NGOs In India - Printable Version

NGOs In India - Printable Version

+- Forums (http://india-forum.com)
+-- Forum: Indian Politics, Business & Economy (http://india-forum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=6)
+--- Forum: Strategic Security of India (http://india-forum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=18)
+--- Thread: NGOs In India (/showthread.php?tid=618)

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

NGOs In India - Guest - 04-03-2007

QUOTESC rejects NBA plea to gag media Â <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />
Pioneer.com
Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi
The Supreme Court has rebuffed Medha Patkar's plea to gag the press from reporting against the activities of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA).

The apex court on Monday declined to pass any order on a Patkar-led NBA's plea to restrain an NGO, which has filed a PIL accusing NBA of receiving foreign funds, from approaching the media with issues connected with the matter.

"Why are you (NBA) bothered about press reports. You just ignore it," Â <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/b_woot.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='b_woot.gif' /> a Bench comprising Justices CK Thakker and Altamas Kabir said when NBA's counsel Indra Jaisinh objected to some of the recent news reports relating to the pending PIL filed by VK Saxena, president of the Ahmedababd-based National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL).

Jaisinh, who at the outset made oral plea for restraining the NCCL from approaching the media, said the people in remote areas and villages would pre-judge the issue and it would be prejudice to NBA.

The NBA's contention was opposed by the NCCL's counsel Amar Dave, who said it was the anti-dam outfit which has been approaching the media with press notes on regular basis and cited one such release issued by it about the court proceedings.

However, when NBA alleged that the whole atmosphere was vitiated by such media campaign, the court said media cannot be stopped from reporting and observed "can it pass an order which cannot be implemented".

Jaisinh said the issue relating to Narmada project covers three States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and NBA should be given the opportunity to counter the news reports when it happens to be sustained campaign against the organisation.

"You can counter it. You file an application alleging that so and so have gone to the press. We will decide...," the Bench said. Jaisinh, however, said she would not prefer to file application or affidavit as she knows that it would be difficult to sustain the allegations.
.............

NGOs In India - utepian - 04-03-2007

Good deal. Taste of their own medicine.

NGOs In India - Guest - 04-21-2007

Centre orders probe into foreign funds received by NBAQUOTENew Delhi, April 21: Government has ordered a probe into foreign funds allegedly received by the Medha Patkar-led Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) and groups supporting its agitation against the Sardar Sarovar Project in violation of existing regulations.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in its affidavit before the Supreme Court said action will be initiated if it was confirmed that the foreign contributions were in violation of the law.

The PIL by an NGO had alleged that some of the support group of NBA like Arohi Niyas, Sarvodya Sikshan Samiti Malcha, Delhi Forum and Lok Samiti had received foreign funds in violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.

"The MHA has not accorded permissions to Arohi Niyas and Sarvodaya Sikshan Samiti Malcha (both in Madhya Pradesh) to receive foreign funds.

"In the absence of complete address of the NGOs, the concerned government designated agencies have been requested to confirm the facts about the receipt of foreign contributions so that appropriate action may be initiated, if violation is confirmed against the concerned individuals and associations, for failure to comply with provisions of FCRA...," it said in the affidavit after the court on April two had given it a final opportunity to file it.
.................

Now UPA government will come out with lie to protect NBA its own creation. Good going.

NGOs In India - shamu - 04-27-2007

Any idea what this organization is?

http://www.ilpnet.org

They are raising some money in Bay Area for some projects.
I did not find anything suspicious from their website.

NGOs In India - Guest - 05-11-2007

QUOTENBA involved in Maoist movement, NGO tells SC 
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The Ahmedabad-based NGO, which has accused Medha Patkar's Narmada Bachao Andolan of engaging in anti-national activities, told the Supreme Court on Thursday that there existed evidence to suggest that NBA had a hand in the Maoist movement.

Pointing out to the vigilance reports of Madhya Pradesh police, National Council of Civil Liberties (NCCL) alleged that the computer seized from one of NBA activist Rahul Banerjee had disclosed his involvement in the anti-national activities.

Raising the pitch for a CBI probe against the NBA, NCCl counsel Amar Dave said, "There is a direct nexus between them as it is clear from the documents seized by State Vigilance Department." He was responding to the court's query, "Why have you put NBA and naxalite movement together. Is the NBA involved in the naxalite movement?"

Observing that it would not be proper to mix up these two issues, the Bench said, "Vigilance report points out case against a person (Rahul Banerjee), then how can you connect these two issues." 

