The Kerala-based Popular Front of India which had been accused of spreading hate messages which led to the exodus of the northeastern people has clarified that they had nothing to do with it.
In a statement issued to rediff.com, E M Abdul Rahiman, chairman, PFI, denied any such involvement and termed the reports as yet another round of malicious propaganda by groups with vested interest and communal sections against PFI.
Rahiman stated that the organisation's approach to the whole issue has been made clear on many occasions. Popular Front stands for the right of all citizens to study or work anywhere in India.
"The people of South India should uphold their tradition of protecting the lives and rights of people from far away states," the statement says.
The Popular Front is headquartered at New Delhi and there is crooked intelligence at work in mentioning its name along with a Bangladesh-based outfit, it says.
"We don't know whether such a report was submitted or not. We are only sure that our organisation is unnecessarily and unethically dragged into it. We challenge to produce evidence to prove the allegation. Otherwise the only option before us is to seek legal remedy," the statement says.
It is not first time that Popular Front's name is being dragged into mischievous and terror-linked incidents. There were attempts to link the organisation's name to terrorism after serial blasts and also attack on Israeli embassy car in Delhi.
These stories later proved to be manipulated, but their negative impact is a matter of serious concern.
"It was reported that a few arrests have been made in Karnataka for allegedly sending fake messages and a lot of websites has been blocked by authorities. We demand that they publish the details of all arrested persons and blocked websites. None related to Popular Front are in custody anywhere in this regard. And the Popular Front website is live until this hour," the statement says.
Rahiman pointed out that there are reasons to assume that in the current incidents across the country, there may be a hidden agenda of communal outfits to divert attention from the real issue that is the humanitarian crisis in Assam. Now the government responsibility in the safe home return and rehabilitation of about 3 lakh victims is sidelined and pulled out of focus.
The vested interest groups and communal political leaders are attempting to shift the agenda to the issue of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
"We demand the central and state government of Assam to fulfill the constitutional responsibilities of rehabilitating the victims irrespective of their religion and language. The Union Home ministry should ensure that anybody in the intelligence and security agencies are not involved in spreading defamatory, malicious and communally motivated statements," the statement says.
