Recently when Supreme Court asked Sudarshan News why it gave the title “UPSC Jihad” to its 10-episode programme on recruitment of Muslims into civil services, the channel stated that it did so because Zakat Foundation which is providing coaching to community members had received funds from an anti-India UK-based organisation. However, the court the four episodes telecast by the channel from September 11 to 14 to have only indulged in the vilification of the Muslim community and restrained telecast of the remaining channels. The Wire spoke to the founding president of Zakat Foundation, Syed Zafar Mahmood, about the allegations, his foundation’s work and what the recent controversy means for organisations like his, civil servants and the way they are viewed by the masses. A former civil servant and OSD to former PM Manmohan Singh, Mahmood insisted that the thought process of the channel was an “aberration” and that “over 95 per cent of the population never subscribes to such radical views”. He also denied all the allegations saying all financial details and other works of his Foundation were regularly fulfilling all the rules as prescribed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Foreign Contributions Regulation Act and the Income Tax laws. While not going into what other organisations like RSS-inspired Samkalp Foundation, that too has been churning out a large number of civil servants since its foundation in 1986, have been up to, Mahmood said he will speak for his foundation alone. He said Zakat Foundation was founded in 1997 and “began by working with orphans, providing support to poor girls for marriage and helping widows with food and other necessities.” “After the Sachar Committee highlighted poor representation of Muslims in civil services,” he said, “the Foundation started the Sir Syed Coaching and Guidance Centre for Civil Services which over the years has trained students for various exams and ensured the entry of over 100 of them into the civil services.” Mahmood said all the work of the Foundation was within the constitutional and human norms and expressed confidence that the various arms of society such as the judiciary, media, social groups and the masses would show the negative forces. “The final victory is always of the good”. He also denied that the ongoing controversy would in any way diminish the standing of the civil servants among the people. Like our work? Click here to support The Wire: https://thewire.in/support The founding premise of The Wire is this: if good journalism is to survive and thrive, it can only do so by being both editorially and financially independent. This means relying principally on contributions from readers and concerned citizens who have no interest other than to sustain a space for quality journalism. As a publication, The Wire will be firmly committed to the public interest and democratic values. We publish in four different languages! For English, visit www.thewire.in for Hindi: http://thewirehindi.com/ for Urdu: http://thewireurdu.com for Marathi: https://marathi.thewire.in If you are a young writer or a creator, you can submit articles, essays, photos, poetry – anything that’s straight out of your imagination – to LiveWire, The Wire’s portal for the young, by the young. https://livewire.thewire.in/ You can also follow The Wire’s social media platforms and engage with us. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheWire/ https://www.facebook.com/TheWireHindi/ https://www.facebook.com/TheWireUrdu/ https://www.facebook.com/TheWireMarathi/ Twitter https://twitter.com/thewire_in https://twitter.com/thewirehindi https://twitter.com/TheWireUrdu https://twitter.com/TheWireMarathi https://twitter.com/livewire Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thewirein/ https://www.instagram.com/livewirein/ Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button to never miss a video from The Wire!
