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Money was for charity, not militancy: Thakur: The Times of India
London, June 19: The Britain-based Kashmiri physicist accused of funding militancy in the Valley through Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin has said he sent money through jailed terrorist suspect Imtiaz Ahmed Bazzaz because he was recommended as `a person with a good relationship with the (Indian) government`.
London, June 19: The Britain-based Kashmiri physicist accused of funding militancy in the Valley through Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin has said he sent money through jailed terrorist suspect Imtiaz Ahmed Bazzaz because he was recommended as "a person with a good relationship with the (Indian) government".
While accepting that he sent 500,000 Rupees to Bazzaz just last month, Ayub Thakur, who Indian officials say they want brought to book either by extradition to India or a British trial, denied on Wednesday he had "violated any British law". Thakur refused to answer this paper's query about whether British officials from Scotland Yard, the Charities Commission, Foreign Office and Home Office had been in touch with him pending Indian allegations that his charity, Mercy Universal, was being used as a vehicle to fund terrorist activities in Kashmir.
Thakur, who describes himself as the leading political voice of the Kashmiri cause "at the international level", denied he had used "backdoor" means to send money to Kashmir. "There was no other way to send money for humanitarian work because charities in Indian Kashmir are not allowed to directly receive foreign funds and Indian charities are not operating in Kashmir," he said in tacit admission that his organisation was breaking Indian law by operating in the troubled state.
Thakur said he was accused of working as a double agent for both RAW and ISI because in 1999 he had close contacts with leading Indian human rights activists visiting London. "They probably say I joined RAW in 1999 because that's when I started the Mercy Universal charity".
He described the allegations against him as a "witch hunt by India against Kashmiri leaders inside and outside Kashmir".
While accepting that he sent 500,000 Rupees to Bazzaz just last month, Ayub Thakur, who Indian officials say they want brought to book either by extradition to India or a British trial, denied on Wednesday he had "violated any British law". Thakur refused to answer this paper's query about whether British officials from Scotland Yard, the Charities Commission, Foreign Office and Home Office had been in touch with him pending Indian allegations that his charity, Mercy Universal, was being used as a vehicle to fund terrorist activities in Kashmir.
Thakur, who describes himself as the leading political voice of the Kashmiri cause "at the international level", denied he had used "backdoor" means to send money to Kashmir. "There was no other way to send money for humanitarian work because charities in Indian Kashmir are not allowed to directly receive foreign funds and Indian charities are not operating in Kashmir," he said in tacit admission that his organisation was breaking Indian law by operating in the troubled state.
Thakur said he was accused of working as a double agent for both RAW and ISI because in 1999 he had close contacts with leading Indian human rights activists visiting London. "They probably say I joined RAW in 1999 because that's when I started the Mercy Universal charity".
He described the allegations against him as a "witch hunt by India against Kashmiri leaders inside and outside Kashmir".