The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Thursday told a Delhi court that the Popular Front of India (PFI) was “the most sinister organisation” whose activities, if left unchecked, “would have led to a civil war in the country”.
The agency was addressing concluding arguments on the framing of The case lodged by the NIA pertains to an alleged conspiracy hatched by the PFI leadership to “radicalise Muslim youth” and to “promote enmity against Hindus”.
After hearing arguments on charge for nearly three months, Special Judge Prashant Sharma of Patiala House Court reserved his order on charge. After an order on charge is passed, the trial in this case is likely to begin.
The arguments which concluded on Thursday saw a sharp exchange. The defence counsel representing PFI contended that if the RSS could call for a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, PFI was equally entitled to aspire to an Islamic nation. “If the RSS is right, how can they be wrong?” the defence counsel argued.
NIA Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Rahul Tyagi countered that the distinction lay in means and intent. The RSS, he said, was “a nationalist organisation” that did not collude with Pakistan, sought no destruction of India and used no illegal means, adding that “Hindutva is a way of life”.
SPP Tyagi, who was accompanied by advocates Jatin Khatri, Amit Rohilla and Shubham Goyal, alleged that the PFI leaders had “hatched a long-term plan to raise an army”. Under the garb of socio-economic and welfare activities, he claimed, the organisation lured young Muslim men, “filled them with hatred against Hindus” and brainwashed them into “waging Jihad to establish an Islamic state”.
The NIA further alleged that PFI cadres were directed to join the Islamic State (IS), travel to Syria to learn its methods, and replicate those techniques in India.
PFI had drawn up a hit-list of BJP and VHP leaders marked for elimination by its so-called “Khursit” departments, and was reaching out to surrendered militants to procure firearms and train its cadre to “wage war against India”, the NIA claimed.
Arguments on charge in this case were heard extensively by the predecessor NIA judge before he was transferred.
In this case, there are a total of 20 accused persons along with PFI. Over 1,300 criminal cases have been registered against PFI members across the country by law enforcement agencies related to offences linked to the killing of leaders associated with Hindu organisations, organising suspected terror camps, alleged radicalisation of youth, and links with foreign terrorist organisations such as the IS.
In September 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had published a gazette notification declaring the organisation and its associates unlawful. According to the MHA, there have been multiple recoveries from PFI members over the years, including documents on how to make IEDs and containing material on converting India into an Islamic state besides hand-held marine radio sets, pen drives with pro-IS videos, ammunition, and weapons.
