The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Sunday sought to distance itself from an article suggesting that information technology company Infosys was part of an “anti-national conspiracy”.

The article was published as a cover story in the RSS-affiliated Panchjanya magazine’s September 5 edition.

The article claimed that social media users have been alleging that the glitches in the income tax portal developed by Infosys were intentionally not being fixed by the software major to “destabilise India’s economy”.

The portal was launched on June 7 with a host of new features for taxpayers. However, users have been complaining about problems in using the portal since its launch. Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman directed Infosys Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh to fix the glitches in the portal by September 15.

Reacting to the article on Sunday, RSS spokesperson Sunil Ambekar said that Infosys had made “seminal contributions” to India’s progress.

“There might be certain issues with a portal run by Infosys, but the article published by Panchjanya in this context only reflects individual opinion of the author,” Ambekar tweeted. “Panchjanya is not mouthpiece of the RSS and the said article or opinions expressed in it should not be linked with the RSS.”

Meanwhile, Panchjanya Editor Hitesh Shankar said that the magazine “stands firm” with its article.

“Some elements are mentioning RSS in this episode due to vested interests,” he wrote in a series of tweets. “Remember, this report is not related to the Sangh, the report is about Infosys. It is a matter of facts and facts relating to the incompetence of the company.”

Article links Infosys to ‘tukde tukde gang’

The article in Panchjanya’s September 5 edition did not cite any social media posts alleging a conspiracy behind the non-functioning tax portal.

The article mentioned three tweets, including one from former Bharatiya Janata Party MP and veteran journalist Kanchan Gupta. However, these tweets despite being critical of Infosys, did not make any allegations about the company attempting to “destabilise” India’s economy.

It also claimed that Infosys has been “accused of funding propaganda websites” like Scroll.in and The Wire, as well as, Alt News, which “spreads fake news”.

“Infosys is accused of providing assistance to Naxals, Leftists and tukde tukde gang,” the article added. “It has already been established that many divisive activities going on in the country have been directly or indirectly aided by Infosys.”

The term “tukde tukde gang” is often used by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindutva leaders for individuals and groups, who they claim, have secessionist intentions.

The article in Panchjanya was published less than a month after another major Indian corporate, the Tata Group, was criticised by Union minister Piyush Goyal. At an event on August 14, Goyal claimed that business practices of industries in India were against national interest.

“Me, myself, my company – we all need to go beyond this approach,” the minister had said. He was apparently referring to Tata’s objection to some of the e-commerce rules announced in June.

Under the proposed rules, e-commerce firms have to ensure that enterprises related to them are not classified as sellers on their respective websites. The 153-year-old Tata Group had opposed the rules, saying that if it is implemented, American coffee chain Starbucks, its joint venture partner in India, will not be able to offer its products on Tata’s website.