Popular Front of India - Misplaced Pages

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Template:Inebruary 2015</ref> Love Jihad and various acts of religious extremism. In 2010, the assault on Prof. T. J. Joseph who published a controversial question paper, supposedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad, was linked to the PFI. However, the charges were denied by the organisation, which added that the accusations were fabricated to malign the organisation.

In 2012, the Government of Kerala informed the High Court their opinion that the activities of the Popular Front are inimical to the safety of the country and that it is "nothing but a resurrection of the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in another form", in its argument to ban the organisation's Independence Day programme, dubbed "Freedom Parade." The High Court dismissed the Government's stand, but upheld the ban imposed by the State Government. In July 2010, the Kerala Police seized country-made bombs, weapons and CDs and several documents containing Taliban and Al-Qaeda propaganda, from PFI activists. The raids conducted were subsequently termed "undemocratic" and "unconstitutional" by the organisation. As of 6 September 2010, as informed to the state high court by the Kerala government, no evidence has been found by the Police in its probe into the allegation of links to Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e Taiba (Let) or Al-Qaeda. However, in April 2013 a series of raids by the Kerala Police on PFI centres across North Kerala found lethal weapons, foreign currency, human shooting targets, bombs, explosive raw materials, gunpowder, swords, among other things. The Kerala Police claimed that the raid revealed the "terror face" of the PFI.

In 2015, the Madras High Court issued a notice to the Commissioner of Police based on the PIL charging police for having given misleading information to HC on the 'unity march, a variant of the 'Freedom Parade'. The HC directed to register a case against the CoP and the SP, and ₹3.3mn as compensation for 'loss of image, reputation and defamation.' The organisation provided counter arguments to the allegations positioned against it in its 2012 nationwide campaign "Why Popular Front."

The organisation is also known for its anti-Imperialist & anti-Zionist stance, as seen in the pro-Palestine protests in various parts of the country in November 2012, and later in July 2014 with the nationwide solidarity campaigns christened "I am Gaza." The organisation is also known to support pro-democratic movements. In 2015, the Popular Front protested against the death sentence given to a democratically elected leader, Mohamed Morsi and his followers. The protest was in front of the Egyptian embassy in New Delhi.

History

The PFI started in Kerala as successor to National Development Front in 2006. It went on to merge with the Karnataka Forum for Dignity of Karnataka and the Manitha Neethi Pasarai in Tamil Nadu and later in 2009, with Goa's Citizen's Forum, Rajasthan's Community Social and Educational Society, West Bengal's Nagarik Adhikar Suraksha Samiti, Manipur's Lilong Social Forum and Andhra Pradesh’s Association of Social Justice. It actively advocates Muslim reservations, personal law courts for Muslims, the cause of Dalits, Muslims and tribals, and scholarships to deprived Muslim students.

A common platform was formed in cooperation with the South India Council as an outcome of a regional discussion attended by Muslim social activists and intellectuals from the South Indian States at Bangalore on 25 and 26 January 2004. It has taken up the issue of reservation in government and private sector jobs and Parliament and Assemblies and in cooperation with the Confederation of Muslim Institutions in India, it organised a two-day workshop on Muslim Reservations on 26 and 27 November 2005 at Hyderabad, inaugurated by Rajya Sabha member Rahman Khan. The slogan of PFI is Naya Karavan: Naya Hindustan, which is Urdu for "New Caravan: new India".

On accusations and counter charges

In 2012, the Popular Front had launched a nationwide campaign "Why the Popular Front", detailing the alleged false accusations and attempts by mainstream media and other organisations to tarnish its image. The organisation maintains that it strives hard to restore the rights of the depressed and marginalised sections of the Indian society. The organisation's former Chairman, E M Abdul Rahman, gave elaborate justifications for the accusations that the PFI faces that year. Further, the organisation filed complaints with the Press Council of India against 10 newspapers—both Hindi and English—for their attempts to tarnish the image of the PFI. In 2013, in line with the PFI's counter charge, "Coastal Digest" reported that the NIA and the IB denied that they had shared any such information, denying the claims by the media. This was in response to the 2012 complaints against 10 newspapers. In March 2015, Indian intelligence agencies reported that the role of the PFI in the 2011 Mumbai bombings, 2012 Pune bombings and 2013 Hyderabad blasts has been found; claims which where subsequently denied by the PFI.However, the organization approached the tribunal over some pro-Hindutva newspapers making anti-Muslim slander..The tribunal criticized the media for fabricating fake news without any evidence

Political Activities

National Political Conference

The public meeting at Calicut Beach on 17 February 29 which marked the conclusion of National Political Conference saw the merger of social organisations in eight states into the Popular Front of India. Along with the state presidents of NDF Kerala, MNP Tamil Nadu and KFD Karnataka which had already merged with Popular Front, heads of social organisations in Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Manipur joined hands on the dais with the Popular Front chairman.

Freedom Parade on Indian Independence Day

File:Mettupalayam-freedom Celebrations.png

Freedom Parade, 2010.

The PFI and its allies conducted a freedom parade on 15 August in 2009 and 2010 in celebration of Indian Independence Day. The national flag was carried in front of the parade, and orchestra bands played patriotic songs. The parade was followed by public meeting with participation from the public. In 2010, the parade was conducted in Udupi and Mettuppalayam. In the previous year it was conducted in Mangalore and Madurai.

The Kerala state government banned the Freedom Parade stating it would jeopardise communal harmony. The ban was challenged in the Kerala High Court which upheld the ban. The Intelligence wing of Kerala Police had informed the High Court that PFI is the new face of banned Islamist group Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and is engaged in fundamentalist and anti-national activities. This stand of the government was rejected by the High Court.

Social Justice conference 2011

The Social Justice Conference was held at Ramlila Ground in New Delhi on 26 and 27 November 2011. The Conference was seen as a convention of like minded organisations and movements. The first day of the conference is said to have had two seminar sessions on "Together for Empowerment" and "People’s Right to Justice". The second day witnessed a large flow of masses to the Grand Public Meeting. The conference was addressed by Syed Shahabuddin, a former MP and Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party leader, and Thol. Thirumavalavan the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader. The key address of the conference was to plea the UPA government to implement the findings of Sachar Committee Report and the Ranganath Misra Commission.

Protest against misuse of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act

21 activists of PFI where charged with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for involvement in anti-national activities. Following which in May 2013, the organisation conducted a statewide campaign in Kerala, it started on 8 May from Kasargod highlighted to the general public how the UAPA is being misused, and how it is terrorising citizens who resisted oppression from ruling elite. The campaign concluded with a mass gathering at the State Capital, Thiruvananthapuram on 30 May.

Muslim minority reservation and employment

KM Shareef, the National General Secretary of PFI has asserted that reservation is the most immediate need of Muslims, referencing a report submitted by the Prime Minister's High Level Committee (Justice Rajindar Sachchar Committee) in November 2006, which identified the Muslim community as more backward than any other, and claimed that insufficient discussion on this topic was taking place in assemblies and parliament. In the context of the Central Government's decision on reservation in higher education, the South India Council organised three Regional Conventions on Reservation: in Calcutta on 4 August 2006, in Bangalore on 5 August 2006, and in Chennai on 17 August 2006. A National Convention on Reservation in Higher Education was organised by the South India Council jointly with All India Milli Council at New Delhi on 29 August 2006. Former Prime Minister V. P. Singh also addressed the convention In 2010, the National Executive Council of the PFI demanded a ten percent reservation for Muslims across India.