June 27, 2008 by janamejayan 
Dr. Subramanian Swamy and Dr.Kukar
Video of Dr. Swamy speech (complete transcript given below)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6575612467156039547&hl=en
Video of Dr. Kukar speech (Key organizer of the rally)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4979041299447156689&hl=en
Video of Attorney Karamvir Dahiya Esq.,
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4440717485402847289&hl=en
Photos, Posters at the Rally
http://picasaweb.google.com/sunanda.thali/FreedomOfSpeechRallyInNewYork.
Freedom of Speech Rally against 100 Million dollar defamation lawsuit by Indian National Overseas Congress
It is not a case of that Mr. Kataria fighting and you are standing by him because you know him, this is a case of all of us, it is case of your freedom of speech, it is the case in the future you can live in this country far away from India, without fear of long arm of Indian Government coming and standing in the way (of your freedom of speech).
– Dr. Subramanian Swamy
New York (June 22, 2008)— Indian National Overseas Congress has filed a 100 million dollar defamation lawsuit against Narain Kataria, Arish Sahani and others for taking out a full page advertisement on Oct 6, 2007 in New York times questioning the selection of Sonia Gandhi to represent India at UN International Non-Violence day on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. In response to this event, several local community leaders organized a Freedom of Speech rally on Sunday, June 22nd at Flushing, NY Hindu Temple from 10:30 to 1PM. Dr. Subramanian Swamy flew from India to address the rally. The rally was attended by more than 200 people. The rally is marked by speeches by local attorney Karamvir Dahiya, Dr. Kukar who is key organizer of the event and Dr. Subramanian Swamy. There were informative displays about Freedom of Speech and about law regarding defamation in United States outside the lecture hall.
Attorney Mr. Dahiya gave a passionate speech about the frivolousness of the lawsuit and its improprieties. He urged the defendants Narain Kataria, Arish Sahani and others to fight to the end. Dr. Kukar gave an impassionate speech about Freedom of Speech. He called the lawsuit the most despicable assault on Freedom of speech and said, “this lawsuit, believe me, is not against just Arish Sahani or Narain Kataria, this lawsuit is meant against all of us, you, me and the freedom of speech”. In his speech Dr. Kukar said Freedom of Speech is nothing new to India. He gave example of King Rama, where when a commoner made aspersions on Sita, King Rama did not suppress the Freedom of speech. He quoted extensively from sayings of Socrates, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Voltaire. He lamented that Freedom of Speech is continuously being assaulted and gave examples of fatwa on Salman Rusdie, murder of Danish filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, harassment and expulsion of Taslima Nasreen. He compared the use of lawsuits to suppress freedom of speech to that Russian Josef Stalin’s KGB Chief, who said, “give me the man, I will find the crime”. He gave examples of Freedom of Speech in United States such as, the statements by media and masses on President Bush, questioning of faith & patriotism of Obama, violation of laws by Rosa Parks during Civil Rights and said none of these invited lawsuits. He said members of INOC who are living in such a free country shamelessly chose to suppress Freedom of Speech through meaningless lawsuits. He questioned why such lawsuits were not contemplated when Imam of Jama Masjid made fiery anti-national speeches during Kargil war in India. He was saddened that the Freedom of Press index in India ranks 140. He warned those who are perpetrating this are stirring a hornet’s nest and the truth will prevail, in spite of their efforts.
Dr. Subramaniam Swamy, with his keen intellect and vast experience with lawsuits gave his insights into what the lawsuit is about and his analysis about the statements made in the NY Times advertisement which INOC is suing for defamation. His foremost word of caution was if this lawsuit is not effectively countered, it is simply a matter of time before anyone who opposed the current situation in India would be silenced with such threats.
Dr. Swamy said every word in the NY Times Ad is true and he has done extensive work on this issue and said it had been on his Janata party website (www.janataparty.org/sonia.html) for several years. However, he is not being sued because he uses courts as a public forum for what he has been saying. But Narain Kataria, Arish Sahani are sued precisely to create enough hassles because it requires to hire lawyers, go to courts and bear financial burden, so that in the future no one dares to venture to talk about these in public. He applauded Overseas Indians for their efforts to redress the political situation in India and gave example of how Overseas Indians played significant role in removal of Emergency by Mrs. Indira Gandhi which she herself acknowledged to him.
