Bengaluru Violence Brings Focus on PFI-SDPI’s Activities to the Fore As Investigators Blame the Groups
Meerut: The Bengaluru violence that left three dead and a vandalised police station was helmed by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), investigators have claimed and have named 16 alleged members of the organisation so far for instigating and indulging in the violence.
SDPI is the political arm of the Popular Front of India (PFI), an Islamic fundamentalist organisation that has been known to be actively involved in anti-government movements lately, including those that turned violent.
This is not the first time that the two organisations have made headlines for the wrong reasons. The two have previously come under the scanner for their suspected role in violence in Delhi and Meerut as well.
PFI has been active at grassroot mobilisation of the Muslim community against the government, by often invoking sentiments of alienation and distrust with the institutions, The Dispatch has come to understand after interviews with people who have observed the organisation’s activities and a review of publicly known developments.
A common theme across the various theatres of conflict borne out of the organisation’s mobilisation is the rhetoric of a “decisive battle” (aar paar ki ladayi) and “having a judgement on the streets” since the designated institutions (such as the judiciary) have failed the community as per their narrative.
In Western Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, a source from within the community told The Dispatch that he had seen some PFI pamphlets around November-December 2019. The source, requesting anonymity, added he did not think much of the pamphlets back then but it made sense after the violence.
The pamphlets, the source said, were invoking the Babri Mazjid’s demolition and were asking the community to not forget how the Supreme Court failed them. “The tone was provocative but it did not seem extraordinary at that point, so I didn’t give much attention to it,” said the source.
On 20 December 2019, following the Friday prayers across the city’s mosques, large groups began to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens that soon turned violent. Six people were killed, allegedly in police firing. 32 paramilitary personnel, a journalist, and a city magistrate were almost burnt alive by a mob of protestors, as was reported exclusively by The Dispatch.
The source quoted above said, “These people were working at such a grassroot level, using ghettoisation in the community to their advantage, that those like us from the community who are in the mainstream society could not sniff it at all. Behind our backs, they mobilised the community and we saw the result later [on 20 December 2019] when they almost killed a journalist and over 30 men.”
Another source with knowledge of the Meerut district administration’s affairs had earlier told The Dispatch that the police believe that the grassroot mobilisation was so strong that even their mukhbirs (informers) within the community were under its influence.
The source had said, “It has been learnt that the police believe that their informers in the city’s Muslim community were so influenced by the anti-CAA/NRC narrative that they gave primacy to their community and not to the police. They either did not supply information to the police or gave them false information.”
Later in the Delhi riots in February, investigators have claimed to have found that funds were facilitated by a Meerut-based person who runs an NGO along with a prime-accused for Delhi riots named Khalid Saifi. The Meerut-based person has not been publicly named so far.
The source in the Meerut district administration quoted above said it was not surprising. “NGOs and people associated with them are often fronts for nefarious activities, particularly in sensitive areas like Meerut. A number of NGOs in the region have long been under watch for shady activities,” said the source.
The source mentioned an activist from the city, who they asked The Dispatch to not name, and said it’s believed that the activist was behind Bhoosa Mandi violence in the city [in 2019]. “However, the activist cannot be booked as the administration has not been able to make a case [against the activist], but that the person mobilised and supplied the rioters with the tools is firmly believed,” added the source.
PFI and SDPI were also proactively and overtly involved in organising and sustaining the various sit-in protests in Delhi against CAA and NRC, including the well-known one at Shaheen Bagh — where this writer personally saw a number of people wearing PFI-SDPI t-shirts and carrying their literature while going about organising the protest.
The nature of the two organisations and political considerations make actions against them difficult, The Dispatch has come to understand. Even as the Congress and Left-led governments in Kerala have had their cadre attacked by SDPI-affiliated individuals, they have not gone ahead with any prohibition — despite asking for a similar ban on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Recently, calls for a ban on PFI-SDPI have been raised following the recent Bengaluru violence, but it has been learnt that it is not easy to ban it — even if the state government wills it.
CNN News18 has quoted Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai as saying, “SDPI is a political party. There are a set of rules and a process that goes into banning any organisation. A lot of proof has to be given to the Home Ministry at the Centre. It is a tedious process, but it is on.”
The Election Commission would also have to be involved since SDPI is a political party and not just any other organisation, so it is very tough to get such an organisation banned, added CNN News18.
PFI was formed in the aftermath of the Indian security establishment’s crackdown on the Students Islamic Movement in India (SIMI), a designated terrorist organisation. A number of splinter organisations were formed by SIMI’s cadre and sympathisers that included the designated terrorist organisation Indian Mujahideen (IM), relatively moderate organisations like the Karnataka Forum for Dignity, and the radical ones like the Popular Front of India.
PFI, its political arm SDPI, and its student wing Campus Front have been accused of violence and even murder in the South — most notably in Kerala.
It has also been learnt that the PFI-SDPI influence over Muslim community deters the Congress-Left governments in the South from acting against them as they fear a political backlash. There were calls to ban PFI in Uttar Pradesh as well after the statewide violence in December 2019 in anti-government protests but much progress has not been made.
It has been said that even the Bhartiya Janta Party governments (in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka) are averse to banning these two organisations as they are content with PFI-SDPI eating votes and influence of the mainstream parties like the Congress among Muslims.
It has also been highlighted that banning an organisation may not achieve desired results as cadre and sympathisers may simply form a new organisation — just how PFI itself was formed. It is believed that this line of thought led to the government to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act last year that allows for individuals to be designated as terrorists as well in addition to organisations. Yet PFI and SDPI have continued to work — even as they have come under the scanner.
Bangalore Mirror has reported that the Karnataka government will discuss a move on the organisation in a cabinet meeting: “Tourism Minister CT Ravi said that the Cabinet meeting on August 20 is likely to discuss the issue in detail and take a decision on recommending the ban. ‘It is quite evident that they are a national threat,’ he said, adding that the State would want to bolster its case with solid evidence so that the ban is permanent,” reported The Mirror.
The recent violence is not the only instance where the state’s security establishment has believed SDPI to have played a role. Their role is also believed to be there in Mangaluru anti-CAA protests and riots in Bengaluru’s Padarayanapura during the pandemic, added The Mirror.
A social activist from Meerut, who has been active with marginalised communities, told The Dispatch that banning an organisation or two, or even an individual will not achieve much. The activist, requesting anonymity citing the sensitive times, said someone will always be there to indoctrinate and mobilise people.
“It’s not these groups’ designs but the marginalisation and the ghettoisation that leaves people vulnerable. It is this vulnerability that is exploited by everyone — the right, the left, the naxalites, the Islamist, and everyone else. The only way to prevent is to empower these groups and bring them into the mainstream, so these groups with bad intentions cannot exploit their vulnerabilities to indoctrinate or mobilise them,” said the activist.
Madhur Sharma is a post-graduate in journalism from IIMC Delhi and a graduate in history from Delhi University. He tweets at @madhur_mrt. The Dispatch is his personal newsblog.
