Mumbai, Sep 5 (IANS): The Congress' Maharashtra unit on Sunday slammed right-wing publication, Panchjanya, for suggesting that global IT giant, Infosys was allegedly funding Maoists, Leftists and the "tukde-tukde" gangs in the country, and must be "blacklisted".
"Infosys, set up by the Padmashri couple N.R. Narayana Murthy and Sudha N. Murthy, is a globally-respected IT major. Its contribution to Indian economy is also immense. But since the past 7 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh Parivar will decide on the credentials of people," Congress state spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.
As the column in Panchjanya created controversy on several fronts, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh quickly dissociated itself from the publication, saying it is "not the mouthpiece of the RSS and the article or opinions expressed in it should not be linked with the RSS".
"As an Indian company, Infosys has made seminal contribution in progress of the country. There may be certain issues with a portal run by Infosys, but the article published by Panchjanya in this context only reflects the individual opinion of the author (Chandra Prakash)," RSS' Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Sunil Ambekar said.
In its cover story titled 'Saakh Aur Aghaat' the Panchjanya accused Infosys of helping 'Tukde-tukde gang', naxals and other anti-national forces.
Pointing to regular incidents of glitches in IT portals developed by Infosys, resulting in trouble for tax payers and investors, the Panchjanya article said that such incidents brought down the trust of taxpayers in the Indian economy.
The article called Infosys 'naam bade aur darshan chhote' (great cry and little wool). The Panchjanya article claimed that this was not the first time Infosys had done this to a government project.
"First time mistake can be called a coincidence but if the same mistake happens repeatedly, it raises doubts. There are accusations that the Infosys management is deliberately trying to destabilise India's economy," the article said.
The article also claimed that Infosys has been accused of helping 'Naxals, leftists and tukde-tukde gangs'.
"Infosys is accused of providing assistance to Naxals, Leftists and the Tukde Tukde Gang. The issue of Infosys directly or indirectly supporting divisive forces in the country has already come out in the open," the article said.
The magazine article has alleged that "the direct and indirect support of Infosys has come to the fore for many disruptive activities going on in the country", that it is behind certain propaganda websites, and groups engaged in spreading caste hatred are beneficiaries of its charity.
"Shouldn't the promoters of Infosys be asked what are the reasons behind its funding anti-national and anarchist organisations. Should a company with such a dubious record be allowed to participate in government tendering processes," it had asked.
Virtually accusing Infosys of being anti-national, the publication accused the company of deliberately wanting to create anarchy by providing poor services and proving a blot on 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' drive.
The Panchjanya write-up sought that the company should be "blacklisted" and a financial penalty imposed for its poor performance, hinting that Infosys maybe planning to play around with sensitive data of IT payers.
"The reason for suspicions of conspiracy with the ITR portal is also political. People are asking whether some private companies are trying to create chaos at the behest of the Congress. Infosys appoints people of a particular political ideology to important position, and most are from West Bengal. If it takes important contracts of government of India, will there not be a possibility of influence by China and ISI," it wondered.
Sawant strongly condemned the BJP, RSS, the Sangh Parivar and the magazine's campaign against Infosys and questioned its locus standi to make such baseless wild allegations against such renowned companies or those not in conformity with its ideology.
Everyone has democratic right to express his views: BJP on Panchjanya article
After the RSS distanced itself from Panchjanya's article attacking software company Infosys for hurting the country's economic interest, the BJP on Sunday said that everyone is entitled to express their point of view in a democracy.
BJP national spokesperson Nalin Kohli told IANS that they (Panchjanya) put across a point of view and everyone is entitled to do so in a democracy. "After all we cherish freedom of press," Kohli added.
Many in the BJP, however, believe that the article has not gone down well with the top leadership in the union government and the party organisation and that was the reason behind RSS' quick clarification on the article.
"The article sent a wrong message and was not well received by the party leadership and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has already asked Infosys to fix the glitches in Income Tax portal by September 15," a party insider said.