PRAHAR, a non-profit organisation working in the area of socioeconomic development, has called for a ban on the controversial BGMI/PUBG app. PRAHAR’s earlier appeal for blocking the Chinese app, which was also supported by the RSS backed Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, has said that the Government of India has been misled by an elaborate charade perpetrated by Chinese company Tencent.
The NGO was reacting to a reply filed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY), in a PIL in the Telangana High Court. Here the Ministry had said that PUBG and BGMI are not the same. However, it did not give any reasons or explanation for coming to this conclusion.
PRAHAR said that documents submitted in the court and with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs expose this elaborate cover up.
In a letter to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY), PRAHAR president Abhay Mishra wrote, “In a board of directors council meeting of Krafton, in a resolution dated 26 November 2021, Hyunil Sohn, was named to represent Krafton in relation to Battlegrounds Mobile India. At the same time on 26 November 2021, PUBG India Pvt. Limited, in a board resolution, authorised, the very same Hyunil Sohn, to represent PUBG India in relation to Battlegrounds Mobile India.”
He added, “If PUBG and BGMI are different, why is Krafton, the so-called publisher of “BGMI” authorising Hyunil Sohn, of PUBG India Pvt. Ltd to represent the company? Is Hyunil Sohn, a representative of PUBG or BGMI or both? The answer is in reality, he represents the Chinese company Tencent in India.”
Also, according to PRAHAR, as per documents available with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, there is no company called Krafton India. The only Krafton in India as per the MCA documents, is a paper manufacturing company with no relation to Krafton of South Korea.
These revelations add a new dimension to the controversial BGMI/ PUBG game that is already under fire from various quarters for its Chinese links and for having made a backdoor entry into India despite being banned.
Recently, another Tencent backed company Shopee announced its exit from India, while the Tencent backed Garena Freefire was banned by the Government of India in February.