by Editor | Jun 2, 2022 | News, News & Trending
Bangalore: 2nd June 2022(Press Release) Popular Front condemns the provisional attachment of the bank accounts belonging to the organization by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). This latest action by ED is part of the ongoing repressive steps taken against the organization for the past few years. It becomes once again clear that the agency is acting as mere pawns of the political masters by going after people’s movements, NGOs, human rights organizations, opposition parties, media, and any democratic voices in the country that are critical of the ruling party.
The deposits to the Popular Front accounts as mentioned by the ED for the duration of 13 years are nothing but normal for the functioning of a nationwide social movement like Popular Front. It is also to be noted that the said amount includes the deposits done during the collection drives for major calamities faced by the country in which Popular Front carried out exemplary relief and rescue services. The stated figures by the ED are not at all astonishing and no great investigation is needed by an agency like ED as we have already filed every penny of the collections to the income tax. This proves it is nothing but sensationalizing of figures. Another important fact to be noted is that during 2020 many media reported that 120 Crore was collected by Popular Front, the current statement of 60 Crore negates the earlier fake claim and proves that these agencies feed fake information to media to target organizations like ours.
The bank accounts of world-renowned NGOs like Amnesty International and Green Peace were also frozen in the same manner. There is already a trend in the country that corrupt politicians from all parties are joining the BJP to save their tainted wealth, fearing the ED vendetta in the form of investigations. Corruption and black money dealings of BJP leaders to the tune of hundreds of crores are hardly a matter of concern for ED. Going by the way the BJP has always misused the ED and other agencies to target and silence opposition, the action against Popular Front is not surprising.
Popular Front is a democratically working organization that emerged from marginalized sections and has already won the trust of millions of people from across the country, who help the organization with their donations. Because of the same reason, the organization has made it a policy from its beginning that any minor and major financial dealings are done transparently. People know very well that the uncompromising stand Popular Front has taken against the Sangh Parivar’s divisive politics is the only reason the organisation have become the target of the agency’s politically motivated cases. Popular Front will continue with our assertive stand and opposition to the evil designs of the RSS. These actions will not intimidate us and we will explore all legal and democratic options to overcome these hindrances.
Popular Front calls upon the people of the country who are committed to protecting democracy to condemn this undemocratic move and misuse of power by the BJP led Union government.
Press Conference addressed by Anis Ahmed, General Secretary, Mohammed Shakif, and A.K.Ashraf Secretaries of Popular Front of India.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, News
Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s assertions are based on lies. Neither the Jamaat nor the PFI is a political party. Accusing the Congress of allying with “radical organisations like Jamaat-e-Islami and Popular Front of India (PFI)” shows the frustration of the saffron party.
Tejashwi has upset the calculations of the saffron party by raising real issues of employment and development for which the BJP has no answer
Shaheen Nazar | NEW DELHI
Bihar appears to be slipping out of the hands of BJP and its main ally, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United).
At least, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s attack on Congress points towards this fact. Addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in Delhi on Sunday, Naqvi accused the Congress of allying with “radical organisations like Jamaat-e-Islami and Popular Front of India (PFI)” in poll-bound Bihar and sought to know if RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and his party are also part of such “an understanding”.
Naqvi’s assertions are based on lies. Neither the Jamaat nor the PFI is a political party. Naqvi has also referred to the Welfare Party of India (WPI), supposedly a front of the Jamaat. But WPI, a small political party formed nine years ago, has no unit in Bihar and it is not contesting any seat or even supporting any party.
PFI’s political front Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) is participating in the three-phase Bihar assembly elections with the first phase slated for October 28. But again, it has formed an alliance with some smaller parties which are not part of the Mahagathbandhan comprising the Congress, RJD and Left parties.
“For the convenience of the Congress, Jamaat-e-Islami has formed a political party, probably named it Welfare Party,” alleged Naqvi. Welfare Party president SQR Ilyas termed Naqvi’s statement as “frustration” of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“The BJP appears to be in panic after seeing massive crowds at the rallies of Tejashwi Yadav. The RJD leader has upset the calculations of the saffron party by raising real issues of employment and development for which the BJP has no answer. It has been denied its usual plank of polarising voters along communal lines,” Ilyas said.
BJP’s attack on Congress has come just two days after CPI(M) made a similar charge against the Congress. The Left party’s attack is also related to the election, but it is related to civic body polls in Kerala.
The party, which leads the ruling Left Democratic Alliance (LDF) in Kerala, on Friday accused the Congress of “surrendering” its secular stance before the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), stating that it is now “led by Jamaat-e-Islami’s ideology”.
The accusation has a background. The Congress-led United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has decided to have electoral adjustments with some smaller parties, including the Welfare Party, for the coming local body elections in the southern state.
CPI(M) Politburo member and party’s state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told the media that IUML had “strongly opposed” Jamaat-e-Islami in the past. “Now, IUML has abandoned that stand and has no reservations to work with Jamaat-e-Islami, which wants to establish an Islamic country. It is parallel to the stand of RSS, which aims at Hindu Rashtra. The decision of the Congress to work with WPI would have far-reaching consequences,” he said.
Balakrishnan criticised the Congress which, according to him, “has surrendered its secular outlook before IUML for a few votes”.
Interestingly, CPI(M) leader criticised the Congress for aligning with a Muslim party a day after welcoming in the LDF fold the Jose K Mani faction of regional Christian party Kerala Congress (M).
Welfare Party’s Ilyas told Clarion India that his party had had a similar seat sharing arrangement with Left parties in five districts of Kerala in 2015 local bodies election. This had helped the party win 42 seats.
