India has banned an alleged extremist group for five years after hundreds of its members were detained this month.
On Wednesday, Ministry of Home Affairs said the Popular Front of India, which has now been classed as unlawful, had been "involved in serious offences".
These included "terrorism and its financing, targeted gruesome killings, disregarding the constitutional set-up of the country, disturbing public order etc, which are prejudicial to the integrity, security and sovereignty of the country".
The Popular Front denied the accusations on Tuesday after more than 250 people linked to the group were arrested overnight, and said the Indian state was carrying out a witch-hunt against Muslim voices.
Police and India’s National Investigation Agency raided the homes and offices of alleged PFI members across at least eight states, including the capital, Delhi.
The authorities last week arrested more than 100 members of the group in a similar operation amid accusations that PFI members were involved in terrorist activities.
What is the PFI?
The PFI was founded in 2007 in the southern state of Kerala. Several smaller organisations merged to form a large socio-religious group that now claims to fight for the rights of minorities, including low-caste Hindus.
The organisation has been accused of promoting enmity among communities, funding terrorists, providing weapons training to Muslim youths and radicalising them to join extremist groups.
It claims to function in a similar way to right-wing Hindu groups such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The PFI is largely active in southern states and has increased its street power over the years. It has an estimated membership of tens of thousands across the country.
Muslims account for 13 per cent of India's 1.4 billion people and many have complained of marginalisation under the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP.
Mr Modi's party denies the accusations and points to data that all Indians, irrespective of religion, benefit from the government's focus on economic development and social welfare.
The PFI has supported causes such as the 2019 protests against a citizenship law that many Muslims said was discriminatory. It also backed demonstrations in the southern state of Karnataka this year that demanded the right for female Muslim students to wear the hijab in class.
Why has the group been banned?
The government said it found a "number of instances of international linkages of PFI with global terrorist groups".
It said some of its members had joined ISIS and participated in "terror activities" in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Indian authorities have claimed that the group is a threat to country’s internal security, accusing it of being instrumental in organising mass violent street protests and radicalising young people.
The PFI was also accused of stoking violence during the inter-communal Delhi riots of 2020. It was also alleged to have attempted to stir up violence over the rape and murder of a low-caste Hindu woman in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in the same year.
Over the years, several state governments have accused the group of supporting terrorism, stirring sectarian violence and backing Islamic extremism.
It was banned by the eastern state of Jharkhand in 2019 for “anti-national” activities.
The government said it had also banned several PFI affiliates": the Rehab India Foundation; Campus Front of India; the All-India Imams Council; the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation; the National Women’s Front; the Junior Front; the Empower India Foundation; and the Rehab Foundation, Kerala.
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1. Chris Jones-Griffiths 2. Gio Fourie 3. Craig Nutt 4. Daniel Perry 5. Isaac Porter 6. Matt Mills 7. Hamish Anderson 8. Jaen Botes 9. Barry Dwyer 10. Luke Stevenson (captain) 11. Sean Carey 12. Andrew Powell 13. Saki Naisau 14. Thinus Steyn 15. Matt Richards
Replacements
16. Lukas Waddington 17. Murray Reason 18. Ahmed Moosa 19. Stephen Ferguson 20. Sean Stevens 21. Ed Armitage 22. Kini Natuna 23. Majid Al Balooshi
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
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Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
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What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
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2008 Beijing Olympics 9.69 seconds
2009 Berlin World Championships 9.58
2011 Daegu World Championships Disqualified
2012 London Olympics 9.63
2013 Moscow World Championships 9.77
2015 Beijing World Championships 9.79
2016 Rio Olympics 9.81
2017 London World Championships 9.95
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