Jamaat Islami condemns raids on Front leadership houses and offices

By Special  Correspondent

New Delhi: Popular Front of India, National Executive Council on  Sunday deplored the recent searches and raids in different parts of the country, in its  offices and leaders residences  by  Enforcement Directorate (ED). It said the raids showed that ED is acting as a ‘tool of RSS and not as an impartial official agency”.

 It stated that the people of India know that the witch-hunt against Popular Front is only because of its uncompromising stand against the anti-people ideology of RSS.

In  a statement, the organization said that “Popular Front of India is a people’s organization focusing on empowerment of the marginalized Indian Muslim community. As an organization depending on public donations, it has been obliging to the Government rules and regulations as regards financial transactions. It is evident from the selective misuse of ED that it has turned to be an agency meant for silencing and suppressing the voices against the divisive and communal agenda of RSS and its political wing BJP.”

It  alleged that “E.D and other government investigative agencies are running behind groups having very meager financial sources and transactions, they are afraid of touching very big corporates, political groups and NGOs that are serving the RSS interest”.

The nation very well knows that an investigative agency cannot claim any credibility unless they could act upon the ruling party BJP which has gathered many hundreds of cores without any liability to disclose the source under the cover of Electoral Bonds, the statement added.

“NEC reiterates that the vendetta against PFI is not an isolated attempt on a particular organization. It is part of a wider Hindutva  agenda to deny Muslims their constitutional rights to live as equal citizens in India. By targeting Popular Front, their ultimate aim is to terrorise all genuine and honest organizations, institutions and leaders that are in the forefront of Indian Muslim community”.

Front makes it clear that the new round of vindictive actions cannot silence the organisation. NEC also hopes that the public responses against such misuse of powers will act as an eye opener for government agencies to return to their allegiance to the Indian constitution and rule of law.

Meanwhile,  Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), one of the largest Muslim group, condemned the Enforcement Directorate’s raids on the offices of the Popular Front of India (PFI) last Wednesday.

In a statement issued to the media, the JIH Vice President – Prof Salim Engineer said: “The raids on the PFI offices are a violation of the standard operating procedure of the department. The government is misusing various agencies in an undemocratic manner to silence dissenting voices. It is disappointing to see agencies like the ED being misused to create an atmosphere of fear and to silence the voices of dissent. This undemocratic action is being carried out against the individuals, groups and NGOs who disagree and criticize the policies of the government. The recent raids of the ED on the offices of the PFI throughout the country are highly condemnable. The government should refrain from such vindictive actions which would add to the trust-deficit between the government and the community.”

Expressing concern over the raids the JIH Vice President said: “The government is increasingly being seen as anti-citizen. The timings of the ED raids on PFI, raise a suspicion that it has managed to divert the attention of the public from the farmers’ agitation. The government’s attitude towards various organisations and individuals is very much detrimental to the spirit of the constitution.”