A number of notorious and proscribed Islamist-jihadist groups in India, including Popular Front of India (PFI) and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) are pushing forward notorious agenda of establishing Khilafat (Caliphate) rule in the country. This was revealed on February 2, 2023 and Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Maharashtra submitted a charge sheet against five PFI jihadists, who were rounded during nationwide raids for being involved in jihadist activities and conspiracy against the country.
According to OpIndia report, in the charge sheet, the Maharashtra ATS has included a letter by an unidentified Muslim man, who was a member of PFI. In the letter dated October 17, 2022, the unnamed PFI member said, PFI is as dangerous as SIMI and that it wants to establish Caliphate rule in India.
In the letter, which has also been published in OpIndia, the unidentified Muslim man wrote in his letter, “Sir, without giving my name, I would like to inform you that the CD I am going to give you with this letter is going to make a big disclosure to you. I am a true Muslim. A lot of our PFI personnel were asking us to join PFI. I have been with PFI people for a long time. They meet at different places. There were many protest marches taken out on behalf of PFI. Sometimes I was also involved in it. In one such march, a man talked about killing the police.” The unidentified Muslim man further said in his letter, “They used to ask us to give zakat to PFI people after Friday prayers. While taking zakat, they did not give anything receipts, etc. I don’t see any difference between these PFI people and the people of the old SIMI. These people are working to break the country. They incite Muslim children against Hindus. They say that the government of Hindustan is our enemy. They say that we have to overthrow this government. In today’s era, they talk about Islamic Khilafat. But this country is ours. We are indebted to this country”.
It is further mentioned in this letter, “When the country will be set on fire because of these people, Muslims will suffer the most. The law should teach these people a lesson. I am sending some recordings to this CD. Asif Adhikari, Mazhar Khan, Yasin of Chita Campwala, Owais from Nashik Malegaon, Mohammad Shahwar Ahmed and Abdul Basha of Mumbra, Fardeen Paikar of Kalyan and Maulana Nasir Nadvi of Aurangabad are some of them. I want the law to give them maximum punishment. I will not come forward as it may be harmful to my life”.
Started in 2007, the Popular Front Of India came to be through the merger of three organizations in southern India- the National Democratic Front in Kerala, the Karnataka Forum for Dignity, and the Manitha Neethi Pasarai in Tamil Nadu.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) as early as 2017 had called for a ban on PFI. By then, this organization been accused of activities like smuggling gold, and pushing young Muslims into jihadist outfits like ISIS.
According to September 29, 2022 report by Indian TV channel NDTV, “The Popular Front of India (PFI) has been extensively using social media for recruiting young people for anti-national activities and one of the modules of the now-banned outfit even had prepared to attack foreigners, especially Jews visiting Vattakkanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu”.
In an article published in The Organiser, an author said:
PFI’s roots date back to the formation of Students’ Islamic Movement of India in 1977 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. It was the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH). Its endeavor was to rejuvenate Students Islamic Organization (SIO). Its slogan “Allah is our Lord, the Quran is our Constitution, Muhammed is our leader, Jihad is our way and Shahadat is our desire”, was considered to be the five pillars of Islam. The organization was found more and more militant and fundamentalist and had connection with the communal riots and Hindu-Muslim clashes of the 1980s and 1990s. It maintained that secularism, democracy and nationalism, the basic tenets of the country’s Constitution, were not acceptable to them. Their aim is to re-establish the Islamic supremacy through the revival of Khilafat and insistence on the Muslim ummah and jihad. SIMI clashed with the police and the VHP workers in protest against the Ayodhya demolition.
The organization was first banned on September 27, 2001, immediately after the September 11 attack in the US. The second ban was in September, 2003. The third ban was clamped on February 2, 2006, and it still continues. Several cases were charged against the members of SIMI during these periods, all were in connection with the violence and communal activities, most of them under TADA, MCOCA and UAPA.
The other day a prominent PFI leader admitted during a TV debate that 20 men of its leadership are former SIMI men.
Given the ideologies, activities and aims, PFI is viewed as the natural successor of SIMI. It was launched in 2006 by the merging of National Development Front (NDF), Maitha Neethi Pasari, Karnataka Forum For Dignity and some other organizations. It is self-styled as a neo-social movement aiming at the empowerment of the people for achieving justice, freedom and security. They do have National Women’s Front as the women’s wing and Campus Front of India as the students’ wing. It co-operates with the National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations and other human rights bodies. Human rights activities and co-operation with the human rights activists are effective camouflage for several extremist organizations and Maoist activities in Kerala these days. PFI campaigned for reservations for Muslims and conducted protests against UAPA. That PFI has been accused of various anti-social and anti-national activities including connections with various Islamic terrorist groups, possessing arms, kidnapping, murder, intimidation, hate campaigns, rioting, Love Jihad and various religious extremism, etc. vindicates the statement that their human rights activities are camouflages.
Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) is the political wing of PFI. SDPI carries out the political campaign for PFI. They project the causes of PFI on the political front, especially when PFI comes under fire from several quarters including police.
On January 24, 2022, Dr. Mayank Shekhar in an article wrote:
Whether leaders and rank and file of Popular Front of India (PFI) and common souls admit or not, it (PFI) is akin to and as good as IS. Its activities, ideologies and modus operandi are very much similar to those of IS. Political scenario, social mindscape and democratic as well as demographic systems of Bharat may not be congenial to the promotion of the hidden agenda PFI carries. Of course, these parameters are skies, miles and seas away from those of Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan hence PFI’s smooth operations obviously face hurdles.
