No request from Kerala to ban PFI: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI - The central government has not received any request from Kerala on banning radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here Thursday.

“I’ve not got anything,” Chidambaram told IANS outside parliament, when asked whether the state government had requested the central government to ban the PFI.

Suspected activists of the outfit chopped the hand of a Kerala lecturer earlier this month for preparing an “inflammatory” question paper with references to Prophet Mohammed.

On July 13, the Kerala High Court directed both the central and state governments to give their views on banning the PFI.

Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said last week that the state government would take a decision on banning the Muslim group after getting a report from the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

“As the NIA is investigating Kerala’s terror-related cases, it is expected that vital information about the PFI, including its link with other international extremist organisations, would also be revealed,” Balakrishnan said.

He also said that the Kerala government would ask the central government to investigate the source of alleged foreign funding of the PFI.

However, a highly-placed union home ministry source said the state government has not so far requested the central government to probe the funding source of the PFI.

“We have read some statements by Kerala government authorities on this issue. How can we take a decision without getting a formal request from the state government,” the source told IANS.