NIA raids against PFI ‘conspiracy to finish Muslims’: Maulana Sajid Rashidi

Muslim cleric Maulana Sajid Rashidi on September 23 lashed out at Centre over the National Investigation Agency's nationwide crackdown against the Popular Front of India. He dubbed NIA raids a "conspiracy to finish Muslims" and claimed that the attempts are being made to "ban" PFI.

His remarks came a day after the NIA and Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids against PFI on various locations in 15 states of the country, arresting 106 of its members.

Speaking to ANI, Muslim cleric Rashidi said, "The way Congress had banned SIMI, in the same way, attempts are being made to ban PFI. There should be action against the organisation which works against the country, but if you take action against the organisation only because it is working for the upliftment of Muslims, and you are trying to declare it a terror organisation, it is against the law and Constitution. These are the same people who dub the ones studying in a madrassa as terrorists. This is a conspiracy to finish Muslims."

Claiming that PFI's work for Muslims in Kerala is "commendable", he also hit out at All India Imam Organisation's Umer Ahmed Ilyasi for calling Mohan Bhagwat "father of the nation" "There are still people with the mindset of Godse. There is only one Rashtrapita, that is Mahatma Gandhi, the entire world knows about this,” he said.

"I want to say to Mohan Bhagwat. On one side, you say that we have to save the Waqf property, and on the other hand, you go to an illegal property and sit with them," Rashidi added. Ilyasi on Thursday called RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat the 'Father of the Nation' after he visited a a Masjid and madrassa in Delhi today.

Bhagwat's visit to the Masjid earlier and to the Madrassa has grabbed eyeballs, as it is for the first time that he has been to a Madrassa.

The RSS chief, who is engaged in a campaign to increase contact with Muslims, also met All India Imam Sangathan head Imam Umair Ahmed Ilyasi last month.