Digital Partners India

Akhtar Badshah is not authorised to be a spokesperson for Digital Partners India.

UTILIZING THE DIGITAL ECONOMY TO EMPOWER THE POOR

Satish Jha, President and Managing Trustee

Dear Friends:

Some friends have sent me a letter written by Akhtar Badshah that has not been copied to me for reasons that can be guessed.

The contents of that letter are a figment of imagination of Akhtar Badshah. I have had no communication of any nature from the Board of Digital Partners in Seattle regarding the matters alluded to by Badshah in his mass-mailer.

The fact is that Digital Partners India is an Indian institution and has nothing to do with Akhtar Badshah, save as a partner in collaborating to achieve common goals. It is run with the help of support from some individuals and generous corporations and I have personally contributed more resources to it than the salary Badshah may have drawn from a Non-Profit organisation.

When Badshah first came to Digital Partners looking for a job, he offered himself as someone whose wife was a "Microsoft millionaire" and who could afford to do some pro bono work for DP. In India, too, he came to join me when I started Baramati Initiatives and soon wanted to take credit for starting it. Then I learnt about the article that Aditya Sood wrote and Badshah liberally lifted 40 percent of that article and added my name to it as well. Sood's article was printed in Economic & Political Weekly months before Badshah put it on the net. Later, when confronted with the matter Badshah confessed to me that he indeed had lifted paragraphs after paragraphs but it was only after Sood sent me the highlighted portions that I learnt about the wholesale plagiarism that was carried out.

But Badshah may have managed to convince the Board that plagiarism was honorable but those who defend themselves for having been wronged are the real culprits. It was surprising that even though the Board of Digital Partners that has only $250,000 in annual funds with three salaried staff members in Seattle is an honorable professor, he was willing to condone plagiarism if it was done by a Badshah.

Badshah has tried taking several steps that are plain illegal, including acting in the name of a Trust with which he has no formal association. He apologized to me unconditionally for any hurt caused to me or DP on June 4 in Mumbai and the next day he started a whisper campaign with renewed vigor, a campaign that he started over a year ago.

Now he has sent a letter that has no authority as long as it claims to represent Digital Partners India. Rashid Kidwai resigned voluntarily. Without any authority appointing him as a Managing Director of a Trust (whoever has heard of that?) that has nothing to do with Badshah is of a piece with his recent behaviour pattern.

We do not want anyone with the record of plagiarism associated with Digital Partners India. We look forward to carrying on with the charter we have and trust that all those who believe in the ideals, values and goals of Digital Partners India will continue to support us.

It must be said that the claims of having pumped millions of dollars by an organisation with a total funding base of $250,000 annual fly in the face of facts. Digital Partners Ghana has expressed similar views about Badshah and Digital Partners Seattle. I believe people will see through the false claims of Badshah and carry on with their work but it will be unfair to those who have contributed to the building of a movement if Badshah is able to take credit for all that Craig Smith or several social entrepreneurs or Amol Goje and others did to contribute to the movement of creating social entrepreneurs with the help of information technologies.

Sincerely,

Satish Jha

President and Managing Trustee, Digital Partners India

Digital Partners India

N - 150, Panchsheel Park,

New Delhi - 110017, India

Tel. : 2649 7107, 2649 7108

Fax : 2649 4380

Email : dpindia@bol.net.in

www.dpindia.org

UTILIZING THE DIGITAL ECONOMY TO EMPOWER THE POOR

Dear Friends:

You may have received an unauthorized letter from Akhtar Badshah suggesting Rashid Kidwai has been appointed Managing Director of Digital Partners India.

Akhtar Badshah has no authority to make any announcements on behalf of Digital Partners India. You already have the resignation of Rashid Kidwai sent to you separately and he has nothing to do with the organisation Digital Partners India.

Digital Partners India is a Trust and is run as an Indian Trust. Akhtar Badshah has tried to create an impression that there is a separate body in the name of Digital Partners India. Which is simply not true and any actions of Akhtar Badshah are simply illegal. He has also tried creating accounts in the name of Digital Partners India without the authorization of the Board of Trustees and the matter has been submitted to relevant authorities for investigation and further action.

Akhtar Badshah plagiarized the article by Aditya Sood and since then the Board of Digital Partners has been asked to remove him from his position as the head of the secretariat of Digital Partners.

Digital Partners India has never worked under any foreign institution and it is not run by Digital Partners Seattle except as a partner institution. As long as Akhtar Badshah who plagiarized the article of someone else because he may not know any better continues to be with the secretariat, Digital Partners India will not partner with Seattle.

We have worked with you and would leave it your judgment if you would like to work with those who do the real work or those who plagiarize and simply take credit for everyone's good work.