A day after the Union Home Ministry banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) for five years, Twitter on Thursday removed the profiles of it and its leaders. Facebook and Instagram also shut down the organization’s official accounts.
On Twitter, where the organization had more than 80,000 followers, it showed that the account had been blocked in India following a legal demand. Similar notices were also seen on the reports of its president OMA Salam and general secretary, Anees Ahmed.
On Wednesday, after invoking the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to give effect to the ban, the Home Ministry said that the PFI and its allies linked to terrorist groups like ISIS “propagate anti-national sentiments. a radicalize particular section of society to produce disgruntlement” and” a great trouble to the internal security of the country”.
Stating that it was “necessary to check the unrighteous conditioning” of the association, the MHA asked PFI to” unlawful association with its cells or associates or fronts including Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI)”. “Declared. All India Imam Parishad (AIIC), National Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), Rashtriya Mahila Morcha, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehabilitation Foundation, Kerala”.
Within hours of the ban, the PFI announced that it had dissolved. Abdul Sattar, general secretary of PFI Kerala, said, “As law-abiding citizens of the country, we accept the home ministry’s decision.”
According to a home ministry document, the ban has been imposed in the wake of over 1,300 criminal cases registered across the country by law enforcement agencies against PFI members. These include crimes related to killing leaders linked to Hindu organizations, organizing suspected terror camps, the alleged radicalization of youth and links with foreign terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State.
