persecution against Islamists of the Indian Popular Front and arrests throughout the country

In recent days there have been two operations by the National Investigation Agency against the movement. He is accused of “activities of terrorism and radicalization” for having organized demonstrations in 2019-2020 that led to acts of violence. It is about the protests that took place in the Muslim neighborhoods of the capital against the changes in the Citizenship Law. Leader Oma Abdul Salam is also in jail. The organization’s response: “We protest with legitimate methods, there is no evidence against us.”

Delhi () – More than 100 people linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI) – an Islamic formation – were detained or arrested today in seven different Indian states. It is the second mega-operation in the last week against the group, by order of the National Investigation Agency (NIA, India’s internal security agency). The group is accused of alleged ties to terrorism. Those arrested include 25 of its leaders, including those affiliated with the Social Democratic Party of India, the group’s political arm.

The Indian Popular Front is an organization formed in 2007 by the merger of three Muslim acronyms from South India. It describes itself as an organization that works for the “socioeconomic, cultural, and political progress of the poor and oppressed and of the nation as a whole.” His financial activities are being investigated by internal security authorities. The group is accused of having instigated the 2019-2020 protests against the amendment of the Indian Citizenship Actwith serious riots in northeast delhi and an alleged “conspiracy” in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh following the rape and murder of a Dalit woman.

Raids were carried out in several areas of New Delhi, including the Nizamuddin and Shaheen Bagh districts. “We have taken preventive measures and as part of them we have deployed paramilitary forces to ensure public order and maintain peace and tranquility in the area,” a police official told the Indian news agency. ITP.

The new raids come five days after 108 Indian Popular Front officials, including its own president Oma Abdul Salam, were arrested in another wave of raids across 15 Indian states, on charges of financing terrorism and organizing training camps and radicalization.

The movement, now under scrutiny, accuses Hindu nationalists from the BJP (the ruling party) of orchestrating these raids to create an atmosphere of terror. The NIA has no proof,” said a militant from Karnataka, one of India’s Popular Front strongholds. “We are not against the nation. We are protesting legally and we will not tolerate our leaders being taken away in night. If they don’t release them, we’ll have to continue our protests. We’re not going to let them scare us away.” All over Karnataka and Kerala there were demonstrations against the crackdown.

From Bangalore, former local government chief minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa called for the PFI to be banned “The central government should ban it. They should have done it long before. A thorough investigation will reveal the conspiracy they were hatching: they were planning to destabilize the government center,” Yediyurappa said.

The Popular Front of India has offices in 22 states, from Kerala to Manipur. According to experts, its growth has been facilitated by the discomfort of a part of the Muslims before the advance of the sectors of the Hindu nationalist right.