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Campus Front of India

The Campus Front of India (CFI) is the student/campus wing of the banned Islamist organization, the Popular Front of India.[1][2][3] CFI was launched at New Delhi on November seventh at the National Students Convention 2009.[4] The founder and president was Muhammad Yusuff from Tamil Nadu. The Popular Front of India, Campus Front of India and seven other associated outfits were banned by the Government of India for unlawful activities in September, 2022.[5]

Campus Front of India
Formation7 November 2009; 15 years ago (2009-11-07)
TypeStudent Organisation
HeadquartersNo. 19, 2nd floor, RI Towers, Queens road, before Indian Express, Bangalore, Karnataka, India - 560001.
National President
M. S. Sajid
General Secretary
Ashwan Sadiq P
Vice President
KH Abdul Hadi
Vice President
Homa Kausar
Websitecampusfrontofindia.org

Protests

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A CFI demonstration in 2011

Anti-CAA protests

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The CFI actively took part in the Anti-CAA agitations across the country. Approximately thirty-eight members of Campus Front of Indians were arrested for organizing Collectors Gate Road blockade in Mangaluru on seventeenth of December 2019.[6][7] The protest was held to condemn the alleged police action against the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and AMU who protested against the new Citizenship Amendment Act. On February twenty-seventh 2020, fifty members were arrested for staging a Rajbhavan march in Bengaluru while protesting against the violence that took place in Northeast Delhi.[8]

Hijab protests

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Further information: Karnataka hijab row

The organization held protests against the CBSE-conducted All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT), for including the hijab and burqa in its list of restricted items in the examination halls. The AIPMT restricted head-coverings to discourage unfair practices during the examinations in 2015.[9]

Earlier in 2022, the CFI allegedly encouraged six Muslim students at the Government PU College for Girls in Udupi to take a stand on the right to wear the hijab in the college premises.

The college previously restricted hijab as being incompatible with its uniform and dress code. The protest led to a huge row in the state of Karnataka, with rival groups of Hindu and Muslim students protesting against each other, and a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court.[10] The lawyer representing the college characterized the CFI in the High Court as the chief instigator of the dispute and a "rank radical organization".[11] The CFI met with the college authorities and the deputy director for pre-university education demanding that they should allow girls to wear hijab to attend classes.[12]

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CFI held protests against the four year undergraduate program (FYUP), proposed at the Delhi University. On the 20th of June 2013, it organized a signature campaign in over 100 colleges of twenty universities in many parts of India.[13][14]

After about two years of establishment of the lock-down, CFI along with other student organizations of Jamia Millia Islamia have demanded reopening of the campus at the earliest opportunity.[15][16]

Against crime on campus

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CFI protested against the Mangalore One School Management for inaction after a four-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a cab driver.[17][18][19] It extended its support to Justice for Baby Nirbhaya Forum by the United Muslim Organization and participated in Silent Candle Light at Mangalore.[20][21][22]

On November 9, 2019, Fathima Latheef, a nineteen year old first-year undergraduate student of Indian Institute of Technology Madras died by suicide in her hostel room in Chennai, allegedly due to the humiliation and religious discrimination she was facing from faculty members. CFI staged a protest outside IIT-Madras demanding that those responsible for her death must be punished.[23]

Human Rights

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CFI Dakshina Kannada unit demanded that the Deputy Commissioner handed over the Soujanya rape and murder case to the CBI in a protest held in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office in Mangalore.[24]

CFI on behalf of its Save Rohingya campaign organized a march to the Myanmar embassy protesting against the Myanmar government's atrocities against Rohingya people.[25]

Campaigns

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Green Campus / Healthy Campus Campaign

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Campus Front activists with Saalumarada Thimmakka on World Environment Day, 2015

CFI's Karnataka unit conducts the Green Campus campaign in June every year, through planting trees and cleaning school campuses in Karnataka. On 5 June 2015, (World Environment Day) the organization re-launched the campaign with a new name, Healthy Campus, hoping to widen its reach. Along with planting trees and cleanliness, it raised anti-drug and anti-tobacco awareness in schools. These activities helped the organization to gain a good name through social service, dimming allegations against it.[26][27]

Dignity Conference

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CFI celebrated its 10th anniversary on the theme "Decade of Dignity". The conference was held on 6 November 2019 at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi.[28] Kannan Gopinathan, an Ex IAS Officer, Shwetha Sanjeev Bhat, the wife of jailed Gujarat police officer, and Chinmaya Mahanand Ambedkarite addressed the gathering.[29]

Controversies

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The CFI was considered to be an involved party in the murder of Abhimanyu in the Maharaja's college Ernakulam during a clash with the SFI.[30] [31][32][33]

The Enforcement Directorate concluded that substantive amount of funds were raised by the PFI along with affiliated organizations like the CFI to run terror camps, money laundering, and creating a riot atmosphere by promoting enmity between various religious groups.[34][35][36]

