Ahmedabad, June 30, 2006: A Metropolitan Court has ordered a police inquiry in a criminal defamation case against Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar.
Metropolitan Magistrate AR Patel on Thursday ordered Narangpura police to conduct an inquiry in the case and submit a detailed report at the earliest on a complaint by president of National Council of Civil Liberties, VK Saxena.
The controversy began when Patkar in an interview to a television channel on April 20, 2006 alleged that Saxena had received civil contracts of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited. In the same programme she had claimed that a case filed by her against Saxena was going on in a court in New Delhi.
Patkar had also said that she had a compact disc proving the allegations.
Saxena had denied the allegations and sent a legal notice to Patkar. He approached the court after she did not reply to the legal notice for 45 days.
Saxena's advocate TS Nanavati said the metropolitan court ordered police inquiry under Section 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Three India Forum contributors in this book.... <!--emo&:bhappy--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/b_woot.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='b_woot.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:bcow--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/b_cowboy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='b_cowboy.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Friends,
Vigil Public Opinion Forum, Chennai ( www.vigilonline.com) is bringing out a book titled "NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds: Anti-Nation Industry". It is packed with data about some very well-known USA, UK and India-based NGOs and "social activists" and human rights industrialists who receive extensive foreign support - and convincingly documents their anti-India agenda and their total lack of accountability.
The book is hardcover, will be out in July, and is priced at Rs 500Â (incl of p&h for within India) and USD 25 (incl of p&h for outside India).Â
All orders for the book may be placed with radharajan7@gmail.com with complete postal address including your telephone number because the book will be couriered to you.
By Tuesday next week, I will be able to tell you in whose favour the cheque or DD ought to be made.
As the book's blurb notes, this is "a must-read and a wake-up call for all patriotic Indians and well-wishers of India ."Â
Thank you,
Radha Rajan
PS
The back cover blurb and the Contents page of the book are given below for your information.
<b>"An explosive book that documents in convincing detail the treasonous agenda of some of our leading NGOs and activists. </b>
There are hundreds of NGOs working with great dedication amongst the culturally and economically backward sections of our society motivated only by the inspiring vision to transform social attitudes and the quality of life of the people amongst whom they live and work. This book is not about them.
This book is about NGOs and activists whose so-called peace and human rights activism cloaks deep political ambitions and objectives â political ambitions not just restricted to participating or influencing electoral politics but aimed at shaping the character and direction of Indian polity in a manner which derives from their warped notion of the Indian nation. Their political ambitions and activism are essentially undemocratic and anti-Indian nation. Their grassroots activism in many instances is only a fig-leaf for political activism, well-funded through an inflow of foreign money.
This book exposes the political and anti-nation agenda of some very well-known NGOs and activists, and clearly reveals their foreign sponsorships, donors and funds. It proves their double standards and their total absence of public accountability, and emphasises the urgent need for the Government of India to ensure a vigorous mechanism to counter this anti-nation industry.Â
A must-read and a wake-up call for all patriotic Indians and well-wishers of India."
<b>CONTENTS</b>
Foreword
Introduction: De-Hinduising the Indian Nation <i>Radha Rajan </i>
NGOs: Description and Regulations <i>R Vaidyanathan </i>
Social Movements to Totalitarianism: The role of NGOs <i>Veera Vaishnava</i>
"Yesterday Once More": a FOIL Primer <i>Narayanan Komerath </i>
The Lashkar-e-Pinocchio Rides Again <i>Narayanan Komerath </i>
Scoring Against Paganism: Untangling the Manderweb <i>Krishen Kak</i>
NGOs and Activists: Singing for their Supper <i>Radha Rajan</i>
ASHA Projects: Where does all the money go? <i>Nirupama Rajan and Radha Rajan</i>
Closing Word: Who is afraid of the Hindu nation? <i>George Thundiparambil</i>
<b>Appendices</b>
The California Textbook Issue <i>Vishal Agarwal </i>
Modi's visa denial: Who did it? <i>B Raman</i>
List of signatories against the Prime Minister's comment re the Gujarat chief minister
List of signatories â Promise of India Appeal
Indian Muslim Council's First National Convention
The Peshawar Declaration
USCIRF special hearing on the Gujarat riots â names of attendees, and an excerpt from the Justice Tewatia report on the same riotsÂ
Two contrasting approaches to the USCIRF and the US State Department
Important data on terrorist atrocities in J&K
Getting it right on J&KÂ <i>Arvind Lavakere</i>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
x-post
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Â
<b>NBA 'anti-national acts' under SC scanner </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Anti-dam crusader Medha Patkar received a nasty jolt on Friday when the Supreme Court admitting a plea to investigate the anti-national activities of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) issued notices to the Centre, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh Governments, to respond on actions taken against Patkar's organisation. <!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Hearing a public interest litigation filed by a non-government organisation, the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), the Bench of Chief Justice YK Sabharwal and Justice CK Thakker also issued notices to NBA and one Rahul Banerjee, alleged to be a close associate of NBA. <b>Banerjee was arrested by the Madhya Pradesh police for receiving foreign funds on behalf of NBA into his bank accounts.</b>
However, the Bench restrained from making Patkar a party in the case and served a notice through the NBA as sufficient material was not found personally against her. The court also did not entertain the petitioner's plea to let Central Bureau of Investigation investigate the case. The Bench opined that the stage had not yet arrived.
