Saturday, 05 Oct, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
Pune in Maharashtra witnessed a heated episode during a protest organized by the PFI in front of the Pune’s district collector office. The PFI had organized the protest outside the district collector office to protest against the recent nationwide raids on the outfit and the arrest of its activists.
National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with Enforcement Directorate (ED) and state police departments raided multiple locations and offices linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI) during the last week and arrested 109 leaders and activists of the radical Islamic outfit from 15 states on different charges related to terrorism. Pune in Maharashtra witnessed a heated episode during a protest organized by the PFI in front of the Pune’s district collector office. The PFI had organized the protest outside the district collector office to protest against the recent nationwide raids on the outfit and the arrest of its activists. The Pune police detained around 40 protestors. A video surfaced on the social media showing that some anti-India slogans and ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were allegedly raised during the protest and the arrest of activists. Police has booked the activists of PFI for ‘unlawful assembly’ and blocking of roads and the further investigation is still going on in the matter and the viral videos with anti-India slogans are being verified through forensic investigation.
There were widespread calls of imposing a permanent ban on Popular Front of India by different political parties in Maharashtra. Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS), Shiv Sena, Bhartiya Janata Party and Yuva Sena (Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena’s Youth Wing) were among the political organizations demanding the ban. Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said that the anti-India slogans and pro-Pakistani slogans won’t be tolerated and strict actions would be taken against the miscreants. Deputy CM of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis also condemned the incident in similar words. Not only in Maharashtra, but the demand for ban was also raised in Kerala and Assam after Kerala witnessed violence during the hartal organized by the PFI. Assam’s CM Himanta Biswa Sarma reiterated that the PFI must be banned as the organization poses a threat to national security and communal harmony in the country.
The Government of India has banned around 42 organizations under the Unlawful activities (prevention) act, 1967. India has been facing a lot of internal security issues since independence. North-east India reported the first insurgency in India. North-east India is home to different banned organizations under UAPA as the region has witnessed many insurgencies over the years. The 70’s and 80’s decade was rocked by the Khalistan insurgency in Punjab. The state of Tamil Nadu was rocked by the anti-India activities carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). From 1990s, there was a rise in Islamic terrorism in India. In order to put an end to these insurgencies and the organizations behind them, the Indian government banned the following organizations. Some of the major organizations banned under the UAPA are mentioned below.
Source: Ministry of Home Affairs
The Government of India has banned a lot of organizations under the UAPA and designated a few as terrorist organizations over the years. Though, the organizations have been banned by the government, they continue to operate and pose threat to the security of the nation.
