New Delhi, 22 Sept. 2022: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) President Syed Sadatullah Husaini has deplored the raids and crackdown on PFI leadership and offices by the NIA and ED.

In a statement to the media, the JIH President said: “Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is highly concerned over the raids conducted by the NIA and ED on the Popular Front of India (PFI) offices and their leaders. Agencies like NIA can investigate people against whom they have clear evidences but such actions should appear unbiased and free from political motivation. Are the NIA and ED following the standard operating procedure in the raids? The manner in which NIA and ED have made simultaneous raids across the country, targeting PFI raises lots of questions for our society to answer. The operation becomes suspicious particularly in the backdrop of several actions by central government agencies against opposition groups and leaders in last few years through various state agencies like NIA, ED, CBI, and the Police. This is hurting our democratic ethos and endangering the rights of citizens to criticize and appraise those in power. The action becomes questionable also because of the fact that action is not being taken against several groups openly indulging in hate mongering and violence. Hence, these raids raise uncomfortable questions for society. Are the raids meant to appease a particular constituency? If that is the case then is it not a kind of appeasement and vote-bank politics? The JIH deplores all such raids and actions in which people are subject to harassment in an unjust manner irrespective of whether they belong to the opposition, the minorities, or any social class of society. If the state agencies are taking coercive action against them in a biased manner without proof and justification, then it is not healthy for a vibrant and just society. The JIH never endorses hate and violence and condemns it unequivocally.”