Bengaluru: Popular Front of India (PFI) Chairman E. Aboobacker has rubbished the allegations raised by the BJP and Sangh Parivar and accused the Centre of carrying out a ‘systematic propaganda’ to malign his party with the intention of banning it.
At a huge rally “We Also Have Something to Say” held at Palace Grounds on Saturday, Aboobacker challenged the Centre to produce any evidence of his party having links with terror outfits. He said that PFI’s stand against ‘fascist ideology’ of Sangh Parivar had angered the Centre and it was using investigating agencies under its control on a vilification drive.
“Some media houses too have joined the bandwagon and are hell-bent on stamping the terror tag on PFI. This is a desperate attempt to create a stereotype among people and bad image of the organisation,” he said at the well attended rally.
Aboobacker said the Centre had alleged that his party had links with ISIS, ran recruitment drives for them and organised weapon training camps, but could not produce any evidence to back their claims.
“The PFI has been condemning the activities of ISIS from the beginning. We have been cautioning PFI members about the un Islamic ideology of ISIS, but, unfortunately, the integrity and patriotism of the organisation is being questioned by those who killed Mahatma Gandhi and whose party member's relative, an IT Cell member of BJP in Madhya Pradesh, was caught spying for Pakistan,” he said.
The PFI chairman further said that innocent Muslim youth were being wrongly accused of being involved in terror incidents in Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Dargah, which was later proved to be an act of Hindutva outfits.
“We can never cheat the country we are born and live in because patriotism is in our genes. We don't need lectures on patriotism and nationalism from people who chose keep away from the freedom struggle,” Aboobacker said.
Underlining the activities of PFI, Aboobacker said, “If fighting for the rights of the oppressed, providing food to the poor, empowering people from backward classes and helping poor children go to school is called terrorism, then yes we are terrorists,”
The conference had participants from all over Karnataka and neighbouring states.