PFI’s chronologies date back to the formation of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in 1977 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. It was the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH). Its role was to revive the Students Islamic Organization (SIO). Its slogan was “Allah is our Lord, the Quran is our Constitution, Muhammed is our leader, Jihad is our path and Shahada is our desire”. They were considered to be the five pillars of Islam. The organization has become more and more militant and fundamentalist. It was clear with respect to the communal riots and Hindu-Muslim clashes of the 1980s and 1990s. Secularism, democracy and nationalism, the basic tenets of the country’s Constitution, are not acceptable to them. Their target is to re-establish the Islamic supremacy through the revival of khilafat and insistence on the Muslim ummah and jihad. SIMI clashed with the police and the VHP workers in protest against the Ayodhya demolition.
SIMI was first banned on September 27, 2001, immediately after the September 11 attack in the US. The second ban was in September 2003. The third ban was clamped on February 2, 2006, and it still continues. Several cases were charged against the members of SIMI during these periods, all were pertaining to the violence and communal activities, most of them under TADA, MCOCA and UAPA. A couple of months back a prominent PFI leader admitted during a TV debate that 20 men of its leadership are former SIMI men.
PFI is viewed as the natural successor of SIMI in the wake of the similarities in the ideologies, activities and aims. It was launched in 2006 by merging National Development Front (NDF), Maitha Neethi Pasari, Karnataka Forum for Dignity and some other organizations. It is self-styled as a neo-social movement aiming at the empowerment of the people for achieving justice, freedom and security. National Women’s Front is the women’s wing and Campus Front of India the students’ wing. It co-operates with the National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations and other human rights bodies. Human rights outfits and co-operation with the human rights activists are effective camouflage for several extremist organizations and Maoist activities in Kerala these days. PFI campaigned for reservations for Muslims and conducted protests against UAPA. That PFI has been accused of various anti-social and anti-national activities including connections with various Islamic terrorist groups, possessing arms, kidnapping, murder, intimidation, hate campaigns, rioting, Love Jihad and various religious extremism, etc. vindicates the statement that their human rights activities are camouflages.
In an article in The Sunday Guardian, J Nandakumar wrote:
Mahatma Gandhi, who started his political career in India with the short-lived campaign against the Rowlatt Act, had, according to Dr Ambedkar, “startled the people of India by his promise to win Swaraj within six months”. And “Hindu-Muslim” unity was one of the “condition precedents” laid down by him. Dr Ambedkar further says: “The (Khilafat) movement was started by the Mohammedans. It was taken up by Mr Gandhi with tenacity and faith, which might have surprised many Mohammedans themselves. There were many people who doubted the ethical basis of the Khilafat movement and tried to dissuade Mr Gandhi taking any part in the Movement the ethical basis of which was so questionable.” (Pakistan or Partition of India, pages 146,147).
One among those who doubted the logic of Gandhiji’s experiment was Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Once he even met Gandhiji and asked him: “As a matter of fact, we have in Bharat people belonging to different faiths like Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Judaism. So, instead of talking about the unity of all these people, what is the rationale behind speaking only of Hindu-Muslim unity?” Gandhiji retorted: “Through this, my idea is to create a love for this nation in the minds of Muslims here, and don’t you see the spectacle of their fighting shoulder to shoulder with others for India’s freedom?” Doctorji, who was not satisfied with this answer, again said:
“Even before this slogan was coined, many Muslims like Barrister Jinnah, Ansari, Hakim Ajmal Khan, etc. were active under the leadership of Lokmanya Tilak in the freedom movement. And I fear this slogan will create divisive tendencies in the minds of Muslims.” Gandhiji abruptly wound up the meeting saying “I don’t have such fear.” (Dr. Hedgewar by Nana Palkar: page 99).
What was the appreciation of Pandit Nehru of the Khilafat Movement? “Owing to the prominence given to the Khilafat movement in 1921, a large number of Moulvies and Muslim religious leaders took a prominent part in the political struggle. They gave a definite religious tinge to the Movement, and Muslims generally were greatly influenced by it. Many a Westernised Muslim, who was not of a particularly religious turn of mind, began to grow a beard and otherwise conform to the tenets of Orthodoxy. The influence and prestige of the Moulvies, which had been gradually declining owing to new ideas and a progressive Westernisation, began to grow again and dominate the Muslim community. The Ali brothers, themselves of a religious turn of mind, helped in this process, and so did Gandhiji, who paid the greatest regard to the Moulvies and Moulanas.” (Jawaharlal Nehru: An Autobiography, Page 71-72).
In a country like India with a Muslim population of over 213.34 million – much more that of a Muslim majority Bangladesh and slightly less than that of an Islamist Pakistan, rise and spread of jihadist forces in India is a matter of serious concern as Indian Muslims can be easily drawn towards jihadist notoriety while a large segment of them can form affiliations with Al Qaeda, Islamic State (ISIS) and other jihadist outfits. And we need to remember, because of higher birthrates the percentage of Muslims in India has risen from about 9.8 percent in 1951 to 14.2 percent by 2011. Although some analysts say, since 1991, the decline in fertility rates among all religious groups in India has also occurred among Muslims. The Sachar Committee report shows that the Muslim population growth has slowed down and will be on par with national averages. The Sachar Committee report estimated that the Muslim proportion will stabilize at between 17 percent and 21 percent of the Indian population by 2100. In my opinion, this statistical forecast is absolutely wrong. Muslim population in India may constitute to 25-30 percent of the total population by 2100, when size of India’s total population may exceed two billion. Meaning, the size of Muslim population in India shall be in between 750-900 million – a massive size indeed. And once even a segment of these Muslims resort to radical Islam and jihadist ideology – it will be a matter of gravest headache to all of us.
