Why only PFI? Ban RSS too, says Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh

MALAPPURAM: Congress MP from Kerala on Wednesday compared the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with the Popular Front of India and demanded a similar ban on it for perpetuating "Hindu communalism."

The remarks by Lok Sabha MP Kodikunnil Suresh came in the wake of the ban by the central government issued through a notification late on Tuesday on Popular Front of India and its affiliates for having 'terror links."

"We demand a ban on RSS as well. The ban on PFI is not the remedy as RSS is also spreading Hindu communalism throughout the country," K Suresh said. "So both the RSS and PFI are equal. The government should ban both. Why only PFI? RSS is also doing the majority communalism," he said.

K Suresh further added that the communalism of both the majority as well as minority is dangerous. "Wherever majority communalism is there, then minority communalism is also coming up. So ultimately both (majority and minority) communalism is dangerous. It is dangerous for the country. So the government should ban both. Otherwise no result," the Congress Lok Sabha chief whip added.

Earlier senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh while denouncing the violence perpetrated by the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Kerala, lashed out at the RSS and VHP as well, calling them "ek hi thali ke chatte batte" while also demanding action against "all those who spread hatred and violence.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday night made the announcement through a notification declaring "the PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts as an unlawful association with immediate effect". Alongwith PFI, a ban was also imposed on its fronts including Rehab India Foundation (RIF).

Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala as an "unlawful association".

As per the notification, the Central government declared PFI and its associates or affiliates or the fronts as 'unlawful organisations' in the exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. 1967 (37 of 1967) and banned the organisations under section 4 of the UAPA.

Earlier on September 26, the Karnataka unit of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a political wing of the Popular Front of India condemned the raids conducted by the National Investigation Agency against its members, and asked why the central agency had not yet conducted raids on the RSS and its affiliated organizations for "acts of communal hatred".

The NIA had arrested over 106 members of the PFI during its largest-ever raids spread across 15 states on September 22.