RSS distances itself from its Panchjanya 'anti-national' article against tech giant Infosys

RSS distances itself from its Panchjanya 'anti-national' article against tech giant Infosys

FPJ News ServiceUpdated: Sunday, September 05, 2021, 10:41 PM IST
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The BJP's ideological mentor RSS has distanced itself from the cover story in its journal Panchjanya which has accused Infosys of undermining the country's economic interests and helping the 'Tukde-tukde gang', Naxalites and other anti-national forces.

The thrust of the article is that an "anti-national" conspiracy could be behind the glitches on India's tax-filing websites handled by Infosys. Incidentally, these glitches were flagged by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, too, at a public gathering.

Referring to the recurring glitches, the article has derisively dismissed Infosys as 'naam bade aur darshan chhote.' The Panchjanya article further claimed that this was not the first time Infosys had undermined a government project in this manner.


"The first time a mistake can be called a coincidence but if the same mistake occurs repeatedly, it raises doubts. There are accusations that the Infosys management is deliberately trying to destabilise India's economy," the article said, which was suggestively titled 'Saakh Aur Aghaat.'

After it got much flak, the RSS distanced itself by putting out a social media post in which its Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Sunil Ambekar said that the article reflected the individual opinion of the author and not that of the journal.

"As an Indian company, Infosys has made seminal contributions to the progress of the country. There might be certain issues with a portal run by Infosys, but the article published by Panchjanya in this context only reflects individual opinion of the author," Ambekar said.

He further claims: "Panchjanya is not a mouthpiece of the RSS and the said article or opinion expressed in it should not be linked with the RSS."

The BJP, clearly embarrassed, on Sunday said that everyone is entitled to express their point of view in a democracy. ‘‘After all we cherish freedom of press," said BJP national spokesperson Nalin Kohli.
Many in the BJP, however, believe that the article has not gone down well with the top leadership in the union government and that was the reason behind RSS' quick clarification on the article.

Not just stopping with its criticism of Infosys over its failure to attend to the glitches in the IT portal, the article demands: "Shouldn't the promoters of Infosys be asked to explain the reasons behind its funding of anti-national and anarchist organisations. Should a company with such a dubious record be allowed to participate in the government tendering processes.’’

Dragging in the "corrupt bureaucracy" which it alleged is believed to have a big hand in the suspicious activities of Infosys, the columnist said that while Union Finance Ministry officials did nothing to take Infosys to task for the ITR portal glitches, ultimately Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had to personally intervene to set right things that could easily have been done by lower level officials.

The Congress' Maharashtra unit slammed the right-wing Panchjanya,for suggesting that the 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.

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