THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Popular Front of India (PFI) and its political wing Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), pushed to the back foot following their alleged involvement in the Abhimanyu murder case, are making a bid to regain lost ground among their cadre, said sources. Claiming the CPM is targeting its Muslim cadre, the SDPI is going out on its limb to assert to its sympathisers and financial backers the CPM had always pursued an anti-Muslim agenda and it aggravated after the college student’s death.
The police had arrested Campus Front India state secretary Mohammed Rifa, allegedly one of the key conspirators in the murder of SFI leader Abhimanyu who was stabbed to death at Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam on June 30, from Bengaluru the other day. The Campus Front is the student’s wing of SDPI.
The party is carrying out a fund mobilisation drive to fight the murder case as eight of its members are already in judicial custody. The SDPI is also conducting a survey among the cadre to find out whether they regularly go to mosques, attend religious programmes, study Quran and go on Haj or Umrah. Sources said SDPI leaders say the survey is to be conducted by Muslim cadre of the party who are not believers, sources said.
Reacting to SDPI’s move to raise an anti-CPM feeling among its cadre, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the party will continue its fight against fundamental forces. “All fundamentalist organisations are like this and the CPM is fighting against these forces and will do so strongly,” he said. Kodiyeri said the party has no intention to keep a tab on its cadre.
“The CPM has leaders and cadre from all religions and we don’t observe the cadre or leaders based on their religion. In fact, Elamaram Karim, a Muslim, had come out strongly against such divisive forces.”
However, SDPI state president Abdul Majeed Faizi and PFI state president Naziruddin denied they are carrying out such campaigns.