Foreign funding of Indian NGOs - a hidden pathway of foreign interference

The action of the Government of India in cancelling licenses of 9000 NGOs that have been violating FCRA is an act of judicious law enforcement.  And suspending FCRA permission of Green Peace and putting Ford Foundation on the watch list is an act of safeguarding the political and socio-economic sovereignty of the nation.  It is disappointing that world powers like USA and Germany are voicing concern on this matter, thereby interfering in the internal matters of our Republic.  It should not be conceivable by any stretch of imagination that India would allow foreign influences to ride on the back of NGOs to enter our sovereign space and begin eroding us from within, colluding with internal betrayer individuals and organizations. Our nation has to march ahead and not fall behind.

The very countries that have voiced against India's action on NGOs have very stringent view on NGO activities in their own country.  For example, it is not possible in the USA for either a local NGO or a multi-national NGO to engage itself in political activism or polarized political support.  And any violation of financial rule would be heavily dealt with and people sent to jail for inordinately long years.  For example Gulam Nambi Fai, founder of “Kashmir American Council” (KAC) , an NGO, was arrested by the FBI from Virginia, Washington DC and later sentenced for 4 years Jail by a US Court in 2012 on the charges of receiving money from Pakistan and its spy agency ISI to influence American policy on Kashmir. Political activism by foreign NGOs is perceived in the USA and Germany as acts of war against the nation, while financial irregularities would be dealt as money laundering for dubious purposes. 

But when it comes to India, thanks to the inaction and spineless silence portrayed for years by the previous Govt, foreign NGOs such as Ford Foundation were accorded respect similar to what the diplomatic missions command.  And it has been proven over and over again that these NGOs had their political masters in the countries of their origin, who had strong interest in influencing the political process and impeding the national development of India.  Colluding with them, their Indian partners have worked as termites, wrecking India from within. We all know that foreign funds are always attached with hidden condition.

It is time that this anomaly is set right once and for all.  It is time that a self respecting India stands tall against these medieval machinations.  It is time that we as Indians feel proud that at last, we have a leader and a Government that is immensely patriotic and is dedicated to the integrity and development of the nation.

V K Saxena

President

National Council for Civil Liberties

Ahmedabad.

Deep drawn water in drought: Victory of Sardar Sarovar

Medha Patkar waged a war in the name of water to deny the benefits of Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) to Gujarat. During her visit to USA in 1989, her headquarter,She testified before a committee and called "SSP a great human tragedy, an economic disaster and a planned environmental degradation." Her crony Arundhati Roy also testified in March 2000, in Geneva and said that" SSP is being constructed by using massive force and violating Human Rights." They lobbied on foreign soil for scrapping the project by giving false testimonies.

By attempting to deny water to the  farmers, farmlands and famine stricken people of the western India  she and her cronies shamelessly built a career as revolutionists. At  the end, they failed. It is no surprise that every evil force has  lost out and vanquished in every page of the social history of the world.

India today is reeling under drought and famine. The rainfall deficit  has been more than 15% on an average but in some states like Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka, the deficit is more than 50%. The Central Government  is contemplating to launch an emergency relief effort in over 320 districts in the country. Over 60% of agriculture being rainfed,  there is clamour and chaos among the 600 million people, whose lives and economy are closedly linked to rains. Some State Governments have  launched official prayers to the rain God in desperation  of the situation.

At a juncture like this, the SSP is full and overflowing  due to the effectiveness with which it can store the collective resource of rain water from the wide catchment area. What would just  waste away as drainage is now impounded and given to people in  places that are historically drought prone in Gujarat and Rajasthan . Although the rains are  more than 50% deficient in Gujarat, thanks to SSP, the State does not have water  scarcity and has not declared itself drought-prone.

The likes of Medha Patkar should realize that there is difference between work and war, plan and plunder and governance and chaos. If  she comes out of her hiding and if she has a parched throat in the  lands she roams to look for opportunities to exploit hapless people,  she should walk into Gujarat. She can be sure to get a glass of water.

VK Saxena
President
National Council for Civil Liberties
Ahmedabad