Ajmal Foundation case: AIUDF to take action against Himanta, Pijush

Guwahati: The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) on Friday urged the Assam home secretary to lodge a case against state ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma and Pijush Hazarika.

Earlier, Sarma had alleged that the Ajmal Foundation owned by AIUDF supremo Badruddin Ajmal receives funds from NGOs that have links with Pakistan-based terrorist groups.

AIUDF demanded the immediate withdrawal of the two ministers from the ministry.

Assam finance minister Sarma had alleged that the case against Ajmal Foundation needed deeper investigation as a lot of new information was unearthed.

However, Dr Khasrul Islam, director of Ajmal Foundation, had accepted that most of their funding comes from Britain but refuted the charges about the donor organisations having terrorist links. "Most of our foreign funds come from the UK under strict compliance of the FCRA regulations and are used in social, education and relief works. A false impression is being created about our foundation based on incorrect information. We want a thorough investigation so that the truth is revealed," Dr Islam said.

Sarma's remark had come on the same day as AIUDF chief Ajmal revealed that the foundation was planning to approach the court and challenge the FIR filed. The matter pertains to suspicious funding of nearly Rs 54.60 crore allegedly from radical Islamist groups, for which the Guwahati Police had filed an FIR on Saturday.

The case had been registered over suspicious funding after the complaint was lodged by renowned Hindutva hardliner Satya Ranjan Borah citing allegations from Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), a legal activism group which had alleged receipts of funds by one of the NGOs of Ajmal from 'radical terrorist Islamist groups' from abroad.

Vinay Joshi from LRO claimed that Ajmal's foundation had received funds from foreign organisations which are "closely associated with Al-Qaeda terror network, Hizbul Mujahideen Kashmiri terror network and Egyptian and Kuwaiti Islamic Brotherhood networks".

The LRO had alleged that one of the donors have links with extremists including the 9/11 US attack "mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed N Tariq al-Suwaidan", who is listed by the US authorities as "an unindicted co-conspirator".

LRO had also shared elaborate details about the donors who had funded the NGO and concluded by alleging that Ajmal has "grossly misused" the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.

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