A day after general secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) defended a controversial article published in its affiliate Hindi magazine Panchajanya on September 5, in which it alleged that Infosys supported ‘anti-national’ forces, a former senior executive at the I-T giant on Wednesday hit back at the statements saying that those who were earlier issuing nationalist certificates to individuals are now extending the same to companies.
“Earlier they were giving nationalist certificates to individuals, now they are giving it to companies. It is bad when a lot of capital is coming into the country. When we are celebrating entrepreneurs in the ecosystem, creating unicorns. You cannot discredit unicorns and companies which have put the company in the global map . It is a sad thing,” V Balakrishnan, the former chief financial officer (CFO) of Infosys told Hindustan Times on Wednesday.
Manmohan Vaidya, the general secretary of the RSS on Tuesday defended a controversial article in Panchajanya, calling the magazine as the “herald of a Dharam Yudh” or righteous war.
In his comments, Vaidya said that Panchajanya heralds the “Dharam Yudh” and when you have good people on the wrong side, then you will have to shoot arrows against them as well.
Despite a section of the RSS distancing itself from the magazine’s article, the comments by Vaidya have raised apprehensions within corporate India and their periodical targeting.
{{/usCountry}}Despite a section of the RSS distancing itself from the magazine’s article, the comments by Vaidya have raised apprehensions within corporate India and their periodical targeting.
{{/usCountry}}The four-page article, which appeared as the cover story in the current edition of the weekly magazine with the headline ‘Saakh Aur Aaghaat’ (‘reputation and affront’), accused Infosys of trying to destabilise the Indian economy and also accused it of helping “naxals, leftists and the tukde tukde gang”.
The article comes in the backdrop of glitches in the new Income Tax e-filing portal developed by Infosys. Last month, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman summoned the firm’s CEO, Salil Parekh, and asked him to fix the glitches in the I-T portal by September 15.
RSS spokesperson Sunil Ambekar on Monday tried to distance the organization from the magazine, earlier believed to be a mouthpiece of the Sangh.
“As an Indian company, Infosys has made seminal contribution in 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 in a post on Twitter.
A mail sent to Infosys seeking comment went unanswered.
“I don’t think that this person who made the comments understands that Infosys is a 100% Indian company and one of the top companies of India,” TV Mohandas Pai, another former top executive of Infosys said. “He should talk to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to understand what companies like Infosys have done for the country,” he added.
Pai said that he was not clear what was driving such statements against the company.
The controversial episode has put the BJP in a tight spot where it cannot publicly defend the company or its ideological parent. The Karnataka government, which has used the success of Infosys and Wipro to put Bengaluru on the global map and attract new investments, has also maintained a stoic silence.
“BCIC (Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce) strongly condemns the use of phrase anti national against Infosys. Infosys is a crown jewel of India and is a pride of India in IT sector. The company that stood for governance values and technology which made India proud can never ever be “Anti National.”” KR Sekar, the president of the industry body said on Wednesday.