In an unprecedented step, the Modi Government has blacklisted a Houston based Pakistani event manager Rehan Siddiqui, who is famous for organizing massive Bollywood events in the United States. Rehan is extremely famous for his close relations with many Bollywood biggies and known for organizing more than 400 Bollywood Extravaganza shows till date.
Rehan was on Indian Government’s radar for last 5-6 months when the link between Siddiqui’s organizing of Bollywood events and his funding of anti-India propaganda especially fueling Kashmiri Jihad and Khalistani unrest had surfaced.
Per intelligence agencies reports, Rehan was also planning to stage a massive Anti-CAA protest in Houston with the help of Pakistani groups.
This serious matter was raised by Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale, who wrote to letter to the Union Home Minister on February this year, highlighting the issue and requested the Government to take appropriate steps.
In the letter, he requested, “To desist Indian artists to collude with anti-India elements in the US”.
The Rehan Siddiqui incident had caused a lot of social media backlash with calls to boycott the Bollywood events he organizes in Houston. People had come down heavily on Saif Ali Khan and famous singer Shreya Ghoshal for indulging with Rehan, putting monetary benefits over national interest. Since then many Bollywood biggies including Salman Khan were forced to cancel their shows in USA.
Since February, Indian Government was tracking the activities of Rehan Siddiqui. Government is believed to have received several reports and requests from Indian American communities based in Houston, which described the nefarious ways Siddiqui was trying to mobilize people against India.
It is also believed that Siddiqui was an ISI mole and he was using his influence in Bollywood to generate funding which was used in Anti Indian protests past abrogation of Section 370 and Citizenship Amendment Bill.
Now Ministry of Home Affairs has blacklisted Rehan Siddiqui along with his associates/partners Rakesh Kaushal and Darshan Mehta as well. MHA has also requested Indian Embassy in Washington DC and the Consulate General of India in Houston to engage with prominent influences, cultural bodies and bona-fide ‘Bollywood Affiliated’ local entities to ensure that appropriate message is conveyed to Indian Actors and Artists, so that they dissociate themselves from such Anti-National elements.
Government has taken a step-in the right direction, however this is a matter of grave concern and it should attract a full-fledged investigation. Siddiqui’s connection in Bollywood should be assessed and interrogated. It is a known fact that Pakistan and its Spy agency ISI is using Bollywood to propagate their agenda against India. Pakistan supported Dawood Ibrahim was ruling Bollywood for several decades and we have seen countless agenda-driven movies in recent times.
We are pretty much sure, if a thorough investigation is conducted in this matter, it is very much possible that masks of many Bollywood Superstars may falls off soon. Its our Bollywood stars who are responsible for generation of Multi Million Dollar worth of revenue for such Event Agencies, which was diverted to orchestrate anti Indian propaganda and activities all this while. This needs to be investigated as quickly as possible.