PFI, SDPI must be banned, says minister

The Popular Front of India (PFI) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) are anti-national groups, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said Friday, seeking a ban on these two groups.

Kumar was speaking to reporters after the official release of the Government Printing Press calendar for 2020. “Not only should cases be pursued against them, these groups must be banned,” he said.

On the ongoing debate on confiscating the properties of those involved in riots, Kumar said he would welcome such a move. This view also received support from chief minister’s political secretary M P Renukacharya. “Violence is being incited in a systematic way by anti-national elements. We cannot support those indulging in violence,” he said.

On West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offering monetary compensation for the victims of police shootout in Mangaluru, Renukacharya said Banerjee needed to take care of the issues of her own state before intervening here. Justifying the roll back of compensation for the families of the two victims in Mangaluru firing, he said giving compensation without inquiring into the incident, would only increase such instances as more people were likely to claim it on dubious grounds.