2021 Chairman’s Message
For a diverse nation like India, to thrive and progress the most essential values required are freedom, justice, and equality before the law, and tolerance towards those who are di erent from us in terms of faith, culture, language, or customs. Immediately after we were relieved of the brunt of colonial occupation, our ancestors envisioned making our country a secular, democratic republic with a constitution that guarantees fundamental rights and equality before the law regardless of all these di erences. Though we were a struggling democracy all through, we had the hope that striving together, we could create a bright future. However, it is no secret anymore that we have long abandoned what our ancestors had envisaged and have embarked on a journey in the opposite direction. The idea of O. M. A. Salam hatred that designated fellow citizens as aliens or Chairman, Popular Front Of India enemies was not something unexpected or instantaneous. But whoever preached such ideas were kept at bay in the early days of our republic. Later on, in their pathetic attempt to preserve their power and privileges, the so-called secular leaders who ruled us colluded with the right-wing Hindutva forces and allowed them to make inroads into the system.
There were times, as a citizen, you could fearlessly criticize the government, which now gets termed as ‘anti-national’. You go to jail for the jokes you cracked and even for the ones you didn’t. Laws hang over our heads that say people might lose their citizenship on account of their religion. People get killed on allegations of eating the food they want, jailed for reading the book they like or falling in love with a person from another community.
When you seek help from the police in the face of a racially motivated attack and then somehow manages to survive it despite the police apathy, there are chances of yourself getting send behind bars on draconian charges. Here you will see the ones who unleashed the violence go scot-free, and again the ‘religion’ decides it. We saw this happening recently in North East Delhi and this continued in various Muslim localities during the ongoing Ram mandir fundraising rallies, reminding us of the traumatic Ratha Yatras of the past. Needless to say, fascist forces have destroyed us in more ways than one. The hatred they created has_crippled us from working collectively towards our greater national goals. The crony capitalist policies of the BJP government have drained our country economically and bankrupted us to the extent of having to use the reserve money, and created mass-scale Fascist Terrorism getting free hand unemployment unprecedented in Indian history.
Our mainstream parties have all proved themselves ine ectual in checking the onslaught of fascism and Indians are now For a diverse nation like India, to thrive and progress slowly waking up to that reality. Only a new the most essential values required are freedom, movement that is neither tempted nor justice, and equality before the law, and tolerance intimidated by Sangh-Parivar can resist this towards those who are di erent from us in terms of tyranny. Proudly, Popular Front is the social faith, culture, language, or customs. Immediately movement that stood rm and tall before the after we were relieved of the brunt of colonial RSS-led Modi regime and the BJP ruled state occupation, our ancestors envisioned making our governments, who were hell-bent on country a secular, democratic republic with a strangling us by all means possible. In the constitution that guarantees fundamental rights and Fascist Terrorism against marginized society following pages, we will take you through our equality before the law regardless of all these credentials of the past year, to which your di erences. Though we were a struggling democracy support and love have been invaluable. Insha Allah, forward we will walk with the grace of almighty. all through, we had the hope that striving together, Alhamdulillah. we could create a bright future. However, it is no secret anymore that we have long abandoned what our ancestors had envisaged and have embarked on a journey in the opposite direction. The idea of hatred that designated fellow citizens as aliens or enemies was not something unexpected or instantaneous. But whoever preached such ideas were kept at bay in the early days of our republic. Later on, in their pathetic attempt to preserve their power and privileges, the so-called secular leaders who ruled us colluded with the right-wing Hindutva forces and allowed them to make inroads into the system. Popular Front Of India:
There were times, as a citizen, you could fearlessly criticize the government, which now gets termed as Cadre Based Mass Movement ‘anti-national’. You go to jail for the jokes you cracked and even for the ones you didn’t. Laws hang over our heads that say people might lose their citizenship on account of their religion. People get killed on allegations of eating Popular Front Of India (PFI) is a social movement which strives for the total empowerment of the food they want, jailed for reading the book they like or falling in love with a person from another community. the marginalised sections of the society. As a people's movement, Popular Front of India When you seek help from the police in the face of a racially motivated attack and then somehow manages to rmly believes that the issues before the Indian masses are very complex. Popular Front survive it despite the police apathy, there are chances of yourself getting send behind bars on draconian focuses on various areas through programmes, projects and campaign. charges. Here you will see the ones who unleashed the violence go scot-free, and again the ‘religion’ decides it. We saw this happening recently in North East Delhi and this continued in various Muslim localities during the This movement is based on dedicated cadres and masses that support and promote social ongoing Ram mandir fundraising rallies, reminding us cause. Discipline is the main characteristic of this cadre based network that enables this of the traumatic Ratha Yatras of the past. Needless to movement to be more e ective in any intervenion that we take up. The success of our say, fascist forces have destroyed us in more ways intervention is also because of our clear understanding of people's problems. PFI enjoys an than one. The hatred they created has_crippled us impressive support among masses who are not merely passive supporters but they also from working collectively towards our greater actively collaborate and partner with us on various campaigns and programmes. The national goals. The crony capitalist policies of the BJP amazing blend of disciplined, committed cadres and collaborative people's support has government have drained our country economically enabled us to quickly become one of the most prominent social movement in India. and bankrupted us to the extent of having to use the reserve money, and created mass-scale unemployment unprecedented in Indian history.
