Popular Front of India Financed Anti-CAA Protests, Says ED; Outfit Refutes Allegation
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent a note to the Ministry of Home Affairs stating that the Popular Front of India (PFI) funded protests in different parts of the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
New Delhi, January 27: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent a note to the Ministry of Home Affairs stating that the Popular Front of India (PFI) funded protests in different parts of the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Reacting to the ED's note, Union Home Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that anti-CAA protests don't look "voluntary". The PFI, however, refuted all allegations. Ban Popular Front of India, Uttar Pradesh DGP Writes to MHA After Violent Anti-CAA Stir.
According to the ED, an organisation named Rehab Foundation of India (RFI) funded over Rs 120 crore for the anti-CAA protest. "While keeping a tab on the Popular Front of India (PFI), we identified 73 bank accounts. And following the money trail of the funding we came to know about Rehab Foundation of India, which has funded over Rs 120 crore for the anti-CAA and anti-NRC protests," an ED source told news agency IANS. Why Citizenship Amendment Act+NRC Raise Fear And Concerns: A Multi-Dimensional Take.
The ED source further said that it has been noticed that Rs 1.04 crore was deposited in 15 bank accounts of PFI in 10 banks and Rehab India (five banks) during the period starting from December 4, 2019, till January 6, 2020. Union Law Minister Mani Shankar Prasad said that transactions on particular days raise doubts. "If there is suspicious nature of transaction on a particular day then obviously it raises serious apprehension. Protests that are organised don't look voluntary," Prasad said.
PFI's general secretary Mohammed Ali Jinnah denied any links with anti-CAA protests. "We strongly condemn news reports regarding PFI's financial link to instigate CAA protest," he said. The Uttar Pradesh government has sent a proposal seeking a ban on the PFI on the grounds that the organisation was involved in anti-national activities. The state government has said that the PFI is a reinvented organisation of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Police arrested 23 PFI activists in connection with the violence in different parts of Uttar Pradesh during anti-CAA protests in December last year. Many of them, however, were released on bail after police failed to produce 'substantial evidence' against them.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 27, 2020 04:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).