The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation scandal refuses to die down. After having slyly diverted funds from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) during its rule over India, the Congress allegedly did not hesitate from accepting large sums of money from the Chinese Communist Party via its various proxies, which include organizations related to the ‘United Front’. What has now emerged, however, is that the spiritual and ideological mentor of terrorists – Zakir Naik contributed to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, headed by the Gandhis, in 2011.
According to Republic World, a transaction between Zakir Naik and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) has been unearthed. The transaction details of the account, which has been frozen now, shows a fund transfer allegedly amounting to Rs 50 lakhs, from Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation’s account to Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust during the UPA regime in 2011. RGCT is a registered, not-for-profit organisation established in 2002 headed by Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, as per its official website. Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust has Congress President Sonia Gandhi as its chairperson and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra as members.
Islamic preacher Zakir Naik has always reportedly shared a bond with the Congress party, however, for the party in power to accept a whopping sum of 50 lakhs truly defies all logic, but again, the Congress is known to be explicitly corrupt. The grand old party has historically never shied away from indulging in activities which can be construed as corrupt, or even ‘illegal’. Public opinion be damned.
When Zakir Naik fled India in 2016 for Malaysia, where he has found temporary refuge, the Congress party, after having conducted an emergency meeting, decided to hand back the cash to the Islamist’s foundation, which has been banned by the Modi government for a period of five years under the country’s anti-terror laws.
Interestingly, even as Malaysia, Canada, UK and Bangladesh banned Zakir Naik and his sermons quite early on, a Congress-led India gave complete freedom to the rabid Wahhabist to spew venom on national television and indoctrinate scores of people. While the controversial preacher has been made to feel the heat by the current dispensation, he had been called to address IPS officers and speak on “counterterrorism” at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad during the UPA days. Congress leader Digvijay Singh had gone to the extent of calling the Islamic supremacist a messenger of “peace and goodwill”, while sharing the dais with him.
The two even exchanged a hug with each other, showing the Congress party’s liking for a man whose sermons pushed people into terrorism, and who himself dreams of establishing a Sharia state in India. Singh also said that Naik’s messages and sermons encouraged peace, while also working against communalism, and therefore his messages should reach every corner of the country. He also appealed to Naik to travel across India and deliver his sermons, in order to bridge the differences between Hindus and Muslims.
While answering a question about returning to India if there is a change in the present regime, the Islamist replied that the chances of returning are much more with the Congress in power. He also stated in unambiguous words, “I would not like to come back if the BJP is in power.” Though he did not expressly praise the previous regime, he did say that Congress was the “lesser evil” which had a “soft approach” towards Muslims. He seemed to have suggested that the previous regime in India was better.
The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has so far been funded by China, PMNRF, multiple PSUs, Mehul Choksi and the latest entrant to the list being Zakir Naik. Although the Congress claimed to have returned the money received from Naik’s IRF, it has been exposed as one giving a long rope to radical Islamists like him, all for the sake of a few lakh rupees.