The petition was based on allegations against NBA in a vigilance report prepared by the Madhya Pradesh Government following an incident of firing in which four persons were killed. Police had swooped down on Rahul Banerjee, a close associate of <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>NBA and seized several documents from his possession which indicated that the organisation had received US $ 42,000 from McArthur Foundation (USA) and Oxfam (UK) and Goldman Foundation.</span>
The petition alleged these funds were used for running <b>NBA secretariats and Jan Sahyog trusts and for lobbying in its favour in the USA</b>. The vigilance report further indicated that a sum of more than <b>Rs 35 lakh was deposited in various fictitious accounts maintained by Banerjee. </b>In this regard, a first information report (FIR) was lodged in the State.
Raising its concern over the alleged "anti-national" activities of NBA, the petitioner through counsel Amar Dave contended that despite such serious charges being framed in the vigilance report, no action was being initiated against Patkar or the NGO by the State Governments.
<b>The petition also highlights a slew of FIRs pending against Patkar for organising attacks on Government officials and creating hurdles in the smooth implementation of the various Government projects by vandalising rehabilitation centres, schools and hospitals. In this regard, the petitioner demanded the State Governments to submit an action taken report (ATR) based on the vigilance report and the investigation conducted.</b>
<b>In the past, the Madhya Pradesh Government in its affidavit submitted before the Supreme Court had conceded the role of NBA in discouraging people from taking up the rehabilitation packages offered by the State in lieu of displacement caused on account of construction of dam over river Narmada</b>. Expressing satisfaction over the Supreme Court's verdict, NCCL president VK Saxena said, "this is a step in the right direction." Commenting on notices being issued by the court to NBA and Banerjee, he commented, <b>"this has vindicated our stand that the NBA is engaging in anti-national activities which requires thorough investigation</b>."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why is a Delhi-based South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre under review? Why are Europeans involved? Anyone know details about this organization?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->NGOs on EU fraud buster list
CHARU SUDAN KASTURI
New Delhi, June 26: The European Unionâs anti-fraud unit, OLAF, has welcomed proposals made by the Planning Commission seeking to regulate the functioning and funding of non-government organisations.
The Planning Commission recently submitted these suggestions to the government in the form of a draft national paper, which is being considered by the Centre.
In the past couple of years, OLAF has been monitoring several Indian NGOs, which it believes could be involved in financial fraud worth millions of euros in connection with grants made by the European Union. It has been carrying out its investigations in India in tandem with the Union home ministry.
Calling the proposals a positive move, OLAF said their implementation would help eliminate illegal international transfer of donations by NGOs. âWhile we cannot comment on any political implication of the proposals, it is a very good move,â Joerge Wojahn of OLAF said over phone from the organisationâs headquarters in Brussels.
The Planning Commissionâs recommendations suggest that all voluntary organisations should compulsorily file with the government documents relating to their constitution, composition, membership and financial accounts.
Tighter administrative and penal procedures, which would help sieve out illegal transfers from legal ones, have also been suggested.
A distinction between public utility organisations dependent on fees â such as private schools and hospitals â and public benefit organisations dependent on grants under the Income Tax Act has also been drawn out in the paper to prevent tax evasion.
