A day after the Union government designated the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates as unlawful organisations for a five-year period, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO) on Wednesday, September 28, termed the ban unnecessary and undemocratic. In addition to the PFI and its partner organisation NCHRO, seven other affiliates — Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation, and the Kerala Rehab Foundation — have also been banned with immediate effect.
The SDPI said in a press statement that the BJP government’s decision to ban PFI and its affiliates was a direct blow on democracy and the rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution. “Whoever spoke out against the BJP regime’s wrong and anti-people policies have faced threats of arrests and raids. Freedom of speech, protests and organisations have all been ruthlessly suppressed by the regime. The regime is misusing investigation agencies and laws to silence the opposition, and to scare people against expressing voices of dissent. An undeclared emergency is clearly visible in the country,” said MK Faizy, national president of the SDPI.
Meanwhile, pointing out that the NCHRO only dealt with issues related to human rights, without differences on the basis of religious or other factors, the organisation’s Chairperson A Marx said that the ban imposed on the organisation was unacceptable. He alleged that banning PFI was a long pending agenda of the Union government, and called the move “unnecessary and condemnable”. “However, we are pausing all our activities as per the government directive,” he said.
The Union government’s move to ban the organisation had come a few days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) launched a nationwide raid on PFI and its affiliated organisations. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the PFI was involved in “several criminal and terror cases”, and exhibits “sheer disrespect to the constitutional authority” of the nation. Additionally, it has also described the organisation as an “internal threat” to India due to its access to external financial and ideological support.