The State Investigation Agency (SIA) has filed a chargesheet against detained Kashmiri journalist and editor of online magazine โKashmir Wallahโ, Peerzada Fahad Shah, alleging that he has received foreign funding of over โน40 lakhs.
The SIA further claimed that Shah collected domestic and foreign funds which could be used for subversive purposes. According to the SIA, the subscription model followed by digital media platforms could be used by โunscrupulous elementsโ to pump money and foment trouble in Jammu and Kashmir.
Shah has been charged with operating three particular bank accounts through which the subscriptions worth โน95.59 lakh were raised, including the foreign funding worth โน40 lakh, in violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).
The chargesheet claimed that the money was transferred in three installments even though the account was not eligible to receive foreign contributions as it was not registered under the provisions of FCRA.
The SIA has charged Shah and his opinion contributor Fazili with pursuing the objective to โcreate, sustain, and spread disaffection, hatred, and enmity against the Indian Stateโ. The chargesheet claimed that the evidence collected during the course of investigations established that Shah and Fazili โresurrected a platform for reviving the narrative in support of the terrorist and separatist ecosystemโ under a โwell-directed conspiracy and Pakistanโs effortsโ.
Shah and Fazili were arrested in February-April 2022 and booked under different provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code. They were initially charged with โglorifying terrorism and secessionism and selectively promoting Pakistanโs and the separatistsโ agenda and narrative through the mediaโ.
The SIA said that oral, documentary, and material evidence collected during the course of investigations established that select anti-India elements within the media, guided from across, have held several secret meetings in which the adversary instructed them โto form media platforms, especially digital platforms that are inexpensive but have a wider reach; form and float associations that can conceal and camouflage such persons and screen their connections with and funding from hostile foreign agencies and terrorist/secessionist entitiesโ.
Fazili, it has pointed out, continued to receive a government scholarship while pursuing his PhD and simultaneously siding with the adversary and becoming โcontaminated and compromised media personsโ.
