The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), regarded as the political arm of the Popular Front of India (PFI), will organise widespread campaigns to make people aware of the Emergency-like political situation prevailing in the country, its national president, M.K. Faizy, said.
Talking to The Hindu over telephone, Mr. Faizy said the country was facing a “dire situation” with no free expression possible, nor the freedom to work within the Constitution.
While the PFI, in which he was an ordinary member, was an exclusive Muslim organisation, the SDPI was a registered, secular, cadre-based political party featuring people from various communities, he said.
“The way forward for the SDPI will be to work among the people as there’s no ban on it. The party, which has a laid down secular ideology and works for the Muslims, Dalits and other backward sections, has an identity independent of the PFI. It will continue to expand its presence across the country,” Mr. Faizy said.
He refused to answer queries on the numerical strength of the party cadre and the share of non-Muslims in it.
Reiterating his argument that the Centre’s clampdown on the PFI and its affiliated organisations was a “blow to democracy and the rights of the people enshrined in the Constitution”, Mr. Faizy issued a statement, maintaining that “whoever spoke against the wrong and anti-people policies of the BJP regime have faced the threats of arrests and raids...”
He accused the Centre of misusing investigative agencies and the laws to silence opposition and to scare people from expressing dissent.
“An undeclared Emergency is clearly visible in the country,” he said, urging all secular parties and people to commit themselves to opposing the “dictatorial regime” in order to save democracy.
It was up to the PFI and the other organisations outlawed to fight their case legally, he told The Hindu, seeking to distance the SDPI from the ongoing developments.
