In the month of September last year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) began its operation dubbed ‘Operation Octopus’ and raided no less than 100 locations of the Islamist terrorist organization named the Popular Front of India (PFI). The raids executed in multiple locations across the country resulted in around 250 arrests of persons associated with PFI and a ban on eight other organizations closely associated with the PFI.
On September 28, 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs imposed a ban on PFI and organizations including All India Imams Council, Campus Front of India (CFI), Rehab India Foundation, National Conf of Human Rights Org, National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation, and Rehab Foundation, Kerala. In its official statement, the Central government said that the organizations had been operating openly as socio-economic, educational, and political organizations, but they had been pursuing a secret agenda to show disrespect to the constitutional setup of the country. The government also indicated that the organizations had been attempting to radicalize a particular section of society towards undermining the concept of democracy.
It’s been a year since the ban and within this one year, the NIA has conducted multiple raids across the country and arrested several hundred members of the banned organization ensuring that no unlawful activity takes place in the country post-ban.
Demonstrating the entire account of the incident and exposing the PFI and its associate groups for possessing dangerous Islamist, terrorist ideologies, Author Binay Kumar Singh, associated with BJP Jharkhand, has come up with a new book named ‘The Elastic War: Story of Popular Front of India’. The book is all set for its official launch on September 28 this year marking one year of ban imposed on the terrorist organization.
PFI raised money through the Rehab India Foundation; Imams, women, and children were trained
The author, while exposing the dangerous ideology of the Islamist terrorist organization, also exposes its affiliate banned organizations and the medium through which they assisted the PFI in furthering its propaganda. The PFI raised funds through the Rehab India Foundation (RIF) was established in the year 2018 with the aim of helping the marginalized section of rural India. The RIF later adopted 60 villages in India and its chairman E Abubacker, was also the chairman of the PFI. The ED seized 33 bank accounts linked to the RIF which were used to raise funds for the terrorist organization.
Another banned affiliate, the National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO) was established in May 1997 and its task was to prepare biased fact-finding reports on sensitive issues that created massive tensions among two communities, an objective in line with the PFI’s decisive agenda.
The National Women’s Front trained women on ‘how to protest’ tactics while through the Junior Front, school-going children were often made part of radicalised religious and communal protest. The first-of-its-kind organization, the Junior Front taught the school-going children to be at the forefront of the protests and raise objectionable slogans in communal protests.
Further, the Imams were also trained through the banned All India Imam Council (AIIC) who were well-versed in the ideologies possessed by the PFI. The protests held by the AIIC against the arrest of Maulana Kareem Siddiqui who was accused of operating a conversion syndicate also has been highlighted by the author in the book.
How PFI prospered?
Binay Kumar Singh through this book allows the readers to understand all the basic laws relating to the ban and the punishments followed. It explains the powers the government holds to deal with such radical Islamist terrorist organizations who attempted to pose a threat to Indian democracy. The author sheds light on why and how PFI was different from other terrorist organizations and why the organization prospered.
“PFI provided a platform to the vulnerable minds of the country to recognize and comprehend the tactics of terror organizations that have predominantly transitioned to the 5th Generation Warfare techniques. PFI was a puppet of foreign powers seeking to disrupt and hamper the progress of the New Bharat. Its true agenda was regimentation and violent extremism,” the book reads in its second chapter.
It also highlights how PFI received support from major terrorist organizations that were declared illegal between 2001 and 2010 which helped the organization set its ground in the country. It strategically used violence to attract funding from the Gulf countries. The organization merged and allied with similar thinking groups and expanded its network to root its cause into the minds of vulnerable people, the book indicates.
PFI’s hatred towards Hindus, furthering the anti-India narrative in urban areas
The author further goes on to showcase PFI’s hatred towards Hindus. The units in PFI believed that Hindus were communalists and fascists which led to the sharp segregation of the Muslim community. Singh further moves to specify that similar agendas by similar organizations also led Dalits, Sikhs, and Christians against the Hindu communities. The initiative which began by targeting the rural population, slowly began to reach the urban localities that later began spreading the anti-India narrative, the book signifies.
Binay Kumar Singh’s study and research come to the fore as he dives into the historical background of the PFI and its ideologies. He narrates how the organization adopted its working style from several other unlawful terrorist organizations, merged with similar thinking groups, and together routed the thinking to the urban regions leading to the participation of several anti-India heads in the protests like the anti-CAA protests or the Bhima Koregaon violence. “As a strategy, the PFI very tactfully attempted to align Dalits along with Muslims, portraying both of them as victims of the Indian government,” the book quotes.