The NBA, on its part however claimed that the PIL by the NGO seeking CBI probe into its activities was filed to settle personal score with its leader Medha Patkar. Senior advocate Indira Jaising appearing for the NBA questioned the maintainability of the petition before a Bench comprising Justices CK Thakker and Altamas Kabir saying it was a 'surrogate' one filed by the NGO and its president to trouble Patkar. Saxena has filed cases against Patkar in different parts of the country, she said.

The NCCL had sought probe into the activities of the NBA alleging that the outfit was acting at the behest of foreign powers and creating political instability in India on the strength of funds received from abroad. The Centre in its affidavit has mentioned about a complaint received in 2002 by the then Minister looking after the Narmada project in Gujarat alleging receipt of funds by NBA, which on inspection of books of accounts did not reveal any instance of violation of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).

The NCCL had alleged that some of the NBA's support groups Arohi Niyas, Sarvodya Sikshan Samiti Malcha, Delhi Forum and Lok Samiti had received foreign funds in violation of FCRA. The NBA, however, refuted the allegations of NCCL and questioned the maintainability of the PIL, contending it was filed by suppressing some crucial facts.

NGOs In India - Guest - 06-06-2007

B'lore gets India's 1st 'RTI bank'
QUOTEBelur is putting together a library of documents collected by various NGOs under RTI to make life easier for the Bangaloreans. He calls it the RTI Bank.

âWhen information is collected and shared, it's optimally used. People need not approach the public authorities for the same information again. It amounts to duplication,â says Belur.

While documents from the BMP are the first to be put together in this RTI bank, Belur has also started web-based discussion groups to network NGOs for this initiative.

NGOs In India - Guest - 06-07-2007

NGOs launch anti-Modi campaign
QUOTEMeghdoot Sharon
CNN-IBN

Posted Thursday , June 07, 2007 at 15:11
Updated Thursday , June 07, 2007 at 15:27
EmailÂ Print
Ahmedabad: Volunteers from NGOs in Gujarat - campaigners without a party - are on a road trip across the state, travelling across 900 villages, performing street plays on farmer suicides, fake encounters and unemployment.

They plan to distribute over one lakh copies of the Preamble of the Constitution, to remind people of the rights they are being deprived of.

Says a volunteer, Razzak, "The government talks of a vibrant Gujarat, but let me tell you, there is nothing vibrant here."

Adds another volunteer, Laxmi, "India is a democracy, but in Gujarat, democracy does not exist. We are on a trip to make people realise this."

The NGOs know that the exercise has political overtones. Coordinator Shabnam Hashmi says the group will fight all undemocratic forces in the state, but she's clear that she's targeting the BJP government.

"The need is clear. Constitutional values are under attack in Gujarat. By virtue of being pro-democracy, this karwan (campaign) is anti-Modi," says she.

With elections scheduled to be held later this year, these voices, and the ones against them, are only going to get louder.

NGOs In India - Bharatvarsh - 06-08-2007

hehehehe i hope they will crank up the protests cuz that will only help out Gujarat Ka Sinh aka Hindu Hriday Samrat aka Narendra Modi to come back to power once again.

NGOs In India - Guest - 06-13-2007

NGO turns child predator : CNN-IBN 
http://indiasecular .wordpress. com
Anita Sinha

QUOTEBodhgaya: Declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 2002, Bodhgaya in Bihar is a holy city for Buddhists the world over. Over 600 NGOs operate here, many claiming to work for the welfare of the districtâs under-privileged children.

Samanvaya Ashram is one such NGO that shelters children essentially from the Dalit-Bhuiyan community.

But that's not all they do here. CNN-IBN has found children just five years old are illegally subjected to labour at the Ashram, having made to wash clothes and work in the Ashram kitchen.

âWe cook, get water, work in the kitchen and even out there in the fields,â says an Ashram student Amritya.

Another student Sonu also testified to therampant child labour. âWe wash our clothes and after class go to the fields where we are made to plough. Thereafter we cook too.â

Shahbuddin, a leading Western Union money transfer agent for many NGOs run by foreigners in Gaya, alleges that most NGOs that offer shelter to children in the holy town are actually dens for paedophiles and child-molesters.

"It is an open secret. There are many paedophiles here,â he says.

The Gaya police do admit to the problem of paedophilia off-the-record but say that without a complaint, they cannot investigate.