Dr. Swamy said that the choice of Narain Kataria and Arish Sahani as primary target of lawsuit is because of their efforts over many years to bring unity among Hindus through Hindu Sangathan Day. He said that Hindu unity causes lot of discomfort for many such as the Christian fundamentalists who openly declared that they will convert 100 million Hindus few years ago in Dallas and the radical Islamists who drove away 500,000 Hindus in Kashmir and butchering them in Bangladesh. However, he reiterated that Hinduism is not a religion, but a civilization which both Muslims and Christians in India can also acknowledge because all Indians share the same ancestry.
Dr. Swamy then went over the reasons for which lawsuit does not stand a chance in American courts. He described the landmark judgment in 1964, NY Times Vs Sullivan, Commissioner of Police of Alabama during civil rights movement, where in Supreme Court established the concept of burden of proof of ‘actual malice’ on the plaintiff, when public figures sue for defamation. Proving ‘actual malice’ means that the plaintiff need to satisfy three criteria. 1) The statements made are false 2) The defendants knew it is false 3) That defendants went ahead and published with reckless disregard for truth. This concept has been the bar since 1964 for defamation lawsuits in United States that ushered an era of freedom of speech to media against public figures. He said it is beyond doubt ‘Sonia Gandhi’ is public figure and that INOC will fail on every criteria of ‘actual malice’. Not a single case of defamation by public figure succeeded since that time. The reasons Supreme Court established this is because the suppression of truth by public figures could have chilling effect on public debate in a democracy. That is precisely what INOC is trying to avoid, to avoid public debate on the wrong doings of Sonia and Congress Party of India.
Dr. Swamy then moved on to establishing the well known and widely published truths about every statement in New York Times Ad. He himself went to court with many of the items published and got injunctions from Indian courts. He questioned why should not Indians have a right to know the activities and antecedents of those who rule over them.
Sonia Real Name is Antonia Maino: He explained how Sonia Gandhi real name is Antonio Maino and Sonia is name given by her father after he returned from Russia after being jailed there for his service in Hitler’s army. He mentioned that Sonia’s father was released in 4 years by Russians, compared to 14 years given to every German soldier because he could have capitulated to join KGB.
Sonia faking her birth place: Parliamentary records show Sonia giving her birth place as Orbassano but her birth certificate says Luciano, a border town to Switzerland which is resort town of German Soldiers. He questioned how can Sonia claim her father to be the person who was in Soviet Jail during her birth. These details, he says raises questions about her birth and her claims in public records. While these may not sound important details, these he says are legitimate in cross examinations.
Sonia faking her degree: In a sworn affidavit, Sonia mentioned that she studied English in Cambridge University, when in reality she has not even attended high school. Dr.Swamy wrote to University of Cambridge and they verified that there was no such student. After he raised this issue, Sonia dropped this from her later affidavits.
Sonia as Au-Pair: He questioned if someone is not studying in University of Cambridge and lived for five years in England (a different country), how would one support oneself? He said, he has done investigation and it is shocking what he found out. However, he did not elaborate. Should these questions be not asked? These questions are asked during a marriage, for employment and should we not ask when someone is ruling against them.
Sonia Citizenship: He said Sonia became Indian citizen after living there for 18 years. However, she doesn’t appear to have renounced her Italian Citizenship. The copy of the application is available on his website. Indian citizenship laws require an applicant renounce earlier citizenship to become a citizen. In response to the question of renouncement of earlier citizenship, she responded, ‘Not Applicable’. Upon refusal by citizenship officials, she then produced a certificate from Italian Embassy that she told them that she renounced the Italian Citizenship. He said Indira Gandhi forced the Government officials to accept that letter. However, he says any Government without her sycophants can easily cancel her citizenship.
