After Bihar Success, RJD Woos Radical Forces Against RSS

After the landslide victory in the Bihar elections, the ruling Grand Alliance of the JDU-RJD-Congress combine appears to have started gearing up to wrest and retain power across the country even at the cost of committing ‘political perjury’. The Grand Alliance – that had pledged to ensure good governance and sought a mandate to rule Bihar while accusing its arch rival, the BJP, of conspiring to stoke communal passions in order to polarize Hindu votes in particular -- has preferred to send out political overtures to the non-Hindu lunatic fringe and radical forces.

In the backdrop of allegations by the opposition that the return of the JDU-RJD combine to power would lead to the restoration of Jungle Raj-2 in Bihar, the ruling alliance partners were, however, expected to prove the speculation false by making arduous attempts to bolster its law-abiding image. But, contrary to its commitment to establish a semblance of order in the State, the action of the ruling alliance appears to be no longer in consonance with what it promised.

In a run-up to possible subsequent rounds of bouts with the BJP in elections to be held across the country in the next four years at least, the RJD is all set to exercise counter-offensive measures against RSS by roping in radical forces. The RJD has proposed to join hands with the rapidly growing anti-pro-Hindu radical outfit in the country, the Popular Front of India (PFI). As per information available on different websites, the PFI is a Kerala-based Islamic organisation with about 80,000 (eighty thousand) members across the country and often accused of having links with the banned SIMI and other terrorist outfits.

As per information available on Wikipedia, since its inception, the PFI has been accused of various antisocial and anti-national activities. The allegations include connections with various Islamic terrorist groups, possessing arms, and indulging in kidnapping, murder, intimidation, hate campaigns, rioting, love jihads and various acts of religious extremism – with the infamous among them being the assault on Professor T.J. Joseph who had set the controversial question paper insulting Prophet Muhammed. However, the charges were refused by the PFI which alleged that the accusations were baseless and fabricated to malign the organization.

In July 2010, the Kerala Police had unearthed country-made bombs, weapons and CDs and documents containing Taliban and Al-Qaida propaganda from PFI activists. Till September 2010, as informed to the state high court by the Kerala government, no evidence was found by the Police in its probe into the allegation of links of the PFI to Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e Taiba (Let) or al-Qaeda.

In 2012, the Government of Kerala informed the High Court about their stand that the activities of Popular Front were inimical to the safety of the country and was “nothing but a resurrection of the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in another form”, in its argument to ban the organization's Indian Independence day's commemoration programme, the "Freedom Parade". The High Court dismissed the Government's stand, though, upheld the ban imposed by the state Government. The raids conducted were termed undemocratic and unconstitutional by the leaders of the PFI.
However, in April 2013, a series of raids by the Kerala Police on PFI centres across North Kerala found lethal weapons, foreign currency, human shooting targets, bombs, bomb making materials, gunpowder, swords, etc. on which police claims to be unmasking of ‘terror face of PFI.

PFI is, however, believed to be expanding its base in the eastern region of the country that is by and large led by non-BJP dispensations. It is said to have identified Jharkhand as one of its major operational centres with the support of the ruling alliance partner in Bihar and the bete noire of ruling BJP in Jharkhand, the Lalu Yadav-led RJD to conduct its operations in adjoining non-BJP-led States including Bihar, West Bingal and Odisha.
The tacit-understanding between the RJD and PFI is evident from the fact that RJD’s State President Gautam Sagar Rana recently attended the PFI state-wide meeting-cum-seminar on the ‘intolerance controversy’. The meeting was held in Ranchi on January 3 under the leadership of the State President of PFI, Maulana Hanzala. Another RJD leader who attended the PFI meeting was Pranay Kumar Babbu. They are said to have attended the meeting at the behest of their party high-command.

Although the PFI spoke of secularism and took a vow to launch offensives against fascist forces in general at the meeting, it is believed to have the ulterior motive to develop an Islamic-outfit that will be at par with Hindu-radical forces such as the RSS in particular. Issuing a press-release after the conclusion of the Jharkhand meeting, the PFI called upon the so-called secular forces to fight against the fascist movement being carried out by the BJP-led Narendra Modi Government at the Centre that allegedly drew guidelines from the RSS to turn the country into a Hindu State. PFI leaders from across the country attended the Jharkhand meeting and held the RSS and Brahmins responsible for the present unrest in the country, the press-release said. The meeting was attended by Mohd. Shafi, national general secretary of SDPI, Abdul Latif of Empowerment India Foundation from Indore, Mohd Khalid of Empowerment India Foundation, Abid Ali of Congress, Abrarul Haque, Irfan Ujjair, Ms. Khusboo Khan, Gautam Sagar Rana of RJD, Pranay Kumar Babbu of RJD, Mohd. Mumtaz Khan, former member of Jharkhand Waqf Board etc.

The PFI is said to have strongholds in Pakur and Sahebganj districts of Jharkhand and is strengthening its cadre in other parts of the State too. But the rhetorical question is whether the RJD in particular and the Grand Alliance in general aim to take on RSS in the years to come even by compromising with their political accountability to the people of Bihar who voted them back to power with the avowed objective to ensure peace and amity against communal forces?