Skip to main content

Rights group alleges BJP leader forged documents to divert attention, defame NGO

Shabnam Hashmi
By A Representative
Making a serious allegation, top human rights NGO, Anhad, founded in the wake of the communal riots in Gujarat, has said that senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Purshottam Rupala "forged documents" to defame the organisation. In a statement, it has said, Anhad has been under "concerted attack" for the last few months, and the attack is lead by Rupala, who has written letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against Anhad, even as leaking "half-baked information against Anhad to various small time websites assumingly supported by them."
Clarifying, the statement said, "Rupala has attached FC 6 forms for 2009-10 and 2010-11 with his letter to the Prime Minister. He has specifically raised the question of Anhad hiding grant from Hivos. Rupala writes: “I also want to highlight a very important point which has come to my knowledge, that Anhad has not declared to the Ministry of Home that it has also received Euro 3580 from Hivos”.
The statement comments, "The fact of the matter is that FC 6 forms submitted to the Prime Minister of India by the Rajya Sabha MP and BJP Gujarat president Mr Purshottam Rupala are forged."
Elucidating, the statement said, "Rupala has said in his letter that Anhad has not declared to the Ministry of Home that it received Euros 3580 from Hivos. He has submitted a copy of the FC-6 form which shows that Oxfam India gave Rs 18,42,735 to Anhad in 2009-2010."
"Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010 (FCRA 2010) was passed by Rajya Sabha on August 19, 2010 with a view to replace the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 1976. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 came into effect from May 1, 2011", the statement reads, underlining, "There was no online filing of accounts in the year 2009-10 and FC-6 forms did not exist in 2009-10 and 2010-11."
In fact, the statement said, "Anhad did not file any online form for year ending March 31, 2010. It became mandatory to file online forms only in 2011-12. In 2009-10 and 2010-11 FC3 forms existed and not FC-6."
Further, Rupala’s "forged" FC 6 document address of Oxfam India is shown as Plot No 19, Amravati Cooperative Housing Society, Secunderabad- 500009. In forged FC 6 form for 2010-11 Christian Aid’s address is shown as Calcutta. Both Oxfam Indian and Christian Aid had offices in Delhi during these years. "The document is neither signed by Anhad’s Managing Trustee Shabnam Hashmi nor the chartered accountant", the statement asserts.
Attaching a copy of the FC3 form submitted to Ministry of Home Affairs signed by Hashmi and the chartered accountant for 2009-10, the statement says, it "clearly shows all the amounts received from different donors, including Hivos. The amount mentioned above, Rs 18,42,735.00, was not given by Oxfam India only but by different donors Oxfam India Rs 12,15,000.00, Hivos Rs 2,14,785.00, Action Aid International Rs 1,90,000.00, Sama Rs 40,000, Hope for Childre Rs 1,82,950.00."
The statement further said, "Following Rupala’s attack many of his cronies have written on various small time websites raising questions especially about Christian Aid’s funds. Christian Aid supports Anhad’s community work, women empowerment, livelihood, disaster risk reduction work in Bihar and Kashmir."
The statement alleges, "Rupala is not only ignorant about Anhad’s work but also paranoid. In 2007 he gave a call to fight Anhad, delcaring Anhad had brought 1,000 people from outside to do plays against Gujarat. The fact of the matter is, these were in fact 45 young activists from within Gujarat who travelled on three routes and performed all over Gujarat taking the preamble of the Indian constitution to the people of Gujarat."
"It is very clear that by specifically targeting Christian Aid they want to use the communal card which they have perfected over years", Anhad statement alleges, adding, "Anhad was formed in 2003 and our major work is safeguarding democracy and secularism. In Gujarat, where on an average assembly doesn’t work for more than 30 days per year, where deputy speaker is not appointed, where MLAs are told what questions to ask, and where senior police officers are sent to take MLAs' signatures on blank question forms and various reports questioning all undemocratic practices are never placed on the floor of the house, talking of democracy and secularism by default becomes anti Modi."
The statement says, "Every single voice within Gujarat, RB Sreekumar, Sanjeev Bhatt and others, have been under attack. RTI activists Amit Jetwa and Nadeem Sayed have been killed. Now that Modi has national ambitions they are attacking every civil society voice including Anhad, Harsh Mander, Gagan Sethi, Teesta Seetalvad, and so on. Anyone who can expose ra Modi’s communal agenda as well as the myth of Gujarat development at the national level is under attack."