However, they do accuse some NGOs of pushing a religious conversion agenda.

"In the name of religion and helping the people, there are many underground conversions also. For that purpose, some of the foreign countries are spending a lot of money. They can't directly come to the local people so NGOs are the best medium. They must be approaching NGOs,â says DIG, Magadh Range Umesh Kumar Singh.

Investigation done by CNN-IBN clearly establishes the suspicious role of NGOs. But this might be just a tip of the iceberg.

Now, as the saviours turn tormentors and pocket the donation money, it's for the state government and the administration to wake up and take due action.Â

http://www.ibnlive. com/news/ india/06_ 2007/ngos- turn-child- predators- in-buddhist- holy-city- 42648.html

NGOs In India - Guest - 06-13-2007

AID and ASHA are making money from small children, but I am not surprised.

NGOs In India - Guest - 06-16-2007

How India is being lost
By Dr.Gautam Sen
TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/3d265l

NGOs In India - Guest - 07-11-2007

Naxals take the hawala route to terrorQUOTEThere is now speculation that a number of NGOs in Bihar are funding the training of Maoist guerrillas. Twenty-two NGOs in Gaya district have been issued a show-cause notice for their Maoist links.

Says District Magistrate of Gaya, Jitendra Srivastava, "If it comes during the course of inquiry that Naxals are involved or they are running the NGOs that are funding guerrilla training, then it's a matter of huge concern. Even if Naxals are beneficiaries of NGOs, then it's a matter of concern for us."

Junior officials on the ground confirm the fears.

Says Block Social Welfare Officer, Chandrika Prasad, "A lot of NGOs are involved with Naxal elements. We even know that many of the NGO workers are Maoists themselves." 

Prasad's statement was in fact proven true when Dwarko Sundrani, who runs an NGO, Samanvaya Ashram in Bodhgaya admitted to the links.

"Naxals often approach us for money, but we provide them food, clothing and shelter as we believe in the concept of hriday parivartan (change of heart). They wanted me to build tube-wells in their village. We got it done," says Sundrani.

A Bihar government document lists many NGOs suspected of diverting funds to Maoists. Most are funded by visiting tourists or international donor agencies. 

There are records of Western Union transactions through which NGOS in Gaya received funds which are sending alarm bells ringing through the administration.

CNN-IBN's SIT met with a Western Union money transfer agent, Shahbuddin who admitted that a lot of NGOs were in collusion with Maoists.

"Almost all the NGOs are corrupt and have got links with Maoists. The funds are, indeed, being siphoned off to Naxals," he told the SIT.

Donations run into crores, often made in cash. Audits are rare, so naturally the state government is concerned.

Says Bihar Home Secretary, Afzal Amanullah, "If that's true, then there is another source of worry because these people are getting cash which is not accountable and for which they don't have to do anything. Even if they give receipts, who is going to come back and check on them? That's very, very scary."

Many NGOs are also known to employ Maoists or their family members. They also act as mediators.

Says the owner of an NGO, Avidya Vimukti Sansthan, Sanjay Kumar, "Sometimes, we have had to act as middlemen or negotiators between the district administration and the Maoists."

Such close links now have the Bihar government worried.

"Intelligence agencies did report such things being channelised. Now, we have got to warn foreigners and do a lot of planning to stop this worrisome syndrome from spreading. The whole ministry has to work in tandem to turn out this tap," says Amanullah.

Adds DIG, Magadh Range, Umesh Kumar Singh, "If the money goes in bulk to them, it'll be quite threatening to the internal security of the nation."

Today in Gaya, the state machinery has been sidelined, and the word of Maoists is law, and the crores lying with local NGOs are being used to fund more Naxal violence.

NGOs In India - Guest - 07-19-2007

QUOTEhttp://www.ibnlive.com/news/blore-human-rights-activist-sexually-abused-kids/45131-3.html
B'lore human rights activist 'sexually abused' kids 

Arvind Yadav / CNN-IBN

Published on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 07:58 in Nation section

Bangalore: Ramesh, who is a human rights activist in Bangalore, has been charged of sexually abusing children in his orphanage.

Ramesh has been running two orphanages under the Karnataka Human Rights Trust set up in 2001 by him. And parents who couldn't support their children sent them to his orphanage, expecting them to be fed and educated. But little did they know that the activist was engaged in the heinous activity.

"He touched me all over. I told him not to but he did not listen to me," says one of the victims.