It moves to feature various recent campaigns projects and mergers by PFI and its allies towards their only agenda, which was to make India an Islamic Nation by the year 2047, when the country will complete 100 years of its Independence.
PFI wanted India to become an Islamic nation and encouraged Islamists to target Hindu women
Last year during the raids, NIA recovered several incriminating materials from the PFI hideouts across the nation. The material seized by the NIA included Pen drives having videos of Gajwa-e-Hind, the 1993 Bombay riots, provocative speeches, and a few video clips from the Islamic States. The NIA also recovered the ‘Mission 2047’ document which showed that PFI had plans to establish Islamic rule in the country by 2047, the year that would mark 100 years of the country’s independence. Some GPS-enabled wireless communication devices and marine radio sets were also seized by the NIA.
The investigating agencies in 2022 also revealed that the PFI activists were deliberately encouraging the Islamists to trap Hindu women in love affairs and produce more children ultimately expanding the Muslim community. The PFI, when active asked its cadres and other Muslims to force the Hindu women to convert their religion to Islam. At every PFI gathering, the activists would influence Muslims to run the agenda of love jihad and religious conversion. The organization had also declared a financial reward of Rs 2 lakh, a shop, and a house to anyone who would convert a Hindu girl to Islam. Reports mention that several Islamic organizations from several Islamic countries provided funds to the PFI for this purpose.
Utilizing mass media to build anti-India lobby
Notably, the PFI also used the medium of mass media to set the narrative against India and voice their cause whenever necessary. It very well-coordinated and planned orchestra of the anti-India lobby. Publications like Unarvu (weekly), Egathuvam (monthly), Vivekam in Malayalam, Sedhi Mandal in Tamil, Rupantar in Bengali, Iqraa in Gujarathi, Tahreek in Hindi, Al Harkah in Urdu, and the Shaheen Times prospered the hate against Hindus and India in the minds of the readers.
The book also exhibits how the PFI and its affiliate organizations and other terrorist organizations targeted the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members killing many of its members from across the country. It was reported that the PFI activists had shortlisted 100 BJP and RSS activists alone from Kerala for murder. This was revealed during the investigation of the murder of RSS activist SK Sreenivasan last year. The book also brings out the involvement of the PFI in Shimoga violence, Anti-CAA protests, Easter Bombings in Sri Lanka, Magaluru violence, Hathras rape case, Kerala gold smuggling racket, and many more such events.
Why to read The Elastic War?
The author says that the organization involved in the ‘Elastic model’ of battle can change its shape and size according to the situation. He also called for the need to adopt an ‘elastic defence’ to deal with this new mode of warfare. “There is a need to start to counter the tactics through counter-insurgency measures. There has been a need to counter this warfare at the intellectual level too,” the author adds.
Today, narratives determine politics, and agendas determine narratives. This is exemplified by recent anti-CAA riots, protests against the Agniveer program, farmer’s protests, and so on. We are living at a time when information is being weaponized to cause havoc in society, with aggressive forces using covert and overt propaganda outlets to exacerbate the faultlines in Indian society. Propaganda warfare is a mind-hacking technique in which the target gives up the ability to think critically.
The Elastic War: Story of the Popular Front of India, by Binay Kumar Singh, is a great critique of propaganda warfare. The book uses PFI as a model case to study propaganda warfare and dissects how neo-terror outfits implement transformative changes and have mastered the next-generation modus operandi of warfare.
Traditional methods make it difficult to decipher terrorist organizations like the PFI. These sophisticated groups have mastered the technique of weaponizing propaganda and are eventually perfecting the art of “Elastic Warfare.” They can change their appearances, sizes, and tactics in response to external pressures. The book appears to be a valuable counter-weapon in our nation’s internal security armoury.
The book has been written by Binay Kumar Singh and has been published by Garuda Prakashan Private Limited. It is scheduled to be released on September 28 this year, on the occasion of the completion of one year of the ban imposed on PFI. The 200-page book carries a foreword by YC Modi, former director general of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The book has also been praised by Vikram Singh (IPS), Former DGP, Uttar Pradesh, SM Sahay (IPS), former additional secretary, NSCS and RVS Mani, Former Under Secretary, MHA.