Recently, NGOs based in India have come under the EUâs scanner for seeking to bypass the strict regulations of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976, which monitors the receipt of foreign contribution in the country.
For instance, OLAF is examining allegations against the <b>Delhi-based South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre</b>, run by activist Ravi Nair, for fraud of over half a million euros.
The centre had won a contract worth 428,760 euros in 2001 and, subsequently, another worth 91, 200 euros from the EU for strengthening human rights organisations in 13 Asian countries. It also bagged contracts of £384,000 from the UK-based Department for International Development in February 2003 and worth $150,000 from the Ford Foundation in 2004.
However, the centre, registered as a public charitable trust, does not have clearance under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, required to transfer the grants to India.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Four-fold menace - A nexus of enveloping evil-II
V SUNDARAM, Newstoday, 28 July 2006
The weapon of Ahimsa which Mahatma Gandhi used against the
British was a complex weapon which he used with mixed results. Viewed
in retrospect, no one can doubt that it did put the colonial British
Administration in a tight spot on many occasions. At the same time, no
one can also question the fact that it dampened the fire of
resistance, characteristic of Hindu society which had waged a
relentless war of resistance and survival for almost 1200 years
against the successive waves of Muslim invasion and occupation.
The method of Ahimsa also proved completely ineffective as a
tool of engagement with the Muslims. As Radha Rajan puts it
succinctly: 'Gandhiji's unflinching insistence on Ahimsa as the only
tool in the war for freedom robbed the Indian resistance movement of
its ferocity and sting because Hindu nationalists who tried to make
the British pay with their blood for the sins of their
Christian-colonial Rule were morally de-legitimised. The Congress'
accommodation bordering on self-destructive (for Hindus only!)
indulgence of Muslims in the Indian National Congress and their
growing clout in national politics was the direct fall out of
disarming and disempowering the Hindus. Along with Nehru's perverted
indulgence of the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, this dealt the Hindus
two mortal blows, one resulting in the vivisection of India and the
other culminating in the genocide of Hindus of Jammu and Kashmir.
Hindus paid the price for their forced powerlessness; Hindu baiters
tasted blood.' http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul-im...07Ta-1.jpg
After the bloody partition of 1947, the sovereign mission of
de-Hinduising our nation continued in the guise of Nehruvian
Secularism or Nehruvian Stalinism. This essentially anti-national and
positively pro-Nehru family philosophy has been accorded the status of
high philosophy, even superior to the 'communal' Advita philosophy of
Adi Sankara!
While the Congress Party under Nehru and Indira Gandhi were
committed to the philosophy of de-Hinduising the nation and
de-nationalising the Hindus, several NGOs backed by global forces of
Christianity and Islam and several Western powers like Britain and USA
entrenched themselves in India after 1955. Later, the Communist
Parties of India came to realise the significance of the role of NGOs
in modifying or altering the basic structures and contours of our
polity and consequently several NGOs wedded to the philosophy of
Marxism on paper also joined the fray in this game of de-Hinduisation
of India and de-nationalisation of the Hindus. The avant-garde book
edited by Radha Rajan and Krishen Kak: 'NGOs, ACTIVISTS AND FOREIGN
FUNDS: Anti-National Industry' brings out the solid truth that many of
these NGOs and activists functioning cosily under the safe umbrella of
so called peace and human rights activism, cleverly cloak their deep
political ambition and objectives - political ambitions not just
restricted to participating or influencing electoral politics but
aimed at shaping the character and direction of Indian polity in a
manner which flows from their warped anti-Hindu, anit-Sanatana Dharma
notion of the Indian Nation. Their political ambitions and activism
are essentially undemocratic and anti-Indian Nation. Their grass roots
activism in many instances is only a fig-leaf for political activism,
well funded through an inflow of foreign money. Eminent scholars like
R Vaidyanathan, Veera Vaishnava, Narayanan Menon Komerath, Krishen
Kak, Nirupama Rajan, George Thondiparambil, Vishal Agarwal, B Raman,
and Arvind Lavakare have contributed seminal articles on the
subterranean role of national sabotage being played by many of these
famous NGOs and the great activists who have won all the global awards
excepting perhaps the Nobel Prize. These fearless scholars expose the
political and anti-national agenda of some very well-known NGOs and
activists and clearly reveal their foreign sponsorships, donors and
funds. It proves their double-standard and their total absence of
public accountability and stress the urgent public need for the
Government of India to ensure a vigorous mechanism to counter this
anti-nation and anti-national industry which has spread to all parts
of India like the most virulent form of terminal cancer. The NGOs that
have been brought under scrutiny include FOIL, AID, ACTIONAID,
PARIVARTAN, and ASHA.
