CHENNAI: Members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its political affiliate, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), demonstrated against Thursday's early-morning raids on PFI offices by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Chennai, Dindigul, Salem, and other Tamil Nadu cities.
The PFI's offices were the target of nationwide raids by the federal authorities, which also included operations in New Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, and eight other states.
After the raids started, more than 100 PFI and SDPI cadres were waiting in front of the party offices in Chennai. The state police have been avoided, and the central agencies are being accompanied by the central police forces.
PFI employee R. Nasser from Chennai's Mylapore said, "This is the social organisation that the fascist elements are attacking. We vehemently object to the anti-democratic raids being conducted by central authorities with approval from the fascist dictatorship. Such cowardly actions won't intimidate us, and we have nothing to hide from the agencies." Islamist group the Popular Front of India (PFI) has made headlines recently due to several financial activities in its numerous accounts in Kerala and New Delhi. The central agencies have previously questioned a few of the PFI office holders.
The NIA and ED conducted coordinated raids at the PFI offices and the homes of some of the organization's prominent office-bearers in Dindigul as well. Large numbers of PFI cadres were on hand in front of the organization's office and were opposing the raids.
Suhail Khan, a PFI office-holder in Dindigul, said: "The NIA's early-morning searches are a sign of how fascist the central authorities are. They are attempting to frighten PFI, which works to improve the lives of the underprivileged in society, especially Muslims and Dalits. They believe that the purpose of these raids is to undermine our morale, but they are wrong. We are a company operating with a purely democratic attitude, thus we have the resiliency."
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