NGOs In India - Guest - 07-27-2007

QUOTEUPA shows an iron fist for 'foreign hand' <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />
D K SINGH / SEEMA CHISHTI
Posted online: Friday, July 27, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST
New Delhi, July 25
In 2002, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, honoured former IAS officer Harsh Mander with the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavna award for what it called his "commendable work" in Gujarat after the riots. In September last year, the Cong-led UPA's Home Ministry sent him a letter denying his organisation Aman Biradari foreign funding saying "your association is engaged in political activities." Mander filed an RTI application asking what those "political activities" were. He got a reply saying sorry, we can't reveal that because of "national security concerns."

Mander is a media-savvy activist who gets his voice heard in several fora but for countless NGOs across the country, the Home Ministry's proposed Foreign Contributions Regulation Bill 2006 â it's currently before a standing committee, chaired by Sushma Swaraj, which meets next week â has come to stand for a draconian licence raj, giving a raft of discretionary powers to bureaucrats (see below) and, in the name of national security and checking terror, threatens to choke the voluntary sector.

It also imposes five-year permits for getting foreign funds, permits which have to be renewed by officials in the Home Ministry. And in a bizarre provision, leaves it to the babu to decide what quantum of foreign funds can be used for the NGO's "administrative" work.

This, ironically, from a government that showcases its secular, tolerant credentials and announced a draft policy on voluntary organisations that argued the exact opposite of what the proposed law entails: it called for a process to "evolve a new working relationship between the government and the voluntary sector, without affecting the autonomy and identity of voluntary organisations."

But as per the Bill â which claims to update the 30-year-old Foreign Contributions Regulation Act â it's now babus who will decide both autonomy and identity. What worries civil society groups is that with such arbitrary rules proposed and no guidelines to define what is "political", there will be tremendous discretion and power vested in the government of the day to clamp down or harass any group politically inconvenient at the time.

Flooded by complaints â economist Amartya Sen has called it "alarming" and former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan even sent a letter to the Prime Minister â senior Congress leaders, at a meeting yesterday, questioned their own government's Bill.

"Are we leaving it to the District Collector to judge the ideology and programmes of an NGO to decide whether it is political or apolitical?" asked a Congress leader at the meeting.

Attended by Pranab Mukherjee, P R Dasmunshi, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, H R Bhardwaj, Kapil Sibal, Motilal Vora, Margaret Alva, Mohsina Kidwai, and Madhusudan Mistry, the meeting criticized the provision linking certificate for foreign funding with the condition that the organization not indulge in activities related to "conversion, directly or indirectly." 

Said a senior Congress leader: "Of course, we need to strengthen the existing Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act to prevent the misuse of foreign funds in anti-national activities but we need to set up a system of increased safeguards with justice and transparency."

Says Rajesh Tandon, India Director, PRIA (an international Centre which promotes participation and democratic governance): "We urge the government to immediately shut down any group taking money for terror activities. The laws for regulating civil society groups already exist, like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (1967), the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (2002), the Foreign Exchange Management Act (1999) and the Income Tax Act (1961). In the days of Right to Information, this arbitrary political clause is there to clamp down on all human rights groups or on any group campaigning for freedom of information and exposing corruption in government. It is a Reverse RTI. The bureaucracy will use this to get back at any group urging people to demand their rights or transparency."

Then there is the problem of clearance. Under the old law, in case a civil society didn't hear from the government in 90-120 days, it was considered as "no-objection." The Bill now puts no time limit.

"FCRA 1976 was an enabling legislation. The Bill is an inhibiting legislation, civil society groups can be waiting for months, awaiting their registration, and eventually finding out that they have not been given one," says P C Pandey, formerly, CEO of Voluntary Action Network India (VANI), a forum of 2500 civil society groups.

The All-Powerful Babu 

To clear foreign funding, officers in Home Ministry will decide:

â¢ Which organization is engaged in "meaningful work"
â¢ Which organization has done enough work and which has not
â¢ What is administrative expenditure since NGOs can't allocate more than 50% of foreign funds towards this head
â¢ Which NGO should be debarred in the name of "sovereignty and integrity of India, public interest, freedom or fairness to any legislature, friendly relations with any foreign state, or harmony between religious, racial, social, linguistic or regional groups, castes or communities."
â¢ What kind of foreign hospitality, if accepted by a legislator, government servant, media person or judge, is of "purely casual nature" and thereby exempt from the prohibitory laws.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/207126.html

NGOs In India - Guest - 08-28-2007

x-post:
NGOs, charities new face of terror in Hyderabad

QUOTENorth block has been tipped off that five Indian charities are being investigated by the US government for money laundering, narcotics and terror funding.

