West Bengal police denies permission to PFI to hold anti-CAA rally on January 5

West Bengal police sources told Zee Media that PFI has not been allowed to hold the rally on Sunday (January 5) though the pamphlets published and circulated by PFI asking people to attend the rally mention TMC MP Abu Taher Khan’s name on it.

West Bengal Police on Thursday (January 2) denied permission to Popular Front of India (PFI) to hold rally against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Murshidabad district on January 5 (Sunday).

West Bengal police sources told Zee Media that PFI has not been allowed to hold the rally on Sunday. It is to be noted that the pamphlets published and circulated by PFI asking people to attend the rally mention TMC MP Abu Taher Khan’s name on it.

However, Abu Taher Khan says he is yet to decide whether he will attend the rally or not. But, PFI maintains that Abu Taher and other TMC leaders had given consent to attend the rally.

The development comes just a day after the Uttar Pradesh government wrote a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seeking a ban on the PFI for its active role in triggering violence during the recent anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in the state. 

Sources on Wednesday (January 1) said that the MHA has received the UP government's proposal calling for a ban on PFI and is likely to take legal opinion before imposing a ban on the organisation. The MHA is also likely to take inputs from intelligence and central government agencies, including NIA, before reviewing the past activities of PFI.

Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh had earlier sent a letter to the state's Home Department seeking a ban on the PFI. The proposal has now been forwarded to the MHA for necessary action, the sources claimed.

In a related development, Uttar Pradesh's Minority Minister Mohsin Raza on Wednesday accused PFI of misleading the Muslim youths and spreading Islamic extremism in the country. He also called PFI a front for the banned group SIMI and claimed that the organisation received its funding from Pakistan's intelligence wing ISI.

He further alleged that the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which supports organisations like PFI, too get their funding from ISI. "When Pakistan Zindabad slogans were raised in Lucknow, member of the "tukde-tukde" gang Umar Khalid was also there," Raza said.