Our Focus Areas
Legal Defence
Corona Hate Propaganda: Legal interventions
While the country was struggling to survive the deadly pandemic, forces of hate found it an opportunity to open the ood gates of disinformation against Muslims. Soon the right-wing media and Sangh Fascist media were lled with propaganda that Muslims were the disease carriers. Intending to combat the rising tide of Islamophobia in the country, the Popular Front of India started ling cases against hate-peddlers resulting in the arrest of 19 people including few prominent people belonging to the Hindutva fold. The organization has so far led 1376 complaints against hate-mongers, propagators of fake news, a few “mainstream” media outlets and social media accounts in eight states across the country.
82 Total Complaints Memorandum against hate speech
Memorandum submitted to Memorandum submitted to 06 DM / DC 04 Police CP / SP
During Lockdown 2020 Legal Awareness Programme
Popular Front through its cadre network is trying to nurture a culture of legal defence among masses. Our organization conducts Legal Awareness Workshops for ordinary people to make them aware of their constitutional rights and equip them for legal defence. We have been conducting such workshops in various districts of Maharashtra.
Protection of Civil Rights Solidarity with Hathras Victim We stood rm in the face of the witch-hunt carried out against us while seeking justice for our Dalit sister in Hathras, who was raped, brutally murdered and was even denied a proper funeral by the Yogi government. The UP Police went on to the extent of cremating her body overnight, away from her family, to bury any pieces of evidence left behind that would incriminate the upper caste Thakur men a liated to Sangh-Parivar. Protest Against ED The year 2020 saw the BJP government using agencies like Enforcement Directorate (ED) to witch hunt Popular Front of India, by raiding its o ces and homes of its leaders across the country. Outraged at the politically motivated ED raids on the o ces and houses of its leaders, members and supporters of Popular Front of India took out massive rallies at various parts of the country.
Protest for Babari Masjid
This year Popular Front held protest against Babri Masjid Demolition Case Verdict. Popular Front declared it a Shameful Act, A Challenge to the idea of India. Protest were held across many districts of Maharashtra.
Protest Against Delhi Riots There were riots in Delhi before its assembly election. These riots happened from 23rd Feb to 1st Mar 2020. During investigation, Delhi & UP police proved their bias by targeting student activists, leaders and groups which were actively involved in anti-CAA protests. Many of these peaceful and at times even pregnant women protestors were charged under drawnian laws like UAPA and sedition. PFI held protests across Maharashtra against these riots and the bias of Delhi and UP police.
Community Development Covid Relief : Popular Front Maharashtra Volunteers apart from ensuring digni ed burial to the covid victims distributed around 1000 type one PPE kit in di erent districts of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Pune, Parbhani & Nanded.
Blood Donation
As part of social service, this year Popular Front conducted ‘Blood Donation Camps’ across several districts in Maharashtra .
Blanket Distribution
As part of community service, this year, during winter, Popular Front conducted blanket distribution drive for the needy people in few districts of Maharashtra.
