Govt should take action on PFI if it has evidence of their anti-national activities, says Tarun Gogoi

Amid reports of the role of Popular Front of India (PFI) in stoking violence in the state during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, former chief minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi said that the government should take appropriate action if it has the evidence.

He, however, refused to comment further on the situation citing a lack of evidence.

"I do not know all the details regarding PFI but the government will naturally take action if anyone is involved in the anti-national act. But I do not know the full details whether they are involved in activities which are anti-India. They should differentiate between an armed revolution and violence while taking action," Gogoi told ANI on Friday.

"They (government) also accused the Congress and the left-front of indulging in violence. But violence and anti-national activities are two different things. If anyone violates the Indian Constitution, by trying to bring an armed violation then take action on them," he added.

The senior Congress leader further said that he was opposing the CAA as it was opposed to the secular ideology of the country and cited that it was akin to following Mohammad Ali Jinnah's ideology of two-nation theory.

"Some parties want to create a Hindu-Muslim divide to capture the political power but the Indian culture and Hinduism is opposed to it. CAA is against the ideology of Swami Vivekananda, Hinduism is pluralistic. Hinduism is tolerant while Hindutva is not. We do not want to follow Jinnah's two-nation theory, which is a separate country for Muslims and Hindus," Gogoi told ANI.

He further added that the CAA will have an impact on the whole of the nation, not just Assam, and added that this is why the Hindus around the country were also opposed to it.

"CAA will not profit anyone, it is not just that Assam will be affected by it but the whole of India will suffer due to it. The secular character of India will be violated by CAA. The people are forward-looking today, they do not want to be communal. That is why the maximum number of Hindus are against it," he said.

Meanwhile, state president of PFI Aminul Haque was arrested on December 18 last year.

The arrest was made in connection with the violence that erupted in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

A total of 46 cases have been registered, while 27 people were arrested in connection with vandalism in Guwahati district during the anti-CAA protests.

In December last year, the Assam Police had detained more than 3,000 people and arrested 190 persons for indulging in violent protests in the state over the amended citizenship law.Protests had broken out in several parts of the country including Assam over CAA, which grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.