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Those giving out nationalist certificates targeting firms now: Former Infy exec
The statement comes a day after Manmohan Vaidya, the general secretary of the RSS, the ideological parent of the ruling BJP, defended a controversial article in Panchajanya, calling the magazine the “herald of a Dharam Yudh” or righteous war
A former senior executive at Information Technology (IT) behemoth Infosys on Wednesday hit back at statements in support of a controversial article against the company, saying that those who were earlier issuing nationalist certificates to individuals are now doing the same for 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.
The statement comes a day after Manmohan Vaidya, the general secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), defended a controversial article in Panchajanya, calling the magazine the “herald of a Dharam Yudh” or righteous war.
In his comments, Vaidya said that 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 controversial magazine’s article, the comments by Vaidya have raised apprehensions within corporate India.
Tata, the salt-to-software conglomerate, was targeted when Tanishq jewellery aired an ad showing a pregnant woman who appeared to be of Hindu religion, being escorted by her Muslim mother-in-law to a baby shower. Right-wing groups termed the ad an effort to promote “love jihad” though the actual messaging was supposedly to show how the festivities brings people together.
The company was forced to pull down the ad due to growing pressure from online trolls and scathing remarks from fringe elements.
Infosys, better known for its prowess in software, found itself a target of vicious attacks after the magazine claimed that the company’s trust was funding forces against India
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 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 income tax portal by September 15.
“Due to glitches in both GST and Income Tax return portals developed by Infosys, the taxpayers trust in the country’s economy has taken a hit. Is it that any anti-national force via Infosys is trying to hurt India’s economic interests,” the article said.
RSS spokesperson Sunil Ambekar on Monday attempted to put some distance between the group and 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 the individual opinion of the author,” Ambekar said in a post on Twitter.
“Panchjanya is not a mouthpiece of the RSS and the said article or opinions expressed in it should not be linked with the RSS,” he added.
Following the RSS statement, Panchjanya Editor had Hitesh Shankar tweeted, “Panchjanya stands firm with its report. If Infosys has objections, it should present its side by urging for a more thorough investigation...”
A mail sent to Infosys seeking comment went unanswered.
“I don’t think that this person 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 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 Bharatiya Janata Party 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.
