09-11-2006, 12:48 AM
<b>Book launch, Modi slams NGOs</b>
<i>Activists mentioned in book include voices against state role in Godhra riots</i>
The Indian Express : Sunday, September 10, 2006
:The Supreme Court is hearing the Gujarat cases but Chief Minister Narendra Modi today put his stamp of approval on a book on foreign-funded NGOs and their activities, which essentially targets those who had spoken out against his government's role in the post-Godhra riots in 2002.
<b>The occasion was the launch of NGOs, Activists and Foreign Funds: Anti-nation Industry, edited by Radha Rajan and Krishen Kak. </b>
Launched at the BJP headquarters here in the Capital by Modi and former defence minister George Fernandes, the book which claims to have "unearthed a deep conspiracy hatched by anti-nation industry comprising Marxists, Christian missionaries, Muslims, Nehruvian socialists" named activists at the forefront of the protest against the state government. Among others, it names <span style='color:red'>Harsh Mander, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy, Nirmala Deshpande, Teesta Setalvad, Cedric Prakash, Praful Bidwai, Sandip Pandey, John Dayal, Admiral Ramdas, Shekhar Singh, Sumit Ganguly and Kamal Mitra Chenoy.</span>
Calling them "five-star activists" as he said: "Have they spent even three days in a year in a village or used public transport five to seven times in a year...They hire public relations firms, article writers to write for them in the media and subsequently win awards. And once they win an award, they can't be touched despite their faults...Politicians have to submit their accounts and assets when they have to contest elections...a similar mechanism should be developed for these NGOs."
Among those present at the launch were BJP MP Balbir K Punj, former bureaucrat B Raman and former Punjab police chief KPS Gill.
<i>Activists mentioned in book include voices against state role in Godhra riots</i>
The Indian Express : Sunday, September 10, 2006
:The Supreme Court is hearing the Gujarat cases but Chief Minister Narendra Modi today put his stamp of approval on a book on foreign-funded NGOs and their activities, which essentially targets those who had spoken out against his government's role in the post-Godhra riots in 2002.
<b>The occasion was the launch of NGOs, Activists and Foreign Funds: Anti-nation Industry, edited by Radha Rajan and Krishen Kak. </b>
Launched at the BJP headquarters here in the Capital by Modi and former defence minister George Fernandes, the book which claims to have "unearthed a deep conspiracy hatched by anti-nation industry comprising Marxists, Christian missionaries, Muslims, Nehruvian socialists" named activists at the forefront of the protest against the state government. Among others, it names <span style='color:red'>Harsh Mander, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy, Nirmala Deshpande, Teesta Setalvad, Cedric Prakash, Praful Bidwai, Sandip Pandey, John Dayal, Admiral Ramdas, Shekhar Singh, Sumit Ganguly and Kamal Mitra Chenoy.</span>
Calling them "five-star activists" as he said: "Have they spent even three days in a year in a village or used public transport five to seven times in a year...They hire public relations firms, article writers to write for them in the media and subsequently win awards. And once they win an award, they can't be touched despite their faults...Politicians have to submit their accounts and assets when they have to contest elections...a similar mechanism should be developed for these NGOs."
Among those present at the launch were BJP MP Balbir K Punj, former bureaucrat B Raman and former Punjab police chief KPS Gill.