New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that no one can capture an inch of land till the Narendra Modi government is in power. Taking on the Congress for disrupting Lok Sabha proceedings, he claimed that the actual reason was not the clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers but a question on the cancellation of the FCRA registration of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF). Mr Shad asked: “Why did Congress take money from China?”
Speaking to the media outside Parliament, the home minister said if the Question Hour, which was a washout following the Opposition’s protest, had continued, then he would have told the House that the RGF’s Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act registration was cancelled because it got Rs 1.35 crores from the Chinese embassy for research related to the development of the Sino-India relationship while its registration is for social work.
Slamming the Congress, Mr Shah said that since the RGF might already
have conducted the research, has it included the issue of the occupation of thousands of hectares of Indian land by China in 1962? “If research is conducted on this subject then what is the outcome of it?” he asked.
Seeking to turn the tables on the Congress as the Opposition party has been targeting the Modi government over its handling of the border dispute with China, the home minister claimed India lost its membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) because of the personal relationship its leaders had with foreign leaders.
He asked whether the party also researched issues like Jawaharlal Nehru “sacrificing” India’s seat in the UNSC, denial of visa by China to the then chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu and the issuing of staple visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
He also said the RGF, headed by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, received Rs 50 lakh from Zakir Naik, founder of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), which was banned by the government for its alleged involvement in terrorism.
The FCRA registrations of the RGF and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) were cancelled in October last after an investigation carried out by an inter ministerial committee formed by the home ministry in 2020.
On the border issue, the minister made it clear that the “BJP government will not allow any incursion on land. We will not leave an inch of land. The bravery shown by soldiers is appreciable, they have saved our land.”
Recalling that China had raised questions about then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh on October 13, 2009, he asked if the party had carried out research on the issue.
“Between 2005 and 2007, the RGF had received Rs 1.35 crores from the Chinese embassy. After following due diligence, the home ministry cancelled the FCRA registration of the RGF,” he said.
According to law, any NGO that intends to receive foreign funding must register itself under the FCRA.
Mr Shah also alleged that when the Indian soldiers were fighting the Chinese PLA at Galwan, someone from the Congress was throwing a dinner for an official of the Chinese embassy and asked why work on vital infrastructure projects stalled in 2012 following a threat from China.
Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, hit back at the home minister over his remark on the RGF issue. He said: “The defence minister read out his statement and went out. He was not ready for any clarification or discussion. There is no relation to it (RGF FCRA licence cancellation issue). If it’s our fault then hang us.”
Slamming the government for not responding to the questions on the India-China border clash issue, the Congress leaders, along with members of the CPI, CPI(M), Shiv Sena, RJD, SP and JMM walked out of both the Houses of Parliament.
After walking out the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Kharge said, “The Opposition repeatedly asked for a debate on the Chinese transgression, but the government refused to allow it. The defence minister left without giving any clarification to the House. This is not good for the nation.”
He said there was no point in sitting inside the House if the government refuses to give any clarifications. He, however, said his party stood united with the armed forces.
Earlier in the day, proceedings in both Houses of Parliament were disrupted in the first hour on Tuesday after Opposition members raised slogans demanding a discussion on the border situation with China.
The Rajya Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha were adjourned till 12 noon after Congress members trooped into the Well, raising slogans demanding a discussion on the border issue. Mr Kharge said in the Upper House that he has given a notice for a discussion on the issue and wanted the House to suspend all other business and take up the discussion on the border issue.
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