No one can capture an inch of land till Modi govt in power; Congress anxious over RGF funding: Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday sought to turn the tables on the Congress for its demand on discussion on India-China border issue, alleging that it disrupted Parliament proceedings citing the latest clash in Tawang as the party did not want to hear facts about Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) receiving funds from Beijing.

Questions by Congress MPs Benny Behanan and VK Sreekandan were listed for oral reply in Lok Sabha and Shah was to respond to the supplementaries posed by MPs. However, a protest by the joint Opposition over not allowing a discussion on India-China military clash on December 9 led to adjournment of the Question Hour in Lok Sabha.

Asserting that no one can capture an inch of India's land till the Narendra Modi government is in power, Shah told reporters that the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration of the RGF was cancelled as it allegedly got Rs 1.35 crore from the Chinese embassy and Rs 50 lakh from Zakir Naik, the founder of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), which was banned by the government.

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"I saw the question list for Lok Sabha and I understand Congress' anxiety. I would have answered the question in Lok Sabha if the House was allowed to function," he said.

Shah alleged the Congress cited the Tawang clash to disrupt the House proceedings but the actual reason was that it did not want to hear facts about the RGF during the question hour.

The Home Minister also alleged that the Congress claimed that while the money it received from the Chinese embassy was for undertaking research on India-China relations, the country wanted to know whether the study covered the issue of Indian land lost to China during the 1962 war.

He also asked whether a study was conducted by the RGF following Chinese raising questions about the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh in October 2009.

Shah also wanted to know from the Congress about "incursion of thousands of hectares" of land by China, Jawaharlal Nehru "sacrificing" India's seat in the United Nations Security Council, denial of visa by China to the then Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu and issuing of staple visa to residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

In October, the Ministry of Home Affairs had cancelled the licences given to RGF and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT), both headed by outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi, accusing it of violating laws.

Officials said the action by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) came following an investigation by an inter-ministerial committee formed in 2020.

Congress had earlier said that the government has "recycled old charges" aimed at defaming and diverting public attention from issues of day-to-day concern to people.