He said seat sharing among political parties was quite normal. According to Ilyas, his party was in negotiation with both Congress and Left parties for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal. “In Kerala, the Congress and Left parties are rivals. But in West Bengal, they are going to fight jointly. And we are going to have some sort of arrangement with both,” he said.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Pervez Bari, Maeeshat.in,
Bhopal: In the context of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Popular Front of India, (PFI), will convene a “Muslim Political Conclave” in the national capital on 6th March 2019 to submit a “People’s Charter of Demands” on behalf of the minority community before the contesting political parties.
Muslim scholars, activists and leaders have been invited from different states, which will discuss the current national and state situations and prepare a charter reflecting the concerns of the community for the interested political parties to include in their election manifesto. This decision was taken in the National Executive Council meeting of PFI held at Malappuram in Kerala.
M. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, General Secretary PFI, in a statement said that the meeting observed that, though 2019 Lok Sabha election is being viewed as of paramount importance in the history of the country, the existential and developmental issues of minorities have been largely sidelined in the political discourse of the major political parties who have traditionally used the community as their vote banks. The present Central government is characterised by its extreme anti-minority nature and the resultant rise of violence against Muslims in particular. In lynching incidents, mostly Muslims were killed in the name of beef consumption and the cattle trade.
According to one survey, it is found that hate speeches by elected leaders increased by five times since BJP came to power in 2014. A report of Human Rights Watch says that in most of the mob lynching cases culprits remain unpunished.
Jinnah sad that in Babri Masjid case, the Central government is opposed to justice for the illegally demolished Masjid, rather they are doing everything to prevent justice and ensure Ram Mandir construction on the Babri land. The non-BJP Opposition has relegated Babri Masjid case into a non-issue and has forgotten the promise of reconstruction, made to the nation when it was demolished in 1992. Through the introduction of 10 per cent quota in government jobs on economic grounds, when the Central government tried to destroy the constitutional foundation of reservation, both Congress and Left parties supported this upper caste agenda. And they keep silence over the recommendation of Justice Ranganath Misra Commission to provide 15 per cent reservation for religious minorities.
He pointed out it is to be remembered that it was UPA government which introduced the draconian UAPA, now widely being misused by the Modi Government against minorities and for silencing voices of dissent. The constitution of NIA, another agency which is misused against Muslims, is also a Congress government contribution. No previous secular government at the Centre bothered to remove the oppressive sedition clause from our penal laws.
There is a visible reluctance on the part of major parties even to address Muslims in these changed political circumstances. They often distance themselves from core questions of Muslims and backward minority sections and at times even compete with BJP by championing Hindutva politics even openly. In short, these parties have proved them incapable of standing by the aspirations of the minorities and marginalized sections of this country. The situation demands realistic evaluation of the present situation in the country and effective strategizing on the part of Muslim community for its own future and the future of the country as a secular democratic nation. The proposed Muslim Political Conclave is an attempt at enabling the opposition parties to address the Lok Sabha election on the basis of core secular values enshrined in the Indian constitution.
Chairman E. Abubacker presided over the meeting, which was attended by, General Secretary M. Muhammed Ali Jinnah, Vice Chairman O. M. A. Salam, Secretaries Abdul Wahid Sait, Anis Ahmed and other members of the National Executive Council.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Pervez Bari, Maeeshat.in,
New Delhi : Activists and intellectuals drawn from different corners of the country have called upon the Government of Jharkhand to immediately lift the ban on Popular Front of India, (PFI).
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday by them, they said the ban order scoffs at the laws of the land and opens doors to the violation of fundamental rights respected by the Constitution. It is reported that the ban was imposed on the specious and baseless allegation that the PFI was influenced by the so-called ISIS of the Middle East, they continued.
“They understand that Popular Front of India is a neo-social movement actively involved in developmental work like literacy campaign, prevention of malnutrition and comprehensive empowerment of the poor and the downtrodden, especially Muslims”, the statement said.
The signatories also pointed out that the Hindutva Government of Jharkhand and its police have been unhappy with the activists of Popular Front for highlighting the multiple lynching cases in the state. The ban is a ploy used by the government to intimidate people and suppress democratic forms of protest and dissent. This is not for the first time that the government has used law to ban organizations opposed to the plunder of this resource rich state and the corruption of the ruling class.
They also appealed to the Human Right groups, political parties and minority organizations to rally up for lifting the ban on Popular Front of India.
Among the signatories are: 1. Dr. Suresh Khairnar, Social Activist, Nagpur Maharashtra; 2. Ravi Nair, South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre, New Delhi; 3. Prof. Shams-ul-Islam, New Delhi; 4. Leni Raghuvamshi, PVCHR, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh; 5. Adv. Sridevi Panikker, Supreme Court, New Delhi; 6.Rajiv Yadav, Rihai Manch, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh; 7. Adv. Aditya Wadhwa, Supreme Court, New Delhi; 8.Dr. Malam Ningthauja, Camping for Peace and Democracy, Manipur; 9. Sunil Kumar, Journalist/Activist, New Delhi; 10. Madhuri Krishnaswamy, JADS, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh; 11. Vasantha AS, Hyderabad; 12.Rona Wilson, CRPP New Delhi; 13. Seema Azad, Editor Dastak, Allahabad; 14. Prabal, DSU, Delhi University; 15. Adv. Amit Shrivastav, High Court, Delhi; 16. Adv. Mangala, High Court, Delhi; 17. Anushka, Democratic Rights, New Delhi; 18. Vipul Kumar, Quill Foundation, 19. Devika Prasad, Rights Activist.
