Hours after Tony Ashai's pictures with Bollywood stars, including actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan, caused a massive uproar on social media, the US-based Kashmiri took to Twitter to clear the air on the massive controversy.
Tony Ashai has claimed that the "conspiracy theory" that the Indian media is peddling about him being an ISI agent is baseless. Taking to Twitter, he said, "This conspiracy theory that Indian media is peddling about me being an ISI agent is baseless. These journalists either put out a proof or apologize unconditionally. Short of that you will be sued individually in US Courts and will have to prove it there."
In another tweet, in reply to a claim by journalist Aarti Tikoo, Tony Ashai said, "As a descent person I am giving @AartiTikoo an opportunity to come out and apologize." Warning of legal action, he wrote, "She can show the proof of me asking Kashmiri youth to kill and get killed to a California Judge. And if she can't prove it then she will pay and pay big time."
The US-based Kashmiri went on to reply to Bollywood filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri saying, "And you are a friend of Kashmir? You are a B grade movie producer who is collecting money from poor Kashmiri Pandits in US to make a documentary for them? Playing with their emotions. Get a life."
What is the controversy about?
The whole controversy is over the allegations that Tony Ashai was an agent of the Pakistan's spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence.
On July 22, BJP vice president Baijayant Panda took to Twitter, asking some Bollywood personalities to come clean on their alleged links with the notorious spy agency of Pakistan.
Jay Panda wrote on Twitter: "Came across shocking threads documenting personal & business links of some Bollywood personalities with certain Pakistanis & NRIs with undeniable track record encouraging violence in J&K, who have verifiable links to ISI & Pak army. I urge patriotic Bollywoodies to renounce them (sic)."
The Odisha BJP leader refrained from naming anyone in his tweet. However, his tweet followed a Twitter thread by a Srinagar-based "storyteller" with the name Al iskandar, who tweets from the handle of @TheSkandar.
In a series of tweets, Al iskandar wrote: "Look who is talking the man @tonyashai (Aka Aziz Ashai) who himself is sitting in the cozy rooms of California and provoking Kashmiri Youth to Pick-up Stones and Guns while his own Son Bilal Ashai recently graduated from Los Angeles @USC with Masters Degree (sic)."
Al iskandar claimed that Tony Ashai has designed SRK's Dubai buildings & Los Angeles Apartments. "Tony Ashai, aka Aziz Ashai, a JKLF member who has designed SRK's Dubai buildings & Los Angeles Apartments. Ever since 2014, he has been trying to mask his love for Ashai because he knows that if this Genie is out of the box, it would do irreversible damage to his reputation," read his tweet.
Al iskandar also posted pictures of Tony Ashai with Imran Khan and wrote, "Aziz Ashai (Tony Ashai) is on payroll of ISI, who is in touch with many people in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country."
As his tweets went viral, netizens dug out several photos of Shahrukh, Gauri Khan and Tony Ashai on social media. Also, pictures of other stars including Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Karan Johar, were pulled out with another anti-India activist based in the UK.
