Ex-serviceman goes missing, family receives 'Sar tan se judaa' text
An ex-armyman Rajender Prashad from Delhi reportedly went missing on Monday, his family claimed, suggesting that he might have been kidnapped. After he went missing, his family received a threatening text on WhatsApp that read, "Sar tan se judaa." The family also received a second message of a photo of the banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) from the 60-year-old's number.
Why does this story matter?
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed that PFI trained individuals to commit terrorist activities and caused communal divides. More than 100 PFI-linked locations were raided on suspicion of terrorism promotion since September. However, PFI labeled it as an attack on minorities. Allegedly, the group was created by members of the banned terrorist group Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Rajender Prashad's family files FIR
Rajender Prashad was reportedly last seen at a government school near Rohini in Delhi, where he worked as a teacher. His family also added that all of Prashad's numbers are switched off since he went missing. In an FIR, Prashad's family claimed some people from a minority community were constantly following and pressuring him to join their "organization" for about 10 to 15 days.
Know about Popular Front of India (PFI)
The Popular Front of India is an Islamic political organization in India that is part of an exclusive and radical style of Muslim minority politics. Put together as a counter to Hindutva groups in the country, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs officially banned PFI under the Unlawful Activities Act this year on September 28 for the next five years.
PFI's slogan
PFI's slogan, "Gustakh-E-Rasool ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda, sar tan se juda" roughly stands for, "For speaking against the Prophet, there is only one punishment, and that is beheading." The amalgamation of the three Muslim organizations: the Karnataka Forum for Dignity, the National Development Front in Kerala, and the Manitha Neethi Pasarai in Tamil Nadu, gave birth to PFI in 2007.
Centre on PFI
The Centre, in a two-page order, had stated that the Popular Front of India and its affiliates had been pursuing a "secret agenda" to radicalize one section of the society and were allegedly taking part in unlawful activities. "These activities are prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty, and security of the country and have the potential of...supporting militancy in the country," the official release reads.
