Ban on PFI cannot be supported: Owaisi

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday said though he always opposed the Popular Front of India’s approach, the ban on the outfit cannot be supported.The PFI, which has allegedly been involved in a series of violent incidents and has “links” with global terror groups like ISIS, was on Wednesday banned by the Centre along with its several associates for five years following a crackdown against its leaders.”While I have always opposed PFI’s extreme and radical approach, I have always supported democratic approach. This ban on PFI cannot be supported because actions of some individuals who commit crime do not mean that the organisation itself must be banned. The Supreme Court also has held that mere association with an organisation is not enough to convict someone,” he said in a press conference here.”How come PFI is banned but organisations associated with convicts of Khwaja Ajmeri bomb blasts are not? Why has the government not banned right-wing majoritarian organisations?” Owaisi asked.The bomb blasts refers to the 2007 bombing in the Dargah of Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Rajasthan’s Ajmer that left three pilgrims dead and 15 injured. A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jaipur later sentenced two former RSS members to life imprisonment for their involvement in the bombing.