A day after the Centre banned the organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for “terror linkages,” the social media platform in India has restricted access to the Popular Front of India (PFIofficial )’s Twitter account “in response to a court demand.”
The government had yesterday ordered that all of the outlawed group’s social media accounts—including those on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook—be blocked.
In a statement published late on Tuesday night, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) declared “the PFI and its allies or affiliates or fronts as an unlawful association with immediate effect.”
The embargo is placed on PFI as well as its other fronts, such as Rehab India Foundation (RIF). National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation, Rehab Foundation, Kerala as an “unlawful association,” Campus Front of India (CFI),
The ban was placed against PFI and its associates, affiliates, or fronts for “engaging in unlawful activities, which are prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty, and security of the country and have the potential to disturb public peace and communal harmony of the country and support militancy in the country,” according to the notification.
“The Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates, fronts, and associates, including Rehab India Foundation, is hereby declared to be unlawful organisations by the Central Government, acting in accordance with the authority granted by subsection (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 (37 of 1967). (RIF).
All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation, Rehab Foundation, Kerala as an “unlawful association,” National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), “examines the alert.
“The Central Government thus orders that this notice shall take effect for a period of five years from the date of its publication in the Office, subject to any order that may be issued under section 4 of the UAPA.”
The study conducted by the Centre’s agencies, which was used as justification for the prohibition, revealed “obvious ties between PFI and its allies, affiliates, or fronts.”
Furthermore, “some of the PFI’s founding members are the leaders of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and PFI has links to Jamat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), both of which are prohibited organisations,” it is said.
PFI has a number of cases when it had connections with foreign terrorist organisations, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
As evidenced by the fact that certain PFI cadres have joined global terrorist organisations, the PFI and its friends, affiliations, or fronts have been working secretly to promote the radicalization of one community by fostering a sense of unease throughout the nation.
With funding and ideological support from abroad, the PFI has developed into a significant threat to the nation’s internal security, according to the notification. The PFI is involved in a number of “criminal and terror cases and shows sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority of the country.”
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