Shockingly, four of these charities are based in Hyderabad and the fifth in Guntur.

Just six months ago, the National Security Advisor had admitted at an international conference that: "An important source of funds to jehadi terrorist outfits are religious charities and contributions go to fund terrorist activities.''

The source of these funds is Dubai -- the very city which sent the biggest consignment of fake currency in recent memory to Hyderabad through a suspected Dawood aide.

Rushing to assure that investigations are underway, the Hyderabad Police Commissioner has said, "One UAE citizen has been arrested as have four Hyderabadis.''

Meanwhile, intelligence officials say more counterfeiters are waiting offshore:

Rs 1.73 crore of fake Indian currency was seized from Kuala Lampur.

And Rs 2.63 crore has been seized from Colombo

Just how much of the money that has been smuggled into Hyderabad is meant for funding terror is not clear.

What's clear though is the fact that with a haul of Rs 2.36 crores, Hyderabad leads from the front amongst southern cities in the fake currency racket, followed by Chennai and Bangalore.

Terror groups indoctrinated in the Jamiat philosophy have been operating sleeper cells for the past nine years from Hyderabad alone and that's not just because Hyderabad represents brand India, but because terrorists want Hyderabad along with Junagadh and Kashmir to secede from the Indian state

NGOs In India - Guest - 09-12-2007

anything glaring in this list (evang/jihadi/psec/marxist)?

http://giveindia.rediff.com/ngowatch_alpha.html

NGOs In India - Guest - 09-12-2007

QUOTE(Bodhi @ Sep 12 2007, 07:16 PM)anything glaring in this list (evang/jihadi/psec/marxist)?

http://giveindia.rediff.com/ngowatch_alpha.html
[right][snapback]73017[/snapback][/right]

oh yes, lot of them , some I am listing e.g.

Ahmedabad Women's Action Group - Gujarat
HELP - Andhra Pradesh
HelpAge India - Delhi (famous for comment - when Dalit cross road, brahmin covers face so that even wind passing Dalit should not touch them)

SAATHI - Maharashtra
SAHARA - Andhra Pradesh
TANKER Foundation - Tamil Nadu

NGOs In India - Guest - 09-25-2007

Dear all, pl do visit the vigil website for the following -

1. We have all the information you need on the Indo-US nuclear deal through the Stimsom Center and Brahma Chellaney's columns.

You can click on Quick Links which gives you a small but politically excellent collection of websites and blogs.

One of the websites is that of the American think tank Stimson Center. You can access that for the nuclear deal.

Another website is one of my favourites - the US State dept. I have uploaded the text of this secular God's wrathful pronouncement on the state of religious freedom in India.

2. I am fwd ing to you all the url of the page on the vigil website which has the following -

a. Chapter 9 of the Vigil book on NGOs titled "ASHA projects:Where does all the money go". This is an analysis of the projects listed on the ASHA website about the projects they are funding. We have detected much hanky panky with the accounting, the nature of the projects they have funded and even some accounting black-holes.

Not surprisingly several of the tell-tale projects and their url s have disappeared from their website now.

b. But precisely because we feared ASHA would tamper with these details and the website we had downloaded the entire website and we are now presenting the funding details as provided by ASHA so that you all can verify the truth of our analysis for yourselves.

c. We have also a fledgling section titled NGO watch which will upload news reports about NGOs as when they appear in our newspapers.

d. Pl see our expose of Harsh Mander in the book and how the present government hasd denied this 'role model IAS man's NGO permission to receive foreign funds. Vigil and Krishen Kak have been endorsed.

Also pl note Sandhya Jain's column on NGOs. She has referred to CNN-IBN's expose of the NGO Samanvay Ashram which not surprisingly has recd funds from ASHA and you will see it as receipient at serial numbers 12, 34, 37, and 52 on the ASHA funding website on our webpage.

Have fun, regards, RR

http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?optio...=903&Itemid=118

You can get to this webpage as follows -

1. www.vigilonline.com

2. On the left, vertical menu, click on Vigil book on NGOs.

3. On the page that opens, scroll down and click on Chapter 9, ASHA projects - where does all the money go?

RR

NGOs In India - Guest - 09-27-2007

Asha for Education, of Maoists?

