PFI Running A Conversion Racket In Kerala?

An investigation into conversion activities in Kerala was carried out by India Today, and the revelations are startling.

The Islamic fundamentalist organisation The Popular Front of India (PFI) portrays itself as a neo-social, non-governmental organisation which is an amalgamation of various organisations aiming for societal upliftment. However, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) believes that the PFI is running a well-orchestrated conversion racket with the ultimate goal of converting India into an Islamic state.

In a dossier submitted by the NIA, it is clearly mentioned that the PFI is running a religious conversion facilitation centre called Sathya Sarani or Markazul Hidaya under the garb of an educational and charitable trust. A covert India Today interview with Zainaba, president of the PFI women’s wing and the guardian of Hadiya, who conducted her marriage with Shafin Jahan, unravels the dark secrets of the conversion centre.

Zainaba first claims that the word “conversion” should not be mentioned for it would invite the wrath of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), but rather that it is a charitable trust which conducts conversions. She then goes on to explain the modus operandi of these conversions. She boasts of Sathya Sarani’s proselytisation agenda by saying there is no chance that an inmate would reveal its secrets because they leave this place only after fully embracing Islam.

Zainaba later goes on to illustrate the means by which such centres are set up. At first, a trust is formed followed by a search for a place; the chosen place ought to have all facilities and must be fully furnished so as to accommodate a mosque for namaz, residential quarters and other such amenities as offered by Sathya Sarani. This is followed by government registration under the Societies Registrations Act. Thereon, the inmate is taught how to do the namaz and resources on how to carry out field operations and other forms of Islamic education are obtained. On completion of the conversion, the person converted is issued a certificate.

The certificate is a must because the names are changed and such a record has to be entered in a public gazette. Zainaba claims there are two means of obtaining a certificate and both the means are outsourced, the first by procuring a document from a similar institution that the said person has embraced Islam, and the other method is getting the conversion notarised on a declared affidavit.

She goes on to describe the only two institutions in Kerala which undertake conversions, Therbiyathul Islam in Calicut and Monunsthil Islam in Ponnani. These organisations have government certification and also maintain frequent contact with the government.

The PFI is reportedly funded by hawala transactions and funds from the oil-rich gulf countries. It also utilises donations and other such funds in a systematic manner. Reports of cases in which converts having waged war for the Islamic State in terror-infected areas having been reported dead, are propping up.

There have also been previous cases of PFI activists inciting and indulging in violence as well as weapon material being procured from them. The most famous of those cases was the one in 2010 when a teacher’s hand was chopped off for having prepared a question paper which did not subscribe to the ideas of a certain religious leader and organisation. The accused were all PFI activists.

The recent cases have included the murder of an RSS leader from Bengaluru and the running of a terror training camp in Kannur.

Also Read: Hamid Ansari Attends Event Co-Organised By Jihadi Organisation, PFI: Here’s A List Of Their Crimes