Award

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According to TwoCircles online news agency, Campus Front announced an award named Ekalavya Award for Students with 'exceptional performance in higher secondary, poor backgrounds and hailing from marginalized communities'.[37]

References

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  1. ^ "Campus Front of India now a key player in Kerala colleges". The Hindu. 3 July 2018. ISSN 0971-751X.
  2. ^ "The story of Popular Front of India and reason behind its growth". Hindustan Times. 29 January 2020.
  3. ^ Nelly, Jacob (2 July 2018). "What are Popular Front, SIMI, NDF, SDPI and Campus Front? Ultra Islamist outfits in Kerala in focus after college murder". www.ibtimes.co.in.
  4. ^ "Campus Front of India to be launched on Nov. 7 | ummid.com". www.ummid.com.
  5. ^ Singh, Jitendra Bahadur (28 September 2022). "Radical outfit PFI, 8 associated fronts banned for 5 years after nationwide mega raids, arrests". India Today. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  6. ^ Dev, Arun (16 December 2019). "As Karnataka Joins Protest Against CAA, 38 Arrested in Mangaluru". TheQuint.
  7. ^ "Campus Front activists protest against CAA, arrested". The Times of India. 17 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Campus Front members protest in front of Raj Bhavan, detained". Deccan Herald. 28 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Muslim students fight against dress code - The Siasat Daily". The Siasat Daily. 14 April 2016.
  10. ^ Anusha Ravi Sood, Viral photos, bruised egos, radical student groups: Inside story of Karnataka's hijab crisis, The Print, 11 February 2022.
  11. ^ Hijab row: Karnataka HC asks for details as college counsel blames 'radical' outfit, The Indian Express, 24 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Behind The Hijab: The Karnataka Girls Who Will Not Be Intimidated, Segregated, Told What To Wear By Hindutva Groups". Article 14. 21 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Campus Front of India takes anti-FYUP campaign to 20 universities across India - Times of India". The Times of India.
  14. ^ "Campus Front organizes national wide Signature Campaign against FYUP". www.newstrackindia.com.
  15. ^ "Student Groups Mount Pressure On Jamia To Reopen Campus". NDTV.com.
  16. ^ "Student groups demand reopening of Jamia Millia Islamia campus". The Indian Express. 21 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Mangaluru: Sexual assault on child - CFI demands closure of school". www.daijiworld.com.
  18. ^ "CFI demands closure of Mangalore One School by June 1". Archived from the original on 2 July 2015.
  19. ^ "CFI protests against Mangalore One School, demands closure by June 1". Coastal Digest. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015.
  20. ^ "Justice for Mangaluru's 'Baby Nirbhaya' - Scores of people raise voice in unison". www.daijiworld.com.
  21. ^ "Mangaluru holds candle light vigil seeking justice for 'Baby Nirbhaya'". Coastal Digest. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015.
  22. ^ "Thousands march protesting against rape of LKG student". NewsKarnataka.
  23. ^ "Campus Front demands action against IIT-M faculty over death". THE HINDU. 13 December 2019.
  24. ^ "Hand over Saujanya case to CBI". 25 October 2013.
  25. ^ "Students protest against Myanmar atrocities on Rohingya Muslims". Radiance Weekly. 14 June 2015. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015.
  26. ^ ಕಲ್ಲಡ್ಕ: ಕ್ಯಾಂಪಸ್ ಫ್ರಂಟ್ ಆಫ್ ಇಂಡಿಯಾ ವತಿಯಿಂದ ಆರೋಗ್ಯಕರ ಕ್ಯಾಂಪಸ್ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ. News Kannada. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015.
  27. ^ "ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ತಂಬಾಕು ನಿಯಂತ್ರಣ ಕಾಯ್ದೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಜಾರಿಗೊಳಿಸಿ-ಕ್ಯಾಂಪಸ್ ಪ್ರಂಟ್ ಆಫ್ ಇಂಡಿಯಾ – News Kannada". News Kannada. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015.
  28. ^ MuslimMirror (5 November 2019). "Campus Front of India to organize Dignity Conference on its 10th Anniversary". Muslim Mirror.
  29. ^ Parvez, Behzad. "Thousands Gather at Dignity Conference to Fight Communalism".
  30. ^ "Abhimanyu murder case: Campus Front of India leader arrested in Bengaluru". The News Minute. 26 July 2018.
  31. ^ "Campus Front activist who stabbed Abhimanyu surrenders". Mathrubhumi. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  32. ^ "Abhimanyu murder: State secretary of Campus Front arrested". The New Indian Express.
  33. ^ "Kochi: Abhimanyu murder: Campus Front worker in custody | Kochi News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  34. ^ "PFI raised substantial funds to organise terror camps in Kerala: ED | India News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  35. ^ "Setback for ED as court grants bail to Campus Front of India leader in money laundering case". The New Indian Express.
  36. ^ "Rs 100 crore sent to Popular Front of India's bank account: ED". Mathrubhumi.
  37. ^ "CFI announced Award for students". Two Circles. 27 March 2013.

Further reading

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