The Indian Express | 1 week ago | 19-03-2023 | 11:45 am
In his recorded statement before the magistrate, one of NIA’s protected key witnesses, who was once a member of the core team of the Popular Front of India (PFI), has claimed that all arrested members of banned outfit were taught that in case of any disturbance from Pakistan, the Indian Army would be busy in the North and with PFI’s training they can capture South India and move towards the North, the probe agency has said in its chargesheet, filed in a Delhi court.The chargesheet, filed against 19 senior leaders of PFI in connection with criminal conspiracy aimed at destabilising and dismembering the country, says that under the garb of a socio-political movement, PFI was putting together a “highly motivated, trained and secretive elite force to achieve its violent long-term objective of establishment of Islamic rule in India by 2047”.The NIA, which last year raided 39 premises associated with PFI and arrested scores of office-bearers of the group, arraigned 19 people as accused, including 12 national executive council (NEC) members, founding members and senior leaders of PFI. The NEC is PFI’s top decision-making arm.The PFI as an organisation has also been chargesheeted in the case. Among those named in it are PFI chairman O M A Salam, vice-chairman E M Abdul Rahiman, national secretary V P Nazaruddin, and NEC national general secretary Anees Ahmed.In their chargesheet, the investigation officer (IO) said that detailed examination of protected witnesses has revealed that the PFI had devised strategies to implement their long-term goal of establishing an Islamic Caliphate by overthrowing the democratically elected government through armed rebellion. “One of the protected witnesses said that in Tharbiyath sessions held by the accused, it was mentioned that in case of any disturbance from Pakistan, the Indian Army would be busy in the North, and with PFI’s training they could capture the South and move towards the North. This indicates PFI’s intention of waging war against India and to overthrow the democratically established government,” the chargesheet said.“PFI was secretly recruiting men and organising arms training across the country to raise an ‘army’ willing and ready to wage war against the central government,” according to the chargesheet. “One of the key elements of their planned strategy was to mark important leaders of organisations which disapprove (of) PFI’s ideology, including Hindu organisations. They made their profiling and [planned to] assassinate them through their hit squads/service teams to create communal wedge between the communities.”During investigation, the NIA downloaded videos from PFI’s official accounts in YouTube and found that the accused persons, who are its NEC members, could be clearly seen addressing large gatherings of people. “They were provoking them against the central government by wrongful interpretations of government policies to create hatred against the entire state machinery, High Courts and the Supreme Court and instigating the crowd towards violence against the persons belonging to a particular religious or political group,” the chargesheet states.“It was observed in one of the videos that OMA Salam has been exhorting Muslims not to forget the Babri Masjid issue, and claiming that they did not get justice even from the Supreme Court,” the NIA has stated. “He called upon Muslims to keep fighting and this was intended to provoke their religious sentiments on an issue which has been judicially settled by the Apex Court of the country.”“NEC members of PFI were found to be involved in arranging funds for organising arms training camps, purchase of weapons and targeted killings. Since the outfit was formed in 2006, PFI cadres have been involved in a series of murders and violent attacks in the country, including those of leaders of organisations who are at variance with the PFI on religious ideas and beliefs,” the NIA said in a statement.
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