One of the essays in this igniting book is by R Vaidyanathan
entitled 'NGOs: Description and Regulations'. According to him, one of
the largest members of the Indian Economic Action Scene is the NGO
sector - what is known as the Third Sector (other than Government and
Private) in academic circles. What is a non-Government organization
(NGO)? A NGO is any voluntary, non-profit, service-oriented citizens'
group which is organized on a local, national or international basis.
It can be registered as a Society, Trust or Section 25 Company. The
following tables (Table-1 to Table-4) give a synoptic view of the NGO
landscape as a whole in India today (pages 41 to 44 of the book under
review):
Source: India's Invisibles; RBI Bulletin, March 2005.
We don't have exact figures relating to the number of persons
employed in these nearly 28,500 NGOs in India. One estimate puts it at
19.4 million with West Bengal (1.52 Million), Tamilnadu (1.49 Million)
and Delhi (1.03 million) in the forefront.
We should not forget the fact that the total number of
Government employees is roughly only 20 million in India (Central,
State and Local Bodies).
Vaidyanathan rightly concludes: 'The type of activities in
which the NGOs are involved are mind-boggling. It indicates that the
range of concerns of the Third Sector of the NGOs is as large as that
of sovereign States'.
All the essays in the book under review bring out the unknown
aspects of truth about many of the known Kaikayees, Thadagais,
Duryodanas, Dushasanas, Kamsans, Hiranya Kashipus and other such
globe-trotting Rakshasas and Rakshasis in the world of Indian NGOs
today. http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul-im...07Ta-2.jpg
I can see from the material presented in this book that many
of them would eminently qualify for the following historic testimonial
to the contemporary members of the Democratic Party in his time in
USA, given by Walt Whitman (1819-1892), the great Poet of American
Democracy: The members who composed it (any Democratic Party National
Convention prior to the Civil War) were seven-eighths of them, the
meanest kind of bawling and blowing officeholders, office-seekers,
pimps, malignants, conspirators, murderers, fancy-men, custom-house
clerks, contractors, kept-editors, spaniels well-trained to carry and
fetch, jobbers, disunionists, terrorists, mail-riflers,
slave-catchers, pushers of slavery, creatures of creatures of the
President, creatures of would-be Presidents, spies, bribers,
compromisers, lobbyers, sponges, ruined sports, expelled gamblers,
policy-backers, Monte-dealers, duelists, carriers of concealed
weapons, deaf men, pimpled men, scarred inside with vile disease,
gaudy outside with gold chains made from the people's money and
harlots' money twisted together; crawling, serpentine men, the lousy
combinings and BORN FREEDOM-SELLERS of the earth.
This is not the end, not even the beginning of the end, but
only the end of the beginning.
A report on NGO screwballs and their Hawala schemes
----------------------------------------
dailypioneer.com 08/08/06
Put NGOs under RTI scalpel
Sandhya Jain
The $50,000 Magsaysay Award was recently conferred upon Arvind Kejriwal, a former Indian Revenue Service officer campaigning for the Right to Information (RTI). Though several Indians have received this prize from Philippines, not many citizens are aware that this is actually an American award for Asians. Set up by the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, most of the purse comes from the Ford Foundation.
The citation does not say when Mr Kejriwal resigned from service, but mentions his association with Parivartan, an entity campaigning for RTI. Mr Kejriwal was in service when he was with Parivartan, which is not a registered NGO (a Society, Trust, or S.25 Company). Under income tax, it is an Association of Persons (AoP), a coming together of persons with a profit-motive so that members can share its income, unlike in a registered society. The Parivartan website conceals its AoP, barring one Manish Sisodia (part-time volunteer, founder-member and treasurer), and terms of association, yet demands a level of transparency from governmental agencies that is not in vogue anywhere in the world.
