With Dawah squads, promise of religious rewards, how PFI targeted Hindus

The NIA on Thursday raided multiplelocin Kerala in connection with the PFI case. While the raids were aimed at arresting the second rung leaders, it also focused heavily on those who had planned the killing of scores of Hindu activists in the country

New Delhi, Dec 29: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday raided various locations in Kerala in connection with the Popular Front of India (PFI) case.

While these raids were carried out to arrest the second rung of leaders which the NIA suspected was trying to regroup, the searches were also in connection with the murder of several Hindus by these elements over the past couple of years.

Some of the murders linked to the PFI are the one of Ramalingam in 2019, Nandu in 2021, Sanjit in 2021, Bibin in 2017, Sharath in 2017, Abhimanyu in 2018, Rudresh in 2016, Sasi Kumar in 2016 and Praveen Pujari in 2016.

Killing Hindu activists:

The PFI and its affiliates have over the years targeted Hindu activists in recent times. The modus operandi of this outfit was spoken about for long, but successive Kerala governments had not acted as desired as a result of which the outfit grew to become more and more dangerous.

When the Ministry of Home Affairs banned the PFI, it had said that the action was being taken because the outfit was radicalising Muslim youth galore and it had also killed several Hindu activists.

Further it was noted that the PFI was picking up Muslims from low-income groups and training them to use swords and knives and this had led to the targeting The Hindu activists. Take the case of Ramalingam from Tamil Nadu. His only fault was that he had been vocal about the forced religious conversions which was carried out by the outfit.

The hit-squad:

It was also learnt during the probe into the murder of Hindu leader, Praveen Nettaru that the outfit had prepared a list of names of Hindus who were meant to be targeted by the hit-squads or Dawah Teams. It was also found that these hits were being carried out on the directive of the Islamic or Dawah courts. Praveen had commented on the halal issue and these courts had ordered a hit on him. It was also learnt that he was picked up from a list to avenge the dearth of a Muslim migrant worker, Masood in July this year.

The hit-squads of this outfit have been operating for long. It has been spoken about by the agencies on numerous counts, but the outfit continued to grow not just in Kerala, but nationally as well. During the investigation, its role in recruiting Muslim youth to international terror groups such as the Islamic State too had cropped up.

The one-point agenda:

The one-point agenda of the Popular Front of India has been to attack Hindus and anyone else questioning Islam and religious conversions. The PFI had its presence in 17 states and was indulging in acts of violence. There are over 1,300 criminal cases that have been registered against the operatives of the PFI by the NIA and various other state police agencies.

An official with the Intelligence Bureau tells OneIndia that it was a well-known fact that the sole agenda of the PFI was to attack the Right Wing. The PFI would always preach to its cadres that attacking those who oppose Islam would earn them rewards religiously.

The NIA says that the PFI follows the policy of communalism and believes in the Taliban brand of Islam. An affidavit that was submitted before the Kerala High Court says that the PFI was involved in 27 murders and 87 cases of attempt to murder. Further the PFI has also been accused of using its sister organisation Sathya Sarani based in Malappuram to undertake forced conversion.