human Rights, Pakistan foreign office in a possible attempt to amplify PFI's tweet. In its tweet, PFI called for support amid the second round of crackdown on Tuesday.
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"Massive arrests are going on in the BJP-ruled states in the name of preventive custody. This is nothing but prevention of the right to democratic protests against the Central government's witch-hunt targetting PFI is quite natural and expected under this autocratic system," the tweet read. The viral screenshot shows the handle of Pakistan Consulate General Vancouver tagging international handles in reply.
A day later, PFI and eight other organisations were banned in India on terror charges. The Twitter handle of Popular Front of India has been deactivated. Hence, the tweet and the reply to it can't be found online now.
The ministry of home affairs said PFI has clear terror links and some of its leaders have been associated with SIMI and Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. Though PFI and its allied organisations had a front socio-economic, educational and political organisation, they had the secret agenda to radicalise a particular section of the society, the MHA said.
The ban came after a massive crackdown on PFI in the last few days in which the central agencies unearthed several documents in which the organisation taught its cadre how to make IEDs. The organisation also prepared an anti-India document 'Mission 2047' containing videos of Islamic State.
According to a dossier compiled by the investigative agencies, the PFI aimed to have "uniformed cadre training in martial arts and defensive/offensive tactics and form 'Action Squads' to take 'revenge' from the 'enemy'.
