Sufi, Barelvi clerics hail PFI ban by Centre: ‘Nation bigger than institution’

Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, the president of All India Muslim Jamaat, issued a video statement, calling the decision a right step to curb extemism.

Published on: Sep 28, 2022, 09:35:11 IST

By Shishir Gupta

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The Sufi and Barelvi clerics on Wednesday hailed the Centre's decision to impose a ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and several of its associates for their alleged terror activities. The All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council (AISSC) chairman said in a statement that everyone should show patience if the action has been taken to curb extremism. (Also Read | Amit Shah bites the bullet, bans PFI and its affiliates for 5 years)

A multi-agency operation by NIA, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and police forces led to the arrest of  scores of PFI activists across the country. (PTI)

“The All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council believes that if this action has been taken for compliance with the law and the prevention of terrorism, then everyone should work patiently on it, this step of the government and investigative agencies should be welcomed,” the statement read.

The Sufi clerics stressed that the nation is bigger than any institution or idea, adding that if anyone talks about breaking the country, then he has no right to live here.

“The All India Sufi Sajjadanshin Council is always committed to the unity, sovereignty and peace of the country and will continue to raise its voice against the anti-national forces in future also.” it added.

Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, the president of All India Muslim Jamaat, also issued a video statement, calling the decision the right step to curb extremism.

The Barelvi Ulema had earlier 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 Razvi had 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.”

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.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shishir Gupta
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.Read More

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