Govt of India declares PFI and its affiliates 'unlawful' outfits, bans them for 5 years

News Network
September 28, 2022

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The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of India on Wednesday, September 28, banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and its seven affiliates for five years charging it of being involved in "several criminal and terror cases" and having links with the terror outfit Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the notification at 5:43 am based on recommendations from BJP-ruled states Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat. The move comes days after multi-agency raids led by NIA led to the arrest or detention of over 350 activists and leaders.

Besides PFI, the affiliates that were banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 are Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab India Foundation.

The Centre justified its ban in the notification, saying that if there is "no immediate curb or control of unlawful activities of the PFI and its affiliates or fronts, the PFI and its associates, it will use the opportunity to "continue its subversive activities" disturbing the constitutional set up of the country.

If there is no ban, the notification said, it will also encourage and enforce terror based regressive regime, allow propagating anti-national sentiments and radicalise a particular section of society with the intention to create disaffection against the country and aggravate activities which are detrimental to the integrity, security and sovereignty of the country.

The PFI and its affiliates "operate openly as socio-economic, educational and political organisations but they have been pursuing a secret agenda to radicalise a particular section of the society working towards undermining the concept of democracy and showing sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority and constitutional set up of the country", it said.

With funds and ideological support from outside, it said, it has become a "major threat" to internal security. The PFI’s founding members were the leaders of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

The notification cited a number of incidents of "violent and subversive acts" carried out by the PFI, including that of chopping off the hands of Prof TJ Joseph in Kerala and cold blooded killings of a college student Abhimany in Kerala and youths Sharath, R Rudresh, Praveen Pujari and Praveen Nettaru, all from Karnataka between 2016 and 2022.

"Criminal activities and brutal murders have been carried out by PFI cadres for the sole objective of disturbing public peace and tranquility and creating reign of terror in public mind," the notification said.

The MHA also spoke about PFI's links with global terrorist groups and instances of its activists joining ISIS and participating in terror acts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Some of these PFI cadres linked to ISIS have been killed in these conflict theaters and some have been arrested by state police and central agencies while the PFI also has links with Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a proscribed terrorist organization.

The leaders and cadres of the PFI are also accused of conspiring and raising funds from within the country and abroad through the banking channels, and the hawala, donations, etc. as part of a "well-crafted criminal conspiracy, and then transferring, layering and integrating these funds through multiple accounts to project them as legitimate and eventually using these funds to carry out various criminal, unlawful and terrorist activities".

The notification also said the sources of deposits on behalf of PFI were not supported by the financial profiles of the account holders and the activities of PFI were not being carried out as per their declared objectives. It noted that the Income Tax Department had cancelled the registration granted to PFI and Rehab India Foundation.

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News Network
March 17,2024

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Beltangady, Mar 17: A three-year-old boy was crushed to death under the wheels of an auto-rickshaw in front of his house at Panakaje Mundadi in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada. 

The gut-wrenching tragedy took place on Saturday, March 16 morning when the boy ran out of home to the road. 

The victim has been identified as Kaushik, the son of Chandrashekhar and Usha couple. Their home is situated adjacent to the main road at Panakaje.

It is learnt that the auto-rickshaw failed to notice the boy who suddenly darted towards the road and hit him. 

Even though the injured boy was rushed to a private hospital in Ujire and later to Mangaluru, he breathed his last. 

The Beltangady traffic police have registered a case in connection with the incident.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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Bengaluru: Darshan Babu is an engineer who is fond of betting on cricket matches and has been placing major bets on Indian Premier League (IPL) games since 2021. He often borrows money after losing a bet, or to place one when he is short on funds. His 23-year-old wife, tired of the constant harassment by creditors, died by suicide.

Ranjitha was found hanging at her home in Karnataka's Chitradurga on March 18. According to the family, Darshan had racked up a debt of over Rs 1 crore.

He worked as an assistant engineer in the Minor Irrigation Department at Hosadurga and had been ensnared in the realm of IPL betting from 2021 to 2023. This took a major toll on the couple's finances. Allegedly, he had borrowed over Rs 1.5 crore to place bets after his luck ran out and he lost all his money. While he managed to return Rs 1 crore, cops say that he still has a pending loan of ₹ 84 lakh.

Ranjitha married Darshan in 2020. She realised the truth about Darshan's involvement in betting in 2021, claims her father Venkatesh.

In his complaint, Venkatesh said that his daughter was extremely distressed due to the constant harassment by moneylenders and this led to her suicide. He has also named 13 men who had allegedly lent the money.

He said that his son-in-law was lured into betting with a promise of quick money.

"He (Darshan) was not willing to get into betting, but the suspects forced him saying it was an easy way to get rich. They promised to finance his betting activities against some blank cheques as security," he said.

Cops during their investigation found a suicide note, where she detailed the harassment they faced. Darshan and Ranjitha have a two-year-old son.

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News Network
March 14,2024

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Mangaluru, Mar 14: “Hindutva is my commitment and development is my priority,” said Indian army veteran and entrepreneur Captain Brijesh Chowta after the BJP high command announced a ticket to him from Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency.

Known as a BJP stronghold, Nalin Kumar Kateel has served as the MP of this constituency for the past 15 years.

Soon after the announcement was made, 42-year-old Chowta, who is also the BJP state secretary from Dakshina Kannada constituency, sought the blessings of his parents and went to Shree Sharavu Mahaganapathi Temple and visited the war memorial to offer tributes.

A BSc graduate from St Aloysius College, he completed his executive business Management program from the Indian Institute of Management, Indore.

He was commissioned into the 7th battalion of the 8 Gorkha Rifles and served in counter-insurgency operations in Assam and Manipur and was part of Elite Ghatak team. He also served as the adjutant to the battalion. He has been associated with the BJP since 2013. He is the president of Mangaluru Kambala and organiser of Mangaluru Lit Fest.

“Humbled and grateful to our party seniors led by our commander-in-chief PM Narendra Modi for giving me this opportunity to be our party’s candidate and representative of his work and vision in Dakshina Kannada. I pledge to continue to work with even greater rigour for the welfare of our region and people driven by the mantra of ‘Nation First’. I humbly bow down to all our karyakartas & everyone who stood by me & toiled with me to make this happen. Our task has just begun, as we work towards making Dakshina Kannada the number one in the state,” Captain Chowta said on X.

Kateel welcomes change 

Meanwhile, sitting Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel has welcomed the party’s decision to field Capt Brijesh Chowta as the BJP candidate for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency.

He said the change aligns with the party’s strategy of fostering new talent to broaden its base and activities. He hoped that he will win by a margin of more than 3 lakh votes.

Soon after the list was announced on Wednesday, the three-time MP told reporters that he has brought projects worth about Rs 1 lakh crore during the last 10 years, under the Modi government.

He thanked the party for giving him a big responsibility of leading the party in the state. “I have worked honestly,” he said.

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