NGOs In India - Guest - 10-10-2007

Probe Medha's foreign links, MPs urge PM
QUOTETwo Members of Parliament from Gujarat have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to order an inquiry into the shocking evidence suggesting Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar tried to influence the Government and the judiciary to obtain a favourable verdict in a case against her NGO in the Supreme Court.Â Â

Senior Congress leader Urmilaben Patel and Ratilal K Verma of the BJP, both MPs, have submitted identical evidence to the Prime Minister to establish that Patkar was in touch with a foreign agency, who wanted to oblige even a judge of the Supreme Court after he, along with another judge, dismissed a PIL against NBA. The PIL was filed by the National Council for Civil Liberties, a Gujarat-based NGO alleging that NBA was engaged in anti-national activities.

The MPs have enclosed email correspondence between Patkar and Patrick McCully, former director of the International Rivers Network at Barkley in the US. The correspondence shows Patkar claiming she had put pressure on the UPA Government, which was also served a notice by the court to respond to the charges of NBA's involvement in anti-national activities to stop construction of work at Sardar Sarovar Project in Gujarat.
Â
The sequence of email correspondence between McCully and Patkar is revealing. Minutes after the SC dismissed the NCCL's PIL on July 10, 2007, McCully was informed of it by one Phillip through Patkar's email address.
Â
Next day, McCully wrote back to Patkar, "You have mentioned in your message (email) that Judge Thakkar (CK) is ex-chief justice of Gujarat and anything can happen. How you manage this. What was the second judge?"
Â
In reply, Patkar wrote back on July 13, "Phillip made a mistake in quoting Thakkar as the ex-chief justice of Gujarat. He was initially judge there. Justice Altamas Kabir wrote the judgement."
Â
Patkar also wrote that many eminent persons wrote to the UPA Government and her advocates supported them. "We dealt with the press very selectively and ensured that pressure was kept all through."
Â
"Along with this, the petitioner's case was so weak. Its triviality was obvious. Legally it was non-maintainable," she added.
Â
To this, McCully responded on July 17, "I was keeping a constant watch on this case. I was actually disturbed after reading written submission of Saxena (VK Saxena, chairman NCCL, the petitioner), which he had posted on his website. Not a shred of reference in the judgement. You have managed it very effectively."
Â
McCully's email underlines the fact that Saxena's petition had disturbed him and he was happy to see that the charges levelled against him were not even touched upon in the judgement. The reference to "managing" the whole thing is significant.
Â
McCully added they would like to honour those people who supported Patkar in the case. "You can send a list of 5-6 people with their very brief background in 2-3 lines. The function can be organised in London instead of the US through other groups. With his strategy these people could be more committed to your cause."

And then he added this bit of shocking offer: "We must honour Judge Kabir for supporting you. Please explore the possibility. He will retire in 2013 -- a very useful man for your further battles."

It is well known that Justice Kabir is a respected judge with impeccable career record. While there is nothing to show he obliged Patkar, McCully's mail clearly showed a sinister design to woo him to help NBA in future.

In her reply sent to McCully on July 22, Patkar felt that openly obliging her benefactors would be counter-productive. "Thanks a lot. Other than advocates, no one would like to be acknowledged for writing to pressurise the Government. That might boomerang."

Referring to the email, both the MPs asked the Prime Minister to order an inquiry into the whole episode.

Verma has pointed out to the Prime Minister that the exchanges between Patkar and McCully are "explosive and dangerous to the extent that they show foreign interest and support to a group that is indulging in obstruction to the country's development. It carries blatant suggestion that July 10 Supreme Court judgement was managed."

Urging the Prime Minister to order an inquiry to identify those who tried to put pressure on the UPA Government and the judiciary to favour NBA, Verma asked, "When even the thought of influencing the judiciary at any level is contemptuous, is it not a case of sedition against the NBA -- a group working with foreign aid?"

Echoing similar views, Urmilaben Patel has asked the Prime Minister that "the Government should immediately inquire as to how Medha Patkar managed a favourable verdict And take appropriate action against Patkar for bringing disrepute to the Government and to the Hon'able Supreme Court and halting the process of national development with foreign support."


Does this require a separate thread in itself? Lot of open questions. Who's McNully? What is "International Rivers Network"? Why are they involved? What are they doing now in India? In US? Which NRIs are working with them and why? Why did they want to honor some people in UK and not in US via their other groups? Who are these other groups?