Agencies up ante on underground activities as its political outfit promises a bounce back

Following the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India, its underground cadres from across the the country met at Kerala. This meeting resulted in the SIMI bouncing back as the Indian Mujahideen

New Delhi, Jan 28: The now banned Popular Front of India's (PFI) political outfit, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has been making attempts to re-group its cadres and strengthen the party in Kerala.

This move comes amidst reports that the Union Home Ministry is likely to move the Election Commission alleging that the SDPI is becoming a backyard of the PFI which was banned last September.

OneIndia had reported on January 23 that the agencies are on very high alert after inputs about the PFI trying to re-emerge have cropped up.

Going by past experiences, the agencies are leaving nothing to chance. In the past following the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), its cadres from across the country met in Kerala and revived the outfit in the name of the Indian Mujahideen.

A Hindustan Times report said that the SDPI has kept a low key following the ban on the PFI. However now the political outfit which has said that it would contest 100 seats in the upcoming Karnataka elections is planning a series of rallies in Kerala. A meeting to this effect was held in Kochi, Kerala on January 26 and now the SDPI is planning rallies in all district headquarters of the state.

During a meeting, SDPI's national president M K Faizy told the gathering that they would bounce back. As a political party we will protect out families and cadre, he said while adding that the party would expose the fascist measures taken by the RSS-controlled government. The threats and intimidations will not cow us down, he also added.

The underground activities:

The official cited above said that once an outfit is banned, it is important to keep a close tab on its underground activities. In this regard Intelligence sharing and tracking is the key, the officer added while also stating that the PFI is being closely monitored. Post the ban, the outfit may re-emerge with a new name and the key is to keep a close tab on all those who are out in the open and have been connected with the PFI even remotely. Such persons are the worry as there are no major case files on them and the PFI may use these elements to revive the activities of the group, the officer also added.

The role of the Islamic State:

The other aspect that the agencies are monitoring closely are the activities of the Islamic State. On a propaganda channel, the Islamic State had said that it condemns the ban on the PFI. The article further went on to give a clarion call to attack Hindus and terrorise the people.

When the Home Ministry had banned the PFI, it had said that many from the outfit had joined the Islamic State and Al-Qaeeda. The Islamic State article further confirms this point by stating that many from the PFI had in fact joined the outfit and had even attained martyrdom.