

Concerned over last week’s murder of Ernakulam Maharajah College student in Kerala, the Central Government is considering a ban on Popular Front of India (PFI) afresh for its anti-national activities and alleged links to terror outfits.

The Centre had toyed with the move last year but it had to shelve it following stiff opposition from the Kerala government. The state’s Communist government had come out in support of the group, demanding a ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh instead.

Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi reported that the Centre’s move follows reports submitted by Kerala Intelligence Wing police and a Central Intelligence Bureau official in the State. As per the report, PIF plans to create trouble and the murder at the Maharajah college was one such move.

The PFI’s student wing, the Campus Front of India, is indulging in radical student activism in coastal states of Kerala and Karnataka. Before the murder of the Ernakulam college student, the Campus Front had organised a protest in front of a Christian college in Mangalore demanding that Muslim girl students be allowed to wear burqua. According to police, the Maharajah college student was murdered by a group of people, owing allegiance to PFI and Campus Front. The National Intelligence Agency is now probing terror angle into the murder.

PFI is also allegedly active in gathering support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and was reported to have been behind the 8 April “Whatsapp violence” or incidents of violence in Kerala in protest against the death of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua, Jammu.

PFI shot into prominence when it cut the hands of Professor Joseph at Muvattupuzha for “blasphemy”. The professor had reportedly asked questions on Prophet Muhammed. The PFI has also a political party called the Social Democratic Party of India. It is active in many parts of the country, including Tamil Nadu.

The PFI had taken out a procession in Kerala in support of controversial Islamist televangelist and “hate preacher” Zakir Naik, who is wanted by the Enforcement Directorate for money laundering.

Also Read: Hamid Ansari And PFI: The Iran Connection