In a controversial move, the micro-blogging site Twitter has verified the Twitter handle of notorious radical Islamic organisation – Popular Front of India (PFI).
On Saturday, social media giant Twitter Inc, which has been caught a losing war against Indian laws, decided to grant the ‘verified’ status to the Popular Front of India – Karnataka unit’s Twitter handle, igniting a massive debate on the social media.
The handle of Popular Front of India’s Karnataka unit, which has over 16k followers, has now been bestowed with the ‘blue tick’ by Twitter.
It is worth mentioning that the radical Islamic organisation Popular Front of India has been accused of involving in perpetrating terrorist attacks in India and carrying large scale communal riots in different parts of the country.
Popular Front of India – a radical Islamic organisation
Ever since it was formed in 2006, the Popular Front of India (PFI) has been involved in several clashes. The radical Islamic outfit has been allegedly involved in several clashes and political murders. The radical Islamic organisation has been accused of having links with the banned Islamic terror group Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Several investigation agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), have named PFI in many cases. The first module of Islamic State that NIA busted in Kerala had some members of PFI. Along with its youth wing – SDPI, PFI perpetrates crimes against Hindus and is responsible for communal riots across the country.
The PFI is currently active in seven states of India. According to the Uttar Pradesh police, PFI has been active in different parts of India since 2010, and the members of this group have been involved in disrupting the peace and harmony in the country.
It is worth mentioning that radical Islamic organisations such as PFI, SDPI and other associated organisations have been under the scanner in UP after the anti-CAA violence triggered in the state last year and this year. In addition, several leaders of the Popular Front of India were also named as accused in the Bengaluru riots that took place in August 2020.
Last year in January, the Yogi Adityanath-led UP Government had asked for a ban on PFI because of the violence caused by PFI members during the anti-CAA riots.
PFI members have been frequently found to be indulging in criminal activities, including murder with communal motives. Earlier in January, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had alleged that the PFI raised money through hawala channels for running terror camps in Kerala.
Besides this, it has been accused by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) of being involved in the controversial ‘love jihad’ cases in Kerala. Recently, activists of its political arm SDPI were arrested for an ABVP worker’s brutal murder in Kerala’s Kannur.
Recently, PFI members were accused of killing 42-year-old activist Ramalingam. The activist was brutally murdered for opposing forced religious conversions. In the past, the PFI members have been accused of chopping off the hands of a Kerala Professor for allegedly insulting the Islamic Prophet Mohammed.
In Kerala, most of its leaders were members of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India. Reportedly, the PFI was allegedly involved in at least 24 political murders in Kerala.
In February, during a rally to mark the Moplah Massacre of Hindus, PFI had paraded men dressed in RSS uniforms in Kerala. A video from the rally confirmed a lot of Islamic chanting, including “Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illallah Muhammad ur Rasulullah”, and others chanted during the procession.
Just a week back, the Income Tax Department had taken action against the Popular Front of India citing violation of Income Tax rules.