Delhi Relief:
A year has passed and the resentment and fear resulted from the anti-Muslim riots instigated by BJP and RSS leaders in North-East Delhi persists. Popular Front Chairman and National Secretary visited the place to meet the victims when the fumes were still on from the charred remains of the houses and mosques and announced the 1st phase of our relief. The Delhi Police was carrying out orders from its BJP masters by arresting innocent Muslims in the locality and Sangh-Parivar members who were caught red-handed in the video footage stirring up and perpetrating violence were let go scot-free. Our fact- nding team had visited the riot-a ected areas and had released a document bringing out the role of the Sangh - Parivar and its state accomplices in the violence. Popular Front Maharashtra team has done fundraising for the victims and their familys. This fund was utilised for their legal, medical aid and rehabilitation work.
Calamities
Relief during natural calamities
This year when the cyclone Nivar hit coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh we had to shoulder a major part of the rescue and relief operations as many were reluctant to come out volunteering because of the COVID threat. Apart from the rescue and relief, we had to collect corpses of shermen that oated in the ash oods and o er the last rites as per the faith and customs the deceased belonged to.
Popular Front of India Pune team visited Nisarga cyclone a ected places of Mandangad Bankot, Raigad District.
Educational Empowerment Scholarship Every year, Popular Front conducts a nation-wide project named 'National Scholarship' scheme which provides scholarship to deserving students from socially and economically backward sections of the society. A new initiative under the community development is the 'Sarva Siksha Gram' under which we adopt backward villages to implement educational and upliftment programs.
School Shoe Distribution Popular Front distributes school shoes to needy students in few districts of Maharashtra. Many parents were unable to a ord quality footwear for their children.
Confronting Communal Fascism Crackdowns, internet shutdowns, media getting turned into propaganda machinery, loss of faith in the judiciary, illegal detentions, encounter killings, and repression of all forms of dissent by the state apparatus ensured that the Muslims, the Sikhs, the Dalits, the farmers, and all those who believe in constitutional equality are out in the streets protesting. The Sangh-Parivar responded to the citizenship protests by orchestrating an anti-Muslim pogrom in North-East Delhi. The government decided to delay the implementation of the law owing to protests and the subsequent pandemic. The government since then made use of the lockdown restrictions to witch-hunt dissent and this saw multitudes getting jailed and organizations targeted.
Popular Front organized nation wide campaigns including public Programs, Corner Meets, Community Get Together against CAA - NRC - NPR.
Social Reformation
Confidence building Currently, in India, there is a politics that thrives based on the insecurities and the apprehensions haunting the minorities. Popular Front as an empowerment organization has focused on this point in speci c from its very genesis. We were at the forefront countering this politics of fear, thus instilling and promoting con dence among the marginalized communities. This year we organized meetups with community leaders across the country that were attended by national, state and district level leaders of Popular Front. We believe that only uni ed and organized e orts will bring about change in the situation. Our local and national leaders have been reaching out to the community, visiting rural and urban areas of India.
Nashamukt Abhiyan
Many among our the youths are becoming addicted to drugs and this is ruining our younger generation. To counter this, Popular Front conducted “Nasha Mukt Abhiyan” and “Drugs De-Addiction” Campaign. Our works in this regard received support & appreciation from the police department.
Empowerment of Ulema
As a section that leads the community spiritually and ideologically, the Ulema holds a special place with regards to community empowerment. Only empowered Ulema can lead the community to empowerment. Taking this factor into cognizance Popular Front has placed special emphasis on programs related to empowering the Ulema.
Unmask The Hidden Agenda Rising to the occasion: Virtual conference against lockdown fascism
Tens of thousands of netizens watched the live online conference organized by the National Executive Council of Popular Front of India on 10 May 2020 with the slogan “Lockdown Fascism: Unmask the Hidden Agenda”. The conference was organized to expose the misuse of the corona lockdown by the central government as they had converted it an opportunity to repress dissent by intensifying their authoritarian measures.
