Diwali party in New York raised funds for Pak-based Jamaat-e-Islami's foundation

New York, Oct 24: A Diwali party was organised in the Bell House in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Sunday. Now it has been found that the fund thus raised was for Alkhidmat Foundation that is linked to Pakistan-based Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Pakistan.

Arti Gollapudi, the organiser of the event, had organised the party to help the people affected by floods in Pakistan. She defended the decision to raise fund for Pakistan and called the criticism coming her way as "Islamaphobic".

"The decision to donate to The Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan's flood emergency fund was one where we believe the foundational belief in our own practices and family lineages of Hinduism to help bring light amongst the darkness of all evils of the world," she said in a statement which she posted on Twitter after the news was first reported by OpIndia.

She said, "In that spirit, we chose to donate to a part of the world where much of our South Asian community has ties to: Pakistan. A large part of Pakistan is under water due to marginalized voices who have suffered due to climate disaster. We researched orgs, looked up resources, and through that found where to donate (to Alkhidmat that was primarily recommended through PBS.org)."

PBS is short for Public Broadcasting Service, American public broadcaster.

The issue was first spotted by Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN) following an announcement by 'The Bell House'. A poster of the announcement is also doing rounds online.

Alkhidmat Foundation is said to be the charity wing of the Islamist political party, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Pakistan. The organisation was responsible for the genocide of the Bengali population during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War, a 2018 report in Rabah Times stated.

JeI had allegedly transferred $1,00,000 to Hamas, a terror outfit, to continue its Jihad against Jews and the State of Israel.

Ironically, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Siraj-ul-Haq had said that Muslims' money cannot be spent on building Hindu temples as per Sharia. "If Hindus collect funds to build their own temple, then, it is their choice," he had said.

"However, using our money to build temples is not permissible. If a Minister wants to pay for the temple with his own funds, then he can do so. But the money of Muslims has to be used in a manner they deem fit," he added.