Anti-CAA stir in UP: PFI may be banned ..
Lucknow, Dec 31 (HS): The Popular Front of India, a militant Islamic organization, may be banned in Uttar Pradesh. A letter in this connection has been already sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The police has found it “involved” in stirring violence during anti-CAA agitations. State Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has called it “anti-national”.“The organization has fanned violence in the state this month. Such anti-social organizations should be banned “, he told media persons on Tuesday.
An investigation was made following large-scale arson in UP against the Citizens (Amendment) Act or CAA. This Delhi-based outfit was found to have stoked the fire, he said. The Uttar Pradesh Police has been arrested as many as 20 members of the organization. In all, over 300 persons have been nabbed in connection with violence which has taken 21 lives. Over 400 persons were injured in week-long agitations.
Some of them have been charged with hurling “bombs” and inciting people to indulge in firing and arson. Some leaders of the organization’s political wing, the Social Democratic Party of India, have been also taken in. Major incidents of violence had taken place in ten districts including Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Rampur, Sambhal, and Bulandshahr in the western part of the state.
Some of these districts are densely populated and have a large Muslim presence. Rampur, for instance, has over 50 percent of Muslims. The state capital was not spared either. One life was lost here too.
The government has formed to SIT in different districts to investigate the matter. It has already identified a large number of vandals and sent notices for auctioning of their property to compensate financial losses suffered during the stir. The government has clarified that this move has been made in the light of order by the Allahabad High Court which was upheld by the Supreme Court later.