Humanitarian Relief during the lockdown
During the unplanned and poorly executed lockdown, Popular Front volunteers received many such desperate calls asking for food. PFI volunteers distributed cooked food packets daily for the needy and homeless people, the migrant labourers who were travelling on foot and on vehicles to get back to their homes far away.
Funeral to the covid victims In many states with a high number of Covid fatalities, the proper and digni ed burial of the dead posed a crisis to the families and the local authorities. Popular Front volunteers, took it upon themselves to ensure a digni ed burial to the dead. In the subsequent days, PFI members buried hundreds of corona-infected dead bodies of people belonging to di erent faiths in various parts of the country.
PFI Members performing digni ed funeral to the covid victims in di erent MH districts like Pune, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Parbhani, Nanded, Sangli, etc.
Health & Hygiene Healthy people healthy nation
Only a healthy body can lead us to a healthy mind and it is only these groups of people forming a healthy society, who could lead us towards empowerment of the nation and its people. Popular Front holds a nationwide campaign every year bringing people’s attention towards staying t and healthy. There were events like marathons, anti-drug campaigns, martial arts, yoga demonstrations and training sessions organized as part of the ‘Healthy People, Healthy Nation’ campaigns by Popular Front across the country.
Religious Places Cleaning As part of community service, Popular Front conducted Masjid and Kabrastan cleaning campaign.
Celebration
26th January
Popular Front Celebrated the nation’s 72nd Republic Day across all districts of Maharashtra. National ag was hoisted in all Popular Front o ces across the Maharashtra State.
15th August This year our nation celebrated its 74th Independence day. Popular Front celebrated this national festival across all districts of Maharashtra. National Flag hoisting was done at all PFI o ces across Maharashtra state.
17th February Every year Popular Front celebrates 17th Feb as 'Popular Front Day'. On this day Flag hoisting, corner meets, stage programs, and bike rallies were arranged. The theme of this year's Popular Front Day was 'For The Nation With Popular Front'. Through these programs we conveyed an important message to the masses that protecting freedom is our responsibility and it requires our joint struggle to counter the human rights violations.
Message The nation demands action from every conscientious citizen, who wants the secular and democratic values of the nation intact. Popular Front has been formidable in its defence against Sangh fascism and has thus responded to the call of our times by empowering people in resistance against this menace. We want your active involvement in carrying this struggle forward towards a peaceful, equitable India. Kindly Donate Your ZAKAAT To Empower Muslim Community In The Path of Allah
A/c Name: Popular Front Of India A/c No. : 32160200000512 Bank : Bank of Baroda ( Kondhwa, Pune) IFSC Code : BARB0KONDHW
“During the pandemic when people “I closely observed how the PFI has were afraid to come out, Popular Front established itself as a local defence force, of India stood up to the task by o ering relying on a well-trained cadre-base that emergency relief to people who were has facilitated welfare activities, disaster stuck in their homes without food and and riot relief work and provided medicines. Their e orts in cremation physical protection from political and burial of the COVID victims was violence for the wider local Muslim exemplary. On March 23, at the peak of constituency." COVID outbreak, when oods hit Karaikal, I witnessed Popular Front volunteers collecting oating dead - Arndt Emmerich Author, Islamic Movements in India, bodies of shermen and doing their last Asst. professor Oxford University rites with full respect.”
- V Narayanasamy Puducherry Chief Minister “I had the opportunity to work closely with Popular Front at Madurai, in minority issues including attacks on churches, and the rights of the “RSS is a destructive ideology. Debate or marginalized including Dalits and slum any sort of engagement with them is dwellers. The misuse of ED against the impossible. They work for the complete Popular Front has been engineered by elimination of Muslims and other none other than Amit Shah’s MHA. This minorities from this country. An witch-hunt against the organization is uncompromising open resistance comparable to the witch-hunt faced by against RSS is the only way out before us. the Green Peace and the Amnesty Popular Front from long has set their International in Modi’s new India.” priority on this. They have been the subject of targeted witch-hunting by the - Henri Tiphagne state for doing the same. I extend my National Working Secretary, People’s Watch unconditional solidarity to them.”
- Waseem RS National Secretary, Fraternity Movement
@PFI.Maharashtra PFI_Maharashtra [email protected] www.popularfrontindia.org
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