Ajmer Dargah chief welcomes govt decision to ban PFI

New Delhi, Sep 28: The spiritual head of Ajmer Dargah Zainul Abedin Ali Khan on Wednesday welcomed the Central government's decision to ban the Popular Front of India (PFI) for its alleged terror activities.

The Deewan of the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti said the action was taken in compliance with the law and to prevent terrorism. It should be welcomed by all, he said.

"If the country is safe then we are safe, the country is bigger than any institution or idea and if someone talks about breaking this country, breaking the unity and sovereignty here, talks about spoiling the peace of the country, then he has no right to live here," Khan told PTI.

He said there have been reports of "anti-national activities by PFI" and the ban imposed on it is in the interest of the country.

"Two years ago, I had first demanded that the government ban PFI," the Ajmer Dargah deewan said. Chairman of All India Sajjadanashin Council Nasiruddin Khan also welcomed the step taken by the government. "No institution is bigger than the country," he said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs early Wednesday enforced a ban on PFI and all its affiliates for five years. The organisations which were also declared banned under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA include Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CF), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO), National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala.

The action of the Central government came days after a countrywide crackdown on the 16-year-old PFI, arrest of over a hundred of its activities and seizure of several dozen properties.

In a late Tuesday night notification, the Union Home Ministry said some of the PFI's founding members are the leaders of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the PFI has linkages with Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Both JMB and SIMI are proscribed organisations.

The step comes on the same date - September 28 - as another important move four years ago in 2016, that is, the Surgical Strikes. While the operation by the Indian Army was carried out on September 28, the official announcement by the government came a day later, and September 29 was declared to be celebrated as 'Surgical Strike' day.