India bans Muslim group PFI for 5 years

India has declared the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associates or affiliates or fronts as unlawful associations with immediate effect for a period of five years.

The move comes after Indian authorities detained more than 100 PFI members in two rounds of massive countrywide raids on the group’s leaders in terror fund cases.

“The Popular Front of India and its associates or affiliates or fronts have been found to be involved in serious offences, including terrorism and its financing, targeted gruesome killings, disregarding the constitutional set up,” India’s home ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

It said that some of the PFI’s founding members are the leaders of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and have linkages with Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), both of which are proscribed organisations. 

The statement said that the group has linkages to global terrorist organisations such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and participated in terror activities in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and PFI cadres linked to ISIS have been killed in these conflict theatres and some have been arrested by State Police and Central Agencies.