Comments

TRENDING

When democracy becomes a performance: The Tibetan exile experience

By Tseten Lhundup*  I was born in Bylakuppe, one of the largest Tibetan settlements in southern India. From childhood, I grew up in simple barracks, along muddy roads, and in fields with limited resources. Over the years, I have watched our democratic system slowly erode. Observing the recent budget session of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, these “democratic procedures” appear grand and orderly on the surface, yet in reality they amount to little more than empty formalities. The parliamentarians seem largely disconnected from the everyday struggles faced by ordinary exiled Tibetans like us.

Study links sanctions to 500,000 deaths annually leading to rise in global backlash

By Bharat Dogra  International opinion is increasingly turning against the expanding burden of sanctions imposed on a growing number of countries. These measures are contributing to humanitarian crises, intensifying domestic discord, and heightening international tensions, thereby increasing the risks of conflicts and wars. 

Dhurandhar: The Revenge — Blurring the line between fiction and political narrative

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan*  "Dhurandhar: The Revenge" does not wait to be remembered; it arrives almost on the heels of its predecessor, released on March 19, 2026, just months after the first film’s December 2025 debut. The speed of its arrival feels less like creative urgency and more like calculated timing—cinema responding not to storytelling rhythm but to the emotional climate of its audience. Director Aditya Dhar, along with actor Yami Gautam, appears acutely aware of this moment and how to harness it.

Beyond the island: Top mythologist reorients the geography of the Ramayana

By Jag Jivan   In a compelling new analysis that challenges conventional geographical assumptions about the ancient epic, writer and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik has traced the roots of the Ramayana to the forests and river systems of Central and Eastern India, rather than the peninsular south or the modern island nation of Sri Lanka.

BJP accounts for 99% of political donations in Gujarat: Corporate giants dominate

By Jag Jivan   An analysis of the official data on donations received by national parties from Gujarat during the Financial Year 2024-25 reveals a staggering concentration of funding, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accounting for nearly the entirety of the contributions. The data, compiled in a document titled "National Parties donations received from Gujarat during FY-2024-25," lists thousands of transactions, painting a detailed picture of the financial backing for political parties from one of India’s most industrially significant states.

Alarming decline in India's repair culture threatens circular economy goals: Study

By Jag Jivan  A comprehensive new study by environmental research and advocacy organisation Toxics Link has painted a worrying picture of India's fading repair culture, warning that the trend towards replacement over repair is accelerating the country's already critical e-waste crisis.

Captains extraordinaire: Ranking cricket’s most influential skippers

By Harsh Thakor*  Ranking the greatest cricket captains is a subjective exercise, often sparking passionate debate among fans. The following list is not merely a tally of wins and losses; it is an assessment of leadership’s deeper impact. My criteria fuse a captain’s playing record with their tactical skill, placing the highest consideration on their ability to reshape a team’s fortunes and inspire those around them. A captain who inherited a dominant empire is judged differently from one who resurrected a nation’s cricket from the doldrums. With that in mind, here is my perspective on the finest leaders the game has ever seen.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

‘No merit’ in Chakraborty’s claims: Personal ethics talk sans details raises questions

By Jag Jivan  A recent opinion piece published in The Quint by Subhash Chandra Garg has raised questions over the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Atanu Chakraborty from HDFC Bank , with Garg stating that the exit “raises doubts about his own ‘ethics’.” Garg, currently Chief Policy Advisor at Subhanjali and former Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India, writes that the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) appears to find no substance in Chakraborty’s claims, noting, “It is clear the RBI sees no merit in Atanu Chakraborty’s wild and vague assertions.”