Permission denied for PFI’s unity march in five districts, DGP tells HC

Judge says if the organisation takes out a march despite denial of permission, the law will take its course

The Director-General of Police (DGP) on Wednesday informed the Madras High Court that permission had been denied for a ‘unity march’ planned to be undertaken by the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Kancheepuram, Salem, Ramanathapuram, Pudukottai and Tenkasi districts between March 10 and 13.

Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira recorded the submission and closed as infructuous a petition filed by advocate Y. Shoukath Ali Mohamed, of Chennai. The petitioner had sought a direction to the DGP to restrain the PFI cadre from taking out the march on the ground that it might disturb communal peace and harmony.

When the petitioner’s counsel claimed that the organisation might take out the march despite the denial of permission by the police, the judge said the law would have to take its own course in such a situation, and the police would naturally initiate appropriate action if there was any defiance.

In his petition, Mr. Mohamed said he was an advisor to the Sufi Islamic Board which, he claimed, was a front against jihadi terrorism. On the other hand, he accused PFI of having links with Turkish jihadist charity group Insan Hak ve Hurriyetleri ve Insani Yardum Vakfi, popularly known as IHH.

He claimed that E.M. Abdul Rahiman and P. Koya, two key leaders of PFI, were privately hosted in Istanbul in 2018 by IHH, whose Turkish name stands for the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief. The petitioner alleged that it was an al-Qaeda linked Turkish charity.

The litigant also claimed that PFI was found to be involved in the 2011 Mumbai bombings, the 2012 Pune blasts and the 2013 Hyderabad Dilsukhnagar attack. He said the organisation shared its ideology with the Muslim Brotherhood, an international terror organisation banned in Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and so on.