The Popular Front of India (PFI) is a very dangerous organisation and some political parties are supporting it out of vested interest, Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi said on Friday.
Speaking at the launch of the book, The Lurking Hydra: South Asia’s Terror Travail, authored by late Lt. Gen. Subroto Mitra, at M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women, he said, “The Popular Front of India is a very dangerous organisation. It has more than 16 fronts, masks — mask of human rights, mask of rehabilitation, mask of being a student organisation, it takes the form of a political party. But its whole aim is to destabilise this country.”
Mr. Ravi said the PFI was at the forefront of sending fighters to Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. “Unfortunately some political parties are supporting it out of their own political vested interest. This is a threat that we need to be very careful about,” he said.
According to him, unlike in the past, terrorism was no longer a low-cost option for India’s adversaries. India would exact a high price from the perpetrators of terror and the Modi government’s resolute policy of zero tolerance towards violence as a political resource and making terrorism no longer such a low-cost enterprise had made the country much safer than before.
“The northeast is peaceful and so is Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country. People of the northeast aspire for development and growth. Jammu and Kashmir has attracted the largest ever number of tourists this year,” he said.
Mr. Ravi said Lt. Gen. Subroto Mitra was a highly accomplished, decorated and intellectual soldier, known for his initiatives, outstanding scholarly work and depth of understanding. He felt the book was a valuable addition to the corpus of literature on the causes and consequences of terrorism.
The book was launched in the presence of Pushpita Mitra, wife of Lt. Gen. Subroto Mitra; Lt. Gen. A. Arun, General Officer Commanding, Dakshin Bharat Area; and Professor S. Gowri, Vice- Chancellor, University of Madras.
Withdraw remarks: PFI
The Tamil Nadu unit of the PFI Popular Front of India (PFI) on Friday strongly condemned the Governor for describing their organisation as a dangerous outfit, functioning with the goal of destablishing the country.
Office-bearers of the unit said the Governor’s allegations were baseless and claimed he was acting like a RSS worker, speaking contrary to the set convention. Addressing reporters in Chennai, M. Mohammed Sheik Ansari, State president, and Nagoor Meeran, State secretary, said their organisation had been functioning in accordance with the Constitution of India and was democratically proactive in pursuing the principles of federalism.
“The Governor used very strong and defamatory words against the PFI, which is condemnable. The PFI is a national-level organisation fighting for human rights and working for the rights of underprivileged and minorities,” Mr. Ansari said. The PFI urged the Governor to withdraw his remarks and said it would stage a dharna against Mr. Ravi on Saturday.
