Houston: The Indian-American community here has welcomed the reported move of the Indian authorities to track the activities of a Houston-based Pakistani event manager for allegedly funding anti-India activities in the US.
The community members said they have repeatedly raised, with both the Foreign and the Union Home Ministries, the issue of Rehan Siddiqui, who organises galas in the US, raising funds from his events for perpetrating activities against India in America.
However, the community said, nothing was being done and what irked them most were Siddiqui’s continuing event bookings with stars and singers of the Hindi film industry.
Now, with the Pakistani national coming under the Indian government’s radar, the Indian-American community said they are ‘relieved’.
“You can’t allow any anti-India activities go unnoticed for long and this promoter (Siddiqui) was under investigation for a long time, but results take time,” official sources said.
According to reports, Indian authorities are tracking the activities of Siddiqui, who is also a radio station owner, in the US.
Some well-connected Indian community members alleged the Pakistani national was using huge funds to finance anti-Kashmir activities for the last several years. His activities, they claimed, gained further momentum after the abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Navan D Kaur, a community member, alleged that Siddiqui helped to organise an anti-India rally during the ‘Howdy Modi’ event here last September.
A prominent Indian-American community activist told this agency, “The Indian community in Houston is relieved to know that Rehan finally caught the attention of the Indian government for his alleged connection with the Pakistani security agencies and we thank the Indian government for investigating his years of anti-India activities here.’
As per media reports Wednesday, super star Salman Khan has cancelled a planned show here that was being organised by Siddiqui. The event, ‘Up Close & Personal with superstar Salman Khan’, was scheduled for April 10. The Indian diaspora here has welcomed Salman’s move.
Siddiqui’s upcoming events involving stars of the Hindi film industry include ‘Nayaab Lamhe’ with ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas March 13 and a show March 29 with rapper Badshah.
Agencies
