Necessary to ban organizations like PFI in democratic country: Assam Cabinet Minister

GUWAHATI: Amid reports over the role played by Popular Front of India (PFI) in stoking violence in Assam during the anti-CAA protests, Cabinet Minister Parimal Suklabaidya said that it was necessary to ban organisations like PFI in a democratic setup and added that the state government will write to the Centre seeking action against it once the investigation is complete.

"We are hopeful that the PFI's true face will be revealed during the investigation and once it is done the state government will write to the Centre about it. It is necessary to put a ban on such an organization (PFI) in a democratic country. Once the investigation is complete, we will send a detailed report to the Centre. Or they should come out in the open and declare what their motive is," Suklabaidya told ANI here.

The minister said that while the state government has some information regarding PFI's role in the anti-CAA protests and added that its true face will be revealed once the investigation is completed.

"The government has some information about PFI's role. They tried to get involved in the anti-CAA protests and we got to know of their involvement in the anti-CAA protests, and they were found to be involved in some activities which they should not have done," Suklabaidya told ANI here.

"The first thing is that they use code language for talking. Why does a democratic organization need a code language? What does the PFI want to achieve, why was it formed?" he added.

Earlier yesterday, Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had also said that the government is waiting for electronic evidence over the role of PFI in stoking violence in the state.

"We are waiting for electronic evidence on PFI's role in stoking violence in Assam. A laptop has been seized which is with Central Forensic Lab. Once electronic evidence emerges, we will take a call on writing to Centre to ban PFI in the state," Sarma told ANI.

Meanwhile, state president of PFI Aminul Haque was arrested on December 18 last year.

The arrest was made in connection with the violence that erupted in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

A total of 46 cases have been registered, while 27 people were arrested in connection with vandalism in Guwahati district during the anti-CAA protests.

In December last year, the Assam Police had detained more than 3,000 people and arrested 190 persons for indulging in violent protests in the state over the amended citizenship law. Protests had broken out in several parts of the country including Assam over CAA, which grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.