In a timely study on some of India's most exalted conscience-keepers, Radha Rajan and Krishen Kak argue for public scrutiny of those who hold society or government to ransom, usually at the behest of foreign sponsors (NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds. Anti-Nation Industry, Vigil Public Opinion Forum, 2006). Kak's meticulous research shows that in FY 2002-03, Parivartan showed receipts for Rs 2,02,489 (Rs 2,01,889 are donations); the total expenditure is Rs 1,88,164, of which salaries take Rs 1,14,000. The only 'programme cost' is Rs 35,945 on a 'jan sunwai' public hearing), and the rest is standard administrative expense.
However, Parivartan claims its annual fixed costs are approximately Rs six lakh, and programme costs are "partly funded through collections from the community itself including poor people and the shortfall is made good by raising funds from outside". Its website does not say if these funds are included in the receipts statement and if receipts are issued for small sums given by poor people. Yet it wants to make the Government of India accountable to itself on behalf of the "people of India".
Radha Rajan argues that many high-profile NGOs serve America's vision of a post-Cold-War world order. Hence they advocate 'communal harmony' in India even as jihad batters the Hindu community, and promote 'peace' with Pakistan despite its formidable terrorist infrastructure. <span style='color:red'>They are essentially political activists using social activism as a mask for their crusade against an independent nationalist India. Thus they are invariably anti-Government of India, anti-military, anti-police, anti-nuclear, and, of course, anti-Hindu.</span>
America uses the Magsaysay and other awards to legitimise its loyalists. Indian Magsaysay awardees include Mahasweta Devi (1997), Aruna Roy and Martin Macwan (2000), Sandeep Pandey (2002), Nirmala Deshpande and Admiral Ramdas (2005). Then, Praful Bidwai and Achin Vanaik received the Sean Macbride Peace Prize (2000) and Arundhati Roy the Sydney Peace Prize (2004). In neighbouring Nepal, journalist Bharat Koirala got the Magsaysay in 2002 for unleashing the anti-Hindu process there. Today, a Christian Prachanda has taken over the country by terrorising the effete political parties and the king is a virtual prisoner.
Krishen Kak's expose of Harsh Mander (Scoring Against Paganism: Untangling the Manderweb) is a warning to the Government about the monetary subversion of serving officers by foreign regimes. In March 2002, Mander, an IAS officer, became an international celebrity when he attacked the communal violence in Gujarat (after 58 Hindus were burnt alive at Godhra) in an article in a leading newspaper. Feted in the West, he claimed he had resigned from the IAS on moral grounds.
This was a deliberate falsehood, says Kak, as Mander was serving the politico-communal agenda of ActionAid, his British employer. Mander had managed a profitable deputation to ActionAid, getting part payment in pound sterling in return for scuttling a government enquiry into its communal agenda in India.
Managing to ward off moves to end his deputation, Mander took voluntary retirement only on completing pensionable service. He sought retirement benefits to the tune of up to a million rupees; the Government stipulated that he cease working for ActionAid; he refused and continued demanding retirement benefits. When Kak publicly challenged the lie that he had resigned on moral grounds, Mander quickly modified his rhetoric.
ActionAid's communal agenda may well be the inspiration for the UPA's Sachar Committee, and shows how foreign agendas are wormed into the topmost echelons of power. It recently initiated a study to sensitise the public and civil society activists about "the dismal economic, educational and social conditions of the Muslim masses". Of course, ActionAid conducted no similar study about Hindu survivors in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
ActionAid used Mander to connect over 300 voluntary agencies. Its patronage extended to Aruna Roy of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and National Campaign of People's Right to Information (NCPRI). The MKSS takes foreign institutional support in kind to evade reporting its funds under FCRA. The MKSS-approved Lok Shikshan Sansthan states that FCRA money can be sent to its founder-NGO Prayas or to the Roy-connected SWRC Tilonia "and it would be transferred to our organisation's account." Very interesting!
Kak's research has uncovered an hitherto unknown entity patronised by Mander-ActionAid. This is the "unstructured organisation", which solicits public money but does not say if it is registered and how it banks the money. Shabnam Hashmi's ANHAD (with Mander, KN Panikkar and Shubha Mudgal) is one such body. So is the Aman Ekta Manch, Aman Samudaya, Aman Jathas, Aman Pathiks. Mander's Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan, funded by ActionAid, does not reveal the names of the core team of eleven professionals, or its accounts.
