Friends of South Asia - Criticism

Criticism

• 2001: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto spoke at Stanford University in October 2001. According to the Stanford Report, "a handful of protesters who called themselves 'concerned Pakistani students' and 'friends of South Asia' held signs promoting peace and passed out fliers detailing corruption charges against Bhutto -- charges she disputed during her talk."

• 2005: On May 15, 2005, FOSA organized a San Francisco march for peace in support of the 2005 India-Pakistan peace march, with the help of seven local co-sponsors, including the Pakistan American Alliance (PAA). About a week after the event, an anonymous online critic of the Association for India's Development pointed out that the Pakistan American Alliance's website included an image of a man holding a placard reading "Allah will destroy the terrorist state of India" at an October 2004 rally in New York City co-organized by the New York chapter of PAA. FOSA responded by deleting references to the Pakistan American Alliance from their website, and issuing an update stating that they were disturbed by the photo and had been unaware of PAA's politics, which were contrary to their own.

• 2006: In February 2006, Mihir Meghani, president of the Hindu American Foundation was quoted in Silicon Valley newspaper Metroactive saying that "It's pretty well known that they're tied with the Communist Party in India...It's really a ploy to break down and dissemble Hinduism." Metroactive also reported on an anonymous email received by FOSA, in which the sender threatened to "slaughter" members, singling out those who "use Hindu names and backstab Hindus."

• 2006: In April 2006, FOSA invited Professor Biju Mathew (Rider University) to speak at Stanford University about labor organizing among New York City taxi drivers, globalization, and the anti-war movement. The Stanford Daily student newspaper ran an article critical of the planned event, based on an anonymous email claiming that there were simultaneous "Islamist and Communist sympathies within the organization." The anonymous correspondent also claimed that Mathew, a co-founder of the Forum of Indian Leftists (later renamed the Forum of Inquilabi Leftists to be inclusive of non-Indian members), supported the Unabomber and other terrorist groups. The article received significant public criticism, and the Stanford Daily swiftly retracted the story and printed apologies in the two subsequent issues, concluding that "FOSA does not have any ties to Communist or terrorist groups...We also apologize to Prof. Biju Mathew for associating him in any way with the Unabomber and other extremist elements.". This apology was due to pressure brought upon the student editors who were provided with all the evidence. Biju Mathew has since removed the link to the Unabomber Manifesto.

• According to a 2007 article by V Sundaram, the book NGOs, Subversive Activists and Foreign Funds- Anti-Nation Industry contains articles describing how FOSA and eight other groups are allegedly engaged in "anti-national activities" directed toward India, which are collectively labeled "Instruments of Hate and Fratricide."