Ajmal Foundation, a registered public charitable trust in Assam, has been slapped with sedition charge for receiving funds allegedly from foreign agencies linked to terror groups, an allegation that the organisation has decided to challenge legally.
Dispur police here on Friday registered an FIR filed by Right-wing leader Satya Ranjan Borah against the Hojai-based foundation based on a report of the Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), which had on Friday tweeted, “FIR filed against body run by Badruddin Ajmal for receiving funds from foreign ‘terror financiers’. The complaint, lodged by right-wing leader Satya Ranjan Borah in Guwahati on Friday based on the report LRO, a legal rights body.”
LRO is said to be linked to the RSS.
ACP Himangshu Das told The Telegraph that a case under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 1204A (sedition) and 420 (cheating) read with Section 13 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) has been lodged against the foundation allegedly for receiving funds from foreign agencies linked to terror groups and misusing the money.
“The FIR was filed on Friday,” Das said.
The development assumes significance because All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal is a joint managing trustee of the foundation formed in 2005. The FIR comes just ahead of the two-phase Bodoland Territorial Council polls on December 7 and 10 that the AIUDF and Congress are fighting in alliance to check the BJP.
The two parties are also in talks for an alliance in the 2021 Assembly polls, something that can upset the ruling BJP’s applecart.
However, the foundation has decided to file counter FIRs against both Borah and the LRO.
“We are discussing the case with our lawyers but we will be filing the FIRs by Sunday for defaming the foundation and misleading the public against us. The FIRs could be filed either in Guwahati or Hojai where the foundation is based,” foundation director Dr Khasrul Islam told this newspaper.
According to Islam, the charitable trust has been working in the fields of modern education, skill development & employment generation, women empowerment, poverty alleviation, relief & rehabilitation, and environmental awareness & health aid programmes.
The organisation runs as many as 97 educational and skill development institutions, four hospitals and six orphanages.
The foundation’s activities also include running a free coaching institute and offering scholarship to the poor but meritorious students.
So far, 2,720 students supported by it have become graduates in various streams, including medical, engineering, lawyers and chartered accountants.
On the charges levelled against the foundation, Islam said it was ready for any probe because all its transactions and activities were transparent and legal.
“The foundation was formed in 2005 and started receiving foreign funds from 2011. All these funding pass scrutiny in the countries where the donors are based and in India,” Islam said.