The disturbing aspect of these unregistered unstructured organisations is their complete lack of accountability or legal scrutiny regarding foreign donations. Ex-IAS officers and ex-judges often provide respectability and protection to such dubious bodies in return for post-retirement sinecures. It is a vicious and dangerous circle.
Russia learnt the hard way that unmonitored West-funded NGOs triggered the spate of revolutions in the former Soviet Republics and out them under the scanner. The majesty of the Indian state cannot be subordinated to hupny-tupny rabble-rousers funded by the West. The Government should immediately bring all activists under the RTI scalpel; this will literally scalp them.
NEW DELHI: Right to information crusader Arvind Kejriwal, the winner of the 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Award for "empowering New Delhi's poorest citizens to fight corruption", believes that graft is just a symptom of India's larger problem - the lack of participatory democracy.
"In a great country like India, corruption is just a symptom of a greater social malice. The real problem lies with our democratic practices. I think people in India need a complete switchover from representative democracy to participatory democracy," Kejriwal, 38, said in an interview.
"Unless people get their share in decision- making, it would be very difficult to get the tag of world leader. We believe that every single person needs to be empowered, and the Right to Information (RTI) Act is a potent tool to empower the poorest of the poor," the former government officer told IANS.
An Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur graduate, Kejriwal became an Indian Revenue Service officer before resigning in February this year. He launched Parivartan, an NGO he calls a "people's movement", in 2,000 to help citizens in Delhi to fight for their rights.
Speaking about his selection as one of the six luminaries to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award, he said: "For me, it's not a ticket to fame, but rather recognition of all those associated with the RTI movement. It's recognition of the work not of any individual."
In the citation, the Manila-based awards committee said: "The brazen corruption of the high and the mighty may grab headlines, but for ordinary people it is the ubiquity of everyday corruption that weighs heaviest. And that demoralizes. Arvind Kejriwal, founder of India's Parivartan, understands this, which is why his campaign for change begins with the small things."
The award will be presented Aug 31 in Manila.
Asked what next, Kejriwal said: "My first target is to stop the government from amending the RTI Act. Next I would like to promote the concept of local self-government in the national capital. Like 'gram sabhas', we would like to see 'nagar sabhas'."
NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds: Anti-Nation Industry
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Vigil book notes the presence in the country's National Advisory
Council of a member "who, for well over a decade, is on a foreign
payroll - a huge and steady monthly income disguised as an
advisorship" (p.134). He's still there. Who is this mole, oops,
member with access to inside data of our government's plans and
policies?
Will our Nehruvian-secular government reveal from where have been,
over the last 10 years, the primary sources of income of its NAC
member Dr AK Shiva Kumar?****
But why should the government do so? Its prime minister (the de jure
one) himself has close foreign links - and this is not about just his
foreign pension equivalent of Rs 2.5 lakhs a month ( http://www.hvk.org/articles/0504/104.html ).
Take the National Foundation for India - NFI ( http://www.nfi.org.in/
,
data from its website as on Aug 22, 2006) that, set up in 1992,
calls itself "a non-profit making charitable trust". Its first listed
aim is "to raise funds both nationally and internationally...". Donor
information is only till 2002-03, and donation amounts only for
2002-2003. We are now in 2006. Its international donors include the
Rockefeller Foundation (amount not stated) and the Ford Foundation
(USD 100,000); its national donors include a number of government
departments It has a colloboration since 2002 with ASHA - Stanford
(donor amount not stated), and had "partnered" the post-Godhra Aman
Charitable Trust, Delhi, giving it Rs 3,30,000 in 2002-03 to keep
going till, in expectation of FCRA clearance, the latter could receive
USD 100,000 from the Ford Foundation. The Aman Charitable Trust,
notwithstanding all that money, does not appear to have its own
website, though the NFI tells us it "was set up by a group of eminent
peace activists...with the objective to work proactively towards
conflict resolution through research, workshops and advocacy". The
Aman (Public?) Charitable Trust also received USD 6,750 from the
America-based Association for India's Development (AID) in the
category "Peace Efforts" ( http://www.aidprojects.org/ngos-view-1.asp...275&login=guest ). It
is not an unreasonable assumption, given the Aman name (Vigil, p.136
), the America-connection, so much American money and so much peace
activism, that one of the "peace activists" involved is Harsh Mander.
The Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, AID, ASHA, Harsh
Mander, all illuminate the pages of the Vigil book.
