On December 9, The Wire’s senior editor Arfa Khanum Sherwani participated in a fundraiser organised by the Islamist organisation Indian American Muslim Council (IMAC). She was the guest speaker at the Annual Fundraiser Banquet. As per the poster shared by IMAC San Diego, she was scheduled to speak about the “Rise of Hindutva in the US”. The information about the event was first shared by Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN) on Twitter.
CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations), a front of Muslim Brotherhood, partners with IAMC, a front of Jamat-e-Islami for a talk by Indian jihadist, Arfa Khanum Sherwani of the The Wire, on the ‘Rise of Hindutva in the US’. #HindusUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/fn6T5ZWD5C
— Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN) (@HinduHate) December 10, 2022
It was a paid event, and $25 was charged per person. When searched, OpIndia did not find any video of her speech at the event. Interestingly, Arfa skipped sharing the details of the event on her social media accounts. While Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) openly promoted the event on Facebook, IAMC avoided sharing the details of the event on its social media handles. The details of the event was shared by other Muslim organisations as well.
It is notable that less than a week before this event, Arfa was invited to speak at an event organised by the History Department of the University of Massachusetts (UMass), Boston. Interestingly, Arfa shared the details of the event on her social media profile but decided to trim the portion where the list of sponsors was mentioned. One of the sponsors for that event was also IMAC.
Arfa, a senior editor at The Wire, stood by a dubious organisation with alleged links to terrorist organisations twice in less than a week. The decisions to trim the sponsors’ names in one post and not share the details of another may point towards the fact that Arfa might be avoiding getting called out for standing with IMAC. However, the real intentions are unclear. Notably, both Arfa and IAMC have been spreading misinformation about Hindutva on and off social media for a long time.
It is also notable that while Arfa projected as if the University invited her, there was no information about the event available on any of the verified social media handles or the website of the University. A Twitter user Sandeep Neelakantha mentioned that he called the University to get information about the event, but the University denied having any information about it.
I even called the office of Director of Uni Events.They said they are unaware of any such event.
— Sandeep Neelakanta (@SanUvacha) December 6, 2022
Then I found out that same event was shared on a FB page, with some interesting differences.
FB Page has names of the sponsors, all of which are vehemently anti-Hindu/India.
3/n pic.twitter.com/595c3yyWa8
Another Twitter user TheHawkEyex also pointed out that the information about the event was not available on the official channels. OpIndia’s attempts to contact the person undersigned on the event poster and the University via email went unanswered.
I even called the office of Director of Uni Events.They said they are unaware of any such event.
— Sandeep Neelakanta (@SanUvacha) December 6, 2022
Then I found out that same event was shared on a FB page, with some interesting differences.
FB Page has names of the sponsors, all of which are vehemently anti-Hindu/India.
3/n pic.twitter.com/595c3yyWa8
Indian American Muslim Council
The Indian American Muslim Council is a radical Islamist group that has alleged links with banned terror organizations such as the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and has a long history of lobbying against India. IAMC claims to be the “largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the US” and often advocates for Sharia courts and peddles misinformation against India.
A detailed report by Disinfo Lab has exposed its links with the terror outfit Jamat-e-Islami. IAMC founder Shaik Ubaid and member Abdul Malik Mujahid have headed the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the US front for Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan.
According to DisInfo Lab, ICNA has established links with Pakistan-based terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Rasheed Ahmed, who heads the IAMC currently was the former executive director of the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA). IMANA’s Director of Operations is Zahid Mahmood an ex-Pak Navy official.
IAMC has been caught spreading fake news and misinformation to further the Islamist cause in India. It was also slapped with UAPA in 2021.
About CAIR
CAIR is an Islamist group that has spoken against India and Hindus on several occasions. It is noteworthy that CAIR has links with the terrorist organization Hamas. The organization has been vehemently pushing Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu propaganda in India. Previously, CAIR extended support for the extremely Hinduphobic ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva‘ conference.
In January 2022, CAIR launched Hinduphobic propaganda based on a report by alleged journalist Rana Ayyub. In a press release, CAIR demanded the movie theatres not to release Sooryavanshi, a Hindi movie. In the press release, CAIR alleged the movie spreads “disgusting and dangerous” anti-Muslim propaganda inspired by the fascist Hindutva movement.” The organization has also called for the release of 49-year-old Pakistani terrorist Aafia Siddiqui, who is currently serving 86 years in prison for attacking US Army and FBI personnel in Afghanistan.
The Wire and fake news
It is notable here that the far Left portal The Wire, where Arfa Khanum works as an editor, had recently published multiple reports warning of a danger to India’s democracy by attributing some technological superpowers to BJP’s Amit Malviya and an imaginary app called Tek Fog. Both the claims were found to be baseless and full of lies. The Wire had to retract both stories after they got slammed for making false claims.