Sonia Connections with KGB: Dr. Swamy detailed the Russian President Yeltsin appointment of a commission to unearth the KGB records and one of the members of the commission, Yevgenia Albats, wrote in her book, ‘State Within State’, that Rajiv Gandhi and her family are regular recipients of funds from KGB through a fictitious company. He ran into Yevgenia at Harvard and questioned her about this. Based on publicly available records he went to Delhi High Court which issued notice to CBI. However, the Govt of India refused to file the required FIR to get the original documents from Russia and proceed in the court.
Sonia – Heir of two billion dollars in Swiss Account: He says, Sonia’s husband Rajiv had two billion dollars in 1991. This data along with the list of all corrupt leaders worldwide who has large swiss accounts, was published by Government of Switzerland under pressure from US when it wanted to get details of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos. All this money, all the money of Indira Gandhi and most of Sanjay Gandhi, he says went to Sonia. He mentioned, death is very profitable to Sonia Gandhi. The data on 2 billion dollars along with Rajiv Gandhi photo was published in Switzer Illustrete magazine in 1991.
Sonia – Antiques Smuggling: Dr. Swamy says how Sonia sister Anushka owns two shops in Italy, one called Ethnica and another Ganapathi, in the home town of Sonia’s mother. The photographs of these are produced and are available at his website. How did they get there, he asked? He says that it is through the help of LTTE. He also mentioned Sonia close family friend Quattochi who was involved in famous Bofors scandal, used to sell weapons to LTTE. He says the antiques are smuggled out of India and her sister Anushka shops are front shops and the antiques are sold at well known London art shops such as Sotheby and Christies. This racket he documented and convinced courts to issue notice to CBI. However, the Government of India dragged its feet on its investigations.
Rahul Gandhi Citizenship: Dr. Swamy questioned whether Rahul Gandhi is citizen of India? In Italian law, if mother is Italian Citizen at the time of birth, then her children will also be Italian citizens. And law in India clearly says you cannot be Indian Citizen unless you renounce Italian Citizenship. When Rahul was born, Sonia was Italian Citizen and Rahul Gandhi never renounced his citizenship. In fact, he says he uses an Italian passport under name Raul Vinci.
Rahul Gandhi arrest by FBI: Dr. Swamy says Rahul Gandhi was arrested at Boston airport on Sept 27, 2001 with 160,000 dollars in cash. He was traveling with his Colombian girlfriend, Veronique Cartelli. Cartelli name, he says belongs to drug mafia. FBI held him for 9 hours and refused to let him go. It is only after Indian government intervened and Condelezza Rice was informed that it will affect Indo-US relations was he allowed to go after being told that he should appear anytime in US courts whenever called for. Dr. Swamy attempted to get FBI records and was told that it requires Rahul’s permission. He wrote to Rahul to provide the permission to prove there is no such thing happened, but he has never gotten any response. (Note: This was reported in Indian media in 2001).
In the end, Dr. Swamy alerted the audience that since Sonia came to power, there is degradation of Hinduism and Hindu Values. From Jayendra Saraswati who was put in jail like a common criminal on a Diwali day and to the destruction of Rama Sethu, he mentioned there is systematic undermining of anything that is Hinduism under her rule. He said Hindus always fought and it is far from truth that Hindus capitulated to Islamic and European conquests. The proof, he says, in spite of 800 years of Islamic rule and 200 years of European rule, India is still 83% Hindu. He asked audience to compare this with Iran (in 15 years) and Iraq and Saudi Arabia that fell in short times to Islamic invaders and the Europe continent that was converted to Christianity in less than a century.
Dr. Swamy’s final words are Kataria and others will easily win this case. INOC has no locus standi. Then there is actual malice. He challenged to prove it. He sincerely wished that Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi are scrutinized in American courts but felt that US courts may think it is waste of their time. He urged the audience to support the defendants and fight back, so that no such cases will ever be filed in future to trample on freedom of speech.
To a clapping audience, he said, ‘It is not a case of that Mr. Kataria fighting and you are standing by him because you know him, this is a case of all of us, it is case of your freedom of speech, it is the case in the future you can live in this country far away from India, without fear of long arm of Indian Government coming and standing in the way (of your freedom of speech)”.
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Some of the additional informational posters used at the rally:
