A 49-year-old former state electricity board employee. A retired government college English lecturer. A septuagenarian former high school Arabic teacher. A 36-year-old Ph.D. in Islamic studies. A popular tailor. At first glance, these five individuals from disparate socioeconomic backgrounds have hardly anything in common. What does bind them together is that they were members of the Popular Front of India (PFI), an organisation the Union government declared “unlawful” through a notification on September 28, alleging their involvement in violent, extremist activities with scant regard for constitutional authority.
Hours after the announcement of a five-year ban on its activities, the front announced that it was disbanding itself. "As law-abiding citizens of our great country, the organisation accepts the decision of the ministry of home affairs... All members of the PFI are requested to cease their activities," Kerala general secretary A. Abdul Sattar said in a statement.
The five individuals mentioned above and even Sattar, who was arrested sometime after he put out the statement, are among the 400-odd PFI activists arrested during a weeklong joint operation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and state police forces across multiple states in India. The PFI professes that their organisation is a 'neo-social movement for the empowerment of marginalised sections in India', but the government agencies allege they are at the centre of a covert network that promotes Islamic terrorism funded by foreign forces, including Pakistan.
Denne historien er fra October 10, 2022-utgaven av India Today.
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Denne historien er fra October 10, 2022-utgaven av India Today.
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Shuttle Star
Ashwini Ponnappa was the only Indian to compete in the inaugural edition of BDMNTN-XL, a new international badminton tourney with a new format, held in Indonesia
There's No Planet B
All Living Things-Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) returns with 72 films to be screened across multiple locations from Nov. 22 to Dec. 8
AMPED UP AND UNPLUGGED
THE MAHINDRA INDEPENDENCE ROCK FESTIVAL PROMISES AN INTERESTING LINE-UP OF OLD AND NEW ACTS, CEMENTING ITS REPUTATION AS THE 'WOODSTOCK OF INDIA'
A Musical Marriage
Faezeh Jalali has returned to the Prithvi Theatre Festival with Runaway Brides, a hilarious musical about Indian weddings
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Nikhil Advani’s adaptation of Freedom at Midnight details our tumultuous transition to an independent nation
Family Saga
RAMONA SEN's The Lady on the Horse doesn't lose its pace while narrating the story of five generations of a family in Calcutta
THE ETERNAL MOTHER
Prayaag Akbar's new novel delves into the complexities of contemporary India
TURNING A NEW LEAF
Since the turn of the century, we have lost hundreds of thousands of trees. Many had stood for centuries, weathering storms, wars, droughts and famines.
INDIA'S BEATING GREEN HEART
Ramachandra Guha's new book-Speaking with Nature-is a chronicle of homegrown environmentalism that speaks to the world
A NEW LEASE FOR OLD FILMS
NOSTALGIA AND CURIOSITY BRING AUDIENCES BACK TO THE THEATRES TO REVISIT MOVIES OF THE YESTERYEARS
