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Thanthi TV & Dravidianist Journo Peddle Fake News That Pak Firm Bought Electoral Bonds At The Heels Of Pulwama Attack

The Commune

The Supreme Court on 15 February 2024 ruled that SBI had to furnish all the details of the electoral bonds purchased by 15 March 2024. 

The court mandated disclosure by the Election Commission of donors, the donated amounts, and recipients. Despite the State Bank of India (SBI) requesting an extension until 30 June 2024 to reveal the details, the Supreme Court rejected their plea. Instead, it instructed the bank to furnish all relevant information to the Election Commission by the end of working hours on 12 March 2024.

On 14 March 2024, the Election Commission uploaded the details of the electoral bonds on its website as per court order.

With the details out, every Tom, Dick, and Harry started “crunching numbers” and shared one fake news after another. One of the most baffling ones peddled by a news channel was that of claiming a Pakistani company had purchased the electoral bonds, that too at the heels of the Pulwama attack of 2019. 

Thanthi TV claimed in its report that a Pakistani company named HUBCO Power had purchased electoral bonds. They wrote, “Parties receiving funding from Pakistani institutions. Reportedly received financial assistance after the Pulwama attack. After the Pulwama terror attack, political parties have received donations from a Pakistan-based company. On February 14, 2019, 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a bomb attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. A few days after the incident, on April 18, political parties received donations from the HUB Power company in Karachi through election bonds.”

 

Thanthi TV deleted the post after being fact-checked.

Self-styled “journalists” like Aravindakshan also peddled the same misinformation. In a post on social media platform X, he wrote, “Collection of donations from the largest company in Pakistan within days of the Pulwama attack. After 2 years, a Lakshar-e-Toiba terrorist, who is wanted in connection with the Pulwama attack, was given a party post. During a meeting attended by the Home Minister, a terrorist wanted by both the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the NIA was present and posed for pictures. Will this happen in any country in the world?”

Aravindakshan connected unrelated things and tried to set a narrative against the BJP.

Here is what the truth is:

If we look into the eligibility criteria for who can purchase these electoral bonds, the Press Information Bureau website clearly states “As per provisions of the Scheme, Electoral Bonds may be purchased by a person (as defined in item No. 2 (d) of Gazette Notification), who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. A person being an individual can buy Electoral Bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.”

Now coming back to who or what this HUBCO Power is – first of all, Thanthi TV got the name itself wrong. The name of the company mentioned in the files on the EC website indicates a HUB Power Company. This company was established in 2008 in Delhi. This company is an all-India company that manufactures LED bulbs and Diwali decorative lights. 

Aravindakshan’s claim of the terrorist being a BJP member is also a flawed one. Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina back in 2022 responded to the reports of this news and stated, “Talib Hussain is neither an active member of the BJP nor a primary member. There was a letter circular, on the basis of which it is believed that Sheikh Bashir, who is the President of BJP Minority Front of Jammu and Kashmir had appointed Talib Hussain on May 9.”

Addressing ANI, Raina clarified, “A couple of years ago, Talib Hussain along with his three colleagues used to come to the BJP office as a media person. He had also interviewed me many times, he used to call himself a reporter for a YouTube channel named ‘New Sehar India.'” Raina continued, emphasizing the security concerns, “As a journalist, Hussain clicked photos with us many times in the BJP office. Pakistan terror outfit wanted to target the head office of the BJP of Jammu and Kashmir. It has been done through the targeted medium and carried out such incidents.”

On both fronts, Aravindakshan’s claims fall flat and the narrative that he tried to set did not even cause a ripple.

Electoral bonds were introduced in March 2018 as a replacement for cash donations to political parties, aiming to bolster transparency in political funding. These bonds were to be exclusively redeemed by eligible political parties through authorized bank accounts, with SBI being the sole authorized bank for issuance.

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