Senior BJP leader threatens top rights activist of legal action, objects to Netherlands NGO's support to minorities

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Purshottam Rupala has threatened that he will take top human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi, founder of NGO Anhad, to the court of law for “defaming” him. In a statement posted to Counterview, he has said, “Hashmi has leveled a very serious charge of forging the documents against me, which I deny. My letter to the Prime Minister was based on facts. I call upon Hashmi to retract her statement and issue an apology, immediately, failing which I will not hesitate to take a legal actions against her.”

Anhad was founded in the wake of the communal riots in Gujarat, and ever since 2003 it has been working with the victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots. Rupala had written a stinging letter to the Prime Minister in February this year, accusing her of carrying on her activities with foreign funds without following necessary legal procedure. Taking strong exception to Rupala's letter, Hashmi had said in a statement issued a few days backs that Rupala's letter to the PM was based on “forged documents to malign Anhad”.
Rupala's main objection to Hashmi and Anhad is their alleged “refusal” to declare before the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) about receipt of Euros 3580 from the Netherlands-based NGO Hivos. He says, “Hivos is the same organization where Justice Aftab Alam (retired) submitted a paper in October 2009 at London, where he criticized the Supreme Court for not addressing the cause of minorities properly and claimed that Indian laws treat Hindus and Muslims differently.”
Rupala claims, “It is the same organization which paid a huge amount to Teesta Setalvad in November 2009 and to Shabnam Hashmi also in the same financial year.” He adds, his facts are “purely based on the information available on Form FC6 for the year ending March 31, 2010 submitted by Anhad online to MHA, where the name of only one donor ie Oxfom India, is mentioned and the amount received on December 12, 2009 was shown as Rs 18,42,735.”
Rupala says,“It is proved beyond doubt that Anhad has not disclosed the name of Hivos in online submission of information in Form FC6 to the MHA and it seems that Form FC3 submitted to the MHA by Hashmi was to cover up the lapse on her part and to avoid any prosecution under the act for concealment of facts.” He adds, “I wrote to the PM on February 13, 2013 based on the information submitted by the MHA in reply to an RTI query. The original reply of MHA along with copies of Form FC 6 for the year ending March 31, 2010 and March 31, 2011 sent by MHA to the RTI activist are in my possession.”
Rupala further claims, “On perusal of FC6 forms, it is clear that the RTI section of the MHA was taken out the print of the FC6 forms on January 16, 2016 from the website of the Foreign Currency Regulation Act (FCRA) online services, and annexed along with the reply. The date and the URL are clearly printed on FC6 forms at the top and at the bottom.”
He adds, “Hence, Hashmi’s claim that there was no online filing of accounts in the year 2009-10 and the FC6 forms did not exists in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and Anhad did not file any online form for the year ending March, 31, 2010 is not only false but it is her calculated attempt to divert the attention from the real issue of her illegally using official bungalow of a Member Planning Commission and to malign and demeaning my image.”

Comments

Adani Group a key player in Indo-Israel defence cooperation: Tel Aviv daily

Said to be one of the most influential Israeli dailies, "Haaretz" (literally: News of the Land) has identified the Adani Group—known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi—as one of the key Indian business houses engaged in defence cooperation with Israel. Pointing out that India supplied the Israeli military with Hermes 900 drones, the daily reported that this advanced aerial vehicle came off “the production line in a factory set up in Hyderabad, as part of the cooperation between the Israeli Elbit and India's Adani Group.”

Despite Hindutva hold claim, 18% Hindus in US don't want to be identified with Hinduism!

Scanning through news items on the Google News app on my mobile — which is what I do almost every morning — I came across a story published on India.com, which I found somewhat misleading. The headline said, "Muslim population drops significantly in THIS country as over 25% Muslims leave Islam due to…, the country is…"

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Beyond Indus water treaty suspension: A 'nationalist' push despite harsh climate realities

The suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) appears to have pushed the middle classes, at least in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, Gujarat, further towards what the powers-that-be would consider—a "positive" direction. As usual, during my morning walk, I tried talking with a neighbour about what impact it would have. Ignoring what is widely considered a "security lapse," this person, who had just returned after buying milk, compared the Modi move with Trump.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Search This Blog