Former Under-secretary Mr Mani further added that, besides Manmohan Government giving Teesta Satelvad Rs. 80 crores, various other Departments of the then Union Government also provided her huge funds. These funds were diverted to support Naxalites and separatists such as Yasin Malik. Reporters were being given residential flat, foreign tours and cash to print articles favouring her.
History practitioner and author Adv. Satish Deshpande also participated in this Special dialogue. He said that through the medium of the charitable organisations named ‘Sabarang’ and ‘Citizens for Justice and Peace’, it was as if she had opened her office. During the Gujarat riots, Muslim woman Madina Bibi was not at all raped. Yet she forged an affidavit to that effect in Madina Bibi’s name and produced the scripted document before the Court. This was exposed during the hearing in front of Nanavati Commission. Besides, Rais Pathan – a former aid of Teesta Satelvad has made serious allegations against her in which he says that after Teesta Satelvad met Sonia Gandhi, she assured Teesta of continuous flow of cash to work for her. She was also asked to spend at least 25% of the donations that she receives in the name of charity on the down trodden sections of the society. To this Teesta had replied, ‘50% of the donations are siphoned by the agents; and only remainder 50% is left for us’. Hence, a detail inquiry of Rais Pathan could unfold a lot more secrets.
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