Radicalised by PFI, 21 Indians joined Islamic State

New Delhi: The Government on Wednesday said 21 persons, having linkages with the Popular Front of India joined the Islamic State (IS) while listing out reasons to ban the radical outfit.

Officials said the PFI cadres joining the IS was an outcome of the continuous radicalisation of its members.

Explaining the global terror linkages of the PFI, officials said some Al Qaeda training videos, depicting gruesome murders, were recovered from a PFI cadre who was an accused in Prof TJ Joseph hand chopping case of 2010.

Officials also claimed that the PFI had linkages with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, a terror outfit accused of carrying out many violent activities in Bangladesh.

They further said the PFI draws inspiration from the Muslim Brotherhood, formed in Egypt in 1928 and involved in many violent acts in many counties, and observed August 30 as ‘Solidarity Day’ (when Muslim Brotherhood Government led by Mohammed Morsi was ousted in Egypt in 2013). 

They said the PFI office bearers opened supported the Brotherhood on social media. Anis Ahmed (General Secretary, PFI) had tweeted in support of the Brotherhood and Hamas.

They added that the PFI maintains Pan-Islamic links with the Turkey-based Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), allegedly an Al-Qaeda-linked Turkish charity and affiliated with the Intelligence agency of Turkey. 

Its top leaders visited Turkey in 2018 and 2019 to attend programmes related to Palestine. 

In 2020, the PFI organised a programme (online) for its cadres on ‘Modern Turkey’s Return to Islam’, wherein it praised Turkey’s President Erdogan for bringing true Islamic rule to Turkey.

PFI’s radical activities drew online praise from an international radical outfit, the Party of Islamic Renewal as well. 

In April, the outfit had sent an online letter to PFI on Twitter, praising its activities and urging it to organise a ‘Revolutionary Army’ for Jihad against the Indian Government. 

Investigators found that the account is run by Mohammad al-Mass’ari, an exiled Saudi national living in the UK on asylum. He was a former member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

The tweet had also tagged the Sufi Islamic Board, a Sufi organisation, and threatened it for opposing PFI. Pertinently, PFI had been targeting leaders of the Sufi Islamic Board, who were campaigning constantly for a ban on the PFI.

Officials said even though the PFI poses itself as a charitable organisation working for social justice for the backward and minority communities and publicises its association with Police and Revenue officials.

However, PFI covertly works to radicalise the Indian Muslim community by promoting a sense of insecurity among Muslims, thereby increasing polarisation in the Indian society and only PFI could protect the country and Islam.