New Delhi: The Popular Front of India (PFI) may have been banned for a little over three years now, but Intelligence agencies have picked up information relating to a new strategy.
While scores were arrested before the ban, many remained underground. They have been instructed now to join social organisations and political outfits. These unknown faces who dodged the agencies are now joining political outfits and other groups, since the PFI wants its ideology to remain intact.
Since the ban, there has been no overground activity by the outfit. However, a faction of it has been tasked with keeping the ideology intact. This is a clear signal that there is a revival plan in place, and the scrutiny around members sympathetic to the outfit has increased.
What the agencies worry about is that the outfit remains strong at the grassroots, and this could guide any revival pretty easily. However, the PFI may not attempt anything out of the ordinary immediately. It would take a couple of years more as they would be waiting for the scrutiny to die down.
The PFI is following the script followed by the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). The SIMI was banned in the year 2001, and by the time it rebranded into the Indian Mujahideen (IM), it was almost 2008.
The SIMI, too, since its ban, asked its sympathisers to remain underground and not indulge in any activity. It also asked some of its members to join political parties and social organisations to keep the ideology alive. By the time it returned as the IM, it had become an extremely powerful organisation.
The other issue daunting the security officials is that the PFI, like the SIM,I was not just restricted to one particular state. The PFI, when it started off, stuck only to Kerala. It was helped by the constant visits by the Wahhabi preachers from the Gulf nations. This helped them spread their ideology and went a long way toward their funding.
An official says that the problem is that the revival can happen anywhere. The PFI had, over the years, spread to several northern states and even had a very strong base in Bihar. This makes it challenging as the agencies have to keep a watch on several states and not just on Kerala, as was the case in the past.
Further, the PFI also has several foreign modules operating largely in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The modules here operate 29 bank accounts, and the money could be used to revive the outfit.
The PFI also found a loophole when it launched its political outfit, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). This is the only PFI affiliate that was not banned, as it is a registered political outfit with the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The SDPI, which was involved in violent clashes with the CPI(M) in Kerala this week, has largely focused on political activity. However, the organisation is under watch as the agencies suspect that many from the PFI who had gone underground may have joined the SDPI to gain legal cover. Their activities are under watch, an official said.
An official explained that if the PFI members are going political to take legal cover, then the situation is challenging. It would be hard to pinpoint such persons and bring them to book. However, a close watch would be kept on such suspicious persons and their activities monitored. Their social media posts, public speeches, and other activities would need close monitoring.
The challenge today is not any overground activity, as there is none. When someone indulges in spreading the ideology and also tries to keep it intact, that is when the job for the security agencies becomes extremely challenging, another official explained.
