Multiple Popular Front of India locations across at least 10 states are being raided by the Enforcement directorate and the National Investigation Agency on Thursday, September 22 2022. 

At least 100 people have been detained so far, including several prominent leaders of the SFI. The PFI has been accused of being involved in terror-related activities, organising training camps and radicalising people, according to a PTI report. The residence of the PFI chairman , O.M.A Salam was raided and the leader was taken into custody. 

It is not just PFI offices that are being raided, several locations of the Social Democratic Party of India are also being searched. 

What is the Social Democratic Party of India?

The Social Democratic Party of India is the political wing of the Popular Front of India. The SDPI was founded in June 2009 in New Delhi and registered itself with the Election Commission of India in April 2010. M.K. Faizy is the SDPI’s national president. 

The party was founded on the idea of “advancement and uniform development of all the citizenry including Muslims, Dalits, Backward Classes and Adivasis.” Further, it states that its goal is to fight the “neo-colonial and neo-liberal incursions in our country.”

During the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests, the SDPI held several protests in the country and were seen burning copies of the Bill. Later, during the farmer protests, the SDPI declared their open support for them, holding statewide protests in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. 

However, the party has been accused of propagating violence. Nine members of the SDPI and the PFI were found guilty for the murder of a Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker in 2008.

Last year, a RSS worker was hacked to death by SDPI members. The state secretary of the SDPI was murdered in retaliation. 

Shortly after, a Bharatiya Janata Party OBC Morcha leader was murdered in his home with police speculating that the murders were connected. In the aftermath of the killings, several SDPI leaders were arrested.