Bhopal, July 10 (Pervez Bari): The central secretariat of Popular Front of India, (PFI), has condemned the attempt by the Kerala state police and certain vested interest groups to tarnish the image of the organization and mislead the people in the context of a local incident happened a week ago in Moovattupuza.
A press release issued by K. M. Shareef, General Secretary of PFI, said that immediately after the incident, in which a college teacher, an accused in a criminal case of preparing a question paper defaming Holy Prophet, the Kerala state leadership had condemned the incident. It is not the policy of Popular Front of India to engage in such activities and the organization is committed to uphold the rule of law, Shareef asserted.
The release pointed out that unfortunately in recent times, incidents which hurt the religious feelings of Muslim masses are on the increase in Kerala. A month-long “Love Jihad” campaign alleging the Muslim students wooing girls in campuses as a means of religious conversions, publication of anti-Islam books by certain Christian outfits and ban of Muslim girls wearing scarf in some Christian management school were the incidents that pained Muslims. These were against the spirit of inter-religious understanding and the communal harmony prevailing in the state.
Shareef said The Muslim community has exercised self-restraint on these occasions. The unscrupulous act of a college teacher which insulted the Prophet of Islam in a question paper supplied to his students added fuel to injury and unfortunately he was attacked later. The state and district leaders of Popular Front have extended all possible help to bring those responsible for this local incident before law, he maintained.
He moaned that instead of carrying an impartial investigation, we are getting reports that local leaders and members of Popular Front are being taken in the custody and an atmosphere of terror is being created by raiding their houses and harassing the family members by state police in many parts of the Kerala state.
It is possible that a section in the state police is communally motivated and a section of the media is being misused by them to tarnish the Muslim community and Popular Front in particular by continuously releasing cooked up stories and allegations.
The central secretariat urged the state police to stop violation of human rights and requested the media to play an honest and positive role, the release added. (pervezbari@eth.net)