Devendra Fadnavis terms ‘PFI as a silent killer’, says will work towards completely shutting down outfit in Maharashtra’

Maha Home Minister claims PFI was responsible for triggering riots in Amravati in November last year

@the_news_21

Mumbai: Terming the Popular Front of India (PFI) as “a silent killer,” Maharashtra Home Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday lauded the Centre’s decision to ban the outfit. He added that the State government would take steps to completely shut down the PFI and six affiliate organizations in Maharashtra in the coming months.

Speaking to newspersons here in Mumbai, the Home Minister remarked, “There were inputs regarding the PFI’s activities that were continuously being received by central and state agencies. The (PFI) was silently trying to engineer divisiveness in society and attempting to destroy the country’s social fabric. PFI was trying to sow the seeds of violence by creating false narratives. We will be conducting investigations in such a way that the outfits and their affiliates completely cease any activity in Maharashtra in the future.”

Fadnavis stated that all State governments would soon be receiving formal notifications regarding the Centre’s five-year ban on the PFI and its affiliates. He further argued that there could be more affiliates of the PFI besides the six frontal organizations. “There could be more outfits linked to the PFI which would now be unravelled as investigations progress into their activities,” he remarked.

The Home Minister alleged that the PFI used to mask their terror activities behind “a humanitarian face”. Fadnavis further alleged that the outfit began carrying out anti-national activities in a surreptitious manner once they knew that big terror acts were not possible owing to the surveillance of the armed forces and the intelligence services.

Fadnavis said that the PFI had prepared “financial models” wherein numerous accounts were opened and small sums of money would be deposited in them in such a manner as to escape notice of vigilance agencies.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis further disclosed, “They have opened numerous such accounts and the PFI’s design will be clear only after probing them. They had been trying to create unrest while indoctrinating and polluting the minds. In Maharashtra, they created fake visuals about incidents (desecration of mosques) that never happened in Tripura and were responsible for triggering riots in Amravati district.”

He added that outfits like the PFI had come into existence after the ban on fundamentalist organizations like the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

Commenting on the arrests and detentions of members associated with the PFI from Maharashtra, the Home Minister clarified that they would be prosecuted as per the degree of their involvement with the PFI.

Meanwhile, terming the Centre’s decision to ban the PFI and its front organizations a “proper” one, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that such treasonous outfits posed a threat for the country. Speaking to newspersons in Nashik, he added that those giving pro-Pakistan slogans have no right to stay in this country.

Referring to the alleged pro-Pakistan slogans raised at a PFI demonstration in Pune last week, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, “I had earlier said that treasonous outfits like PFI are dangerous for the country. The Centre’s decision to ban it is a proper one. No one ought to be permitted to spread seditious ideas in the state and the country. The State government also has taken a decision to initiate a stern probe against those who had raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans.”

According to an official statement released from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that Eknath Shinde had welcomed the Centre’s decision to ban the PFI which sought “to disrupt the country’s integrity, sovereignty and law and order.”

“Investigations conducted by the investigating agencies have found that PFI and its affiliated organizations are involved in serious crimes. The organization was active in financing terrorist activities and was involved in gruesome killings while showing contempt for the country’s constitutional system and disrupting public order. It has come to light that this organization had a conspiracy to cause casualties in Maharashtra as well,” the statement added.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that attempts had been made by the PFI to vitiate Pune’s atmosphere during their protests, but that the police had foiled them on time.

Even, Maha Home Department issued order empowering commissioners and district magistrates to take action against PFI and 8 other affiliate organisations named orders, under sec 42 of UAPA to seize properties, etc.

On September 27, a second crackdown by the Maharashtra police saw 47 alleged members of the PFI and its affiliate, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), being arrested. Fourteen of them were picked up from Aurangabad district and six from Pune.

Last week, the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) in tandem with the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) nationwide crackdown on the PFI, had arrested 20 PFI members in the State. Following this, a protest by some PFI members and supporters had protested outside the Pune District Collector’s office on September 23.

Later, some video clips had surfaced on social media with allegations that the protestors had raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans – a claim strongly disputed by Muslim outfits as well as fact-checking portals which claimed that the clips were ‘doctored’.

According to some Muslim outfits, the demonstrators had raised slogans hailing the PFI and against the ruling BJP and that even the Pune police authorities had not said anything about ‘pro-Pakistan’ slogans being raised at the demonstration on Friday last week.