So where does our prime minister (the de jure one, remember) link into
all this?
Note the trustees of the National Foundation for India, as listed on
the NFI website, Aug 22, 2006:
Mr Kiran Karnaik (Chairman)
Dr M S Swaminathan
Mr N Ram
Dr Manmohan Singh MP
Ms Sayeda Hamid
Ms Patricia Mukim
Mr P Sainath
Ms Anita Rampal
Prof. Andre Beteille
Ms Malika Sarabai
Mr Deepak Parekh
Representative: The Ford Foundation
Dr Manmohan Singh, MP. That's right. Dr Manmohan Singh, PM. In
company with other distinguished Nehruvian secularists and all of them
in company with the representative of the Ford Foundation. All of
them trustees of the National Foundation for India. You and I, aam
admi, wanting to meet our prime minister, may not even be allowed
within hailing distance of him. The representative of the Ford
Foundation (a foreign institution actively engaged in influencing our
country's politics - Vigil, p.27) sits with him at the same table,
helping him receive foreign money to dole it out within the country.
And, fellow Hindustanis, the NAC and the NFI are just one instance
each of our country's de facto prime minister and our country's de
jure prime minister as links in the web of NGOs, activists and foreign
funds that is an anti-nation industry.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Think about the following link: "From 1986 through 2004, the MacArthur
Foundation provided 170 grants totaling more than $28 million to
people and organizations in India" ( http://www.macfound.org.in/newpage3.htm ). Guess who heads this
American foundation's India office. Poonam Muttreja. Poonam who? AK
Shiva Kumar's wife! Yup, the same Shiva Kumar with inside access to
national data. Must make for interesting pillow-talk between husband
and wife.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Three cheers </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Send dubious NGOs packing
The statement of Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss seeking to clear the pesticide controversy in cola drinks must be seen in its proper perspective. It is nobody's case to argue that groundwater which softdrink manufacturers use is unpolluted. In fact, groundwater is contaminated. The same water goes into producing rice; but how many NGOs have come forward demanding a ban on cereals and related products? The separation of pesticide residue from water in the pre-treatment stage is a process that is constantly undergoing improvement. The cola companies have their reputations to protect and, while this is not to a hold a brief for them, their claims about conforming to international standards have to be taken at their face value. <b>The disturbing bit of news is that certain dubious NGOs would prefer the imposition of 'national standards' - as decided by them - which would ostensibly be a notch higher even than the global ones. While this sounds glib and enticing, one must guard against its flip side</b>. For, whenever national food safety standards are over-emphasised, they end up creating non-tariff barriers to imports and free trade. During the Uruguay Round, the Western benefactors of sundry desi NGOs tried to drum up a campaign on the necessity of protecting consumers from harmful foods from 'ecologically unsafe' places which might flood the international market as a result of the 'dumbing down' of safety standards. GATT's decision to revive Codex Alimentarius - an international benchmark agreed upon by Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation - was condemned by the so-called green brigade. Perhaps the failure of their attempts led to the realisation that better results would accrue if such campaigns were started in developing countries. Thus, one saw a flurry of protests in European capitals against made-in-India carpets and American ban on Darjeeling tea. Now, in a curious inverse cycle, cola plants are being targeted. Why, indeed, this belated interest in aerated water when there are so many other instances of pesticide invasion? Does the Centre for Science and Environment - the exemplar of what ails the Indian NGO movement - want Indians to glow with health, drinking water from the Arctic ice-caps?
Finally, it's about time the Government set national benchmarks for such tests instead of allowing hysterical NGOs to cloud the issues and confuse the people. The trend of individual State Governments taking their own stand on colas is ludicrous, and this must be made to stop. <b>If people in Marxist West Bengal can drink colas to their health, there is no reason why their comrades in Kerala must buy the same stuff in black market. Tens of thousands of people who make a living from the cola industry in different parts of the country would be ruined by a handful for whom aid is more important than trade</b>.
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<!--emo&:ind--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/india.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='india.gif' /><!--endemo--> Indian NGO chosen for US award
[ 26 Aug, 2006 0802hrs ISTPTI ]
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WASHINGTON: An Indian NGO from Maharashtra is among nine organisations, which have been selected by a well known US foundation for the first MacArthur awards for Creative and Effective Institutions.
The awardees, chosen from five countries by the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, will be honoured at a function in Chicago on October 5.
The Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) of Maharashtra will get the award of USD 300,000 (about Rs 1.35 crores) for running one of the most successful programmes that trains women in villages to diagnose newborns as well as in educating mothers.
Based in the poorest semi-tribal district of Gadchiroli in the state of Maharashtra, SEARCH offers public health programmes serving 86 villages with a total population of 100,000.
"During a seven-year period, the programme reduced the neo-natal mortality rate by 70 percent, post-partum maternal morbidity by nearly 50 percent, and the need for emergency obstetrical care by 30 per cent," the Foundation has said in a press statement.
The MacArthur award will also help support a new research centre to study maternal morbidity and young people's sexual and reproductive health in India.
The MacArthur foundation, well known for its MacArthur Fellows Programme, has a long history of building institutions from Human Rights Watch, now the largest US-based human rights organization, to the World Resources Institute, the environmental think tank.
<b>`Aura of democracy waning in country'</b>
Staff Reporter
Common man's voice in the overall governance was on the decline
Medha Patkar
NEW DELHI: Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar said here on Thursday that the "aura" of democracy was waning in the country and common man's voice in the overall governance of the country was on the decline.
For democracy to be really meaningful, it was vital that the tribals, the farmers and the labourers were brought into the loop of "decentralised management" and "participatory functioning", she said.
`Preserve resources'
Delivering the Eighth D. S. Borker Memorial Lecture on "My Vision of India 2047 A.D." here, Ms. Patkar called upon one and all to come forward in preserving natural resources and join the revolution that would retain India's pristine structure and banish the "ugly monster" of corporate development.
The NBA leader said she feared that the dream might just remain a dream, going by the present governance style.
She said the very basis of participatory democracy was being consciously marginalised by the tech-savvy "new rulers" by depriving various communities the right to develop, plan and govern the resources they have been living with for ages.
Dubbing the large-scale suicide by farmers in an agrarian country like India exposed the tall claims of "democratic functioning", Ms. Patkar said the peasantry was not just losing its land but also dignity faced as it was with the crude onslaught of market economy.
Calling on people to "act now" as the nation stood at the crossroads, Ms. Patkar said they need to take a stand and that there should be a public debate in this regard with mass participation.
"The time for such a debate is now. Tomorrow, it would be too late for an India of our dreams in 2047," she warned.
<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.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Pioneer, Sept 9, 2006
(the print edn has a photo too)
Regulate NGOs, says Modi
Kriti Nath Jha | New Delhi
The NGOs working across the Indian territory should also be made accountable as most of them receive foreign funds and therefore it's needed that they follow certain norms and regulation, said <b>Gujarat Chief Minister while releasing a book NGOs, Activists And Foreign Funds: Anti-Nation Industry in the Capital on Saturday.</b>Â
<b>"The activists of the NGOs have turned themselves as five-star activists. In USA they are called Limousine Liberals and in the European countries they are better known as Service Entrepreneurs,"</b> said Modi.Â
In our country there has always been a bright tradition and inherent strength for working on the political arena and social sector. The organised efforts to help the masses and needy people to be pooled in a transparent way. So it is need of hour that a legislation to be in place for functioning them. They should declare their financial resources from where they get. The Government should ask them for the accounting of financial aid what they all receive from it and to disclose on annual basis as how much resource they get as human capital and other forms. They should also be asked to give details of the funds as doing shell out on their projects, Modi further said.Â
There is a vicious cycle being run under the cover of NGOs. The fact of matter is that the NGOs are brainwashing the gullible people which is not good for the progress of the country. They shouldn't be allowed as working as police stations of their donor countries and influence the policies of the government for fulfiling the vested interests of such countries that showed largesse on them in hope of getting and lobbying for their undue cause. But while doing so it should be kept in mind that the people with a commitment be given due respect and recognition for their selfless service to the deprived sections of the society, Modi remarked.Â
<b>"The authors Radha Rajan and Krishen Kak in their effort have started a logical and ideological movement by writing the book in their lucid and vivid description in presentation of the facts and putting together them in current pretext,"</b> Modi added.Â
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Among those present at the launch were BJP MP Balbir K Punj, former bureaucrat B Raman and former Punjab police chief KPS Gill.
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I won't trust this guy BJP MP Balbir K Punj if this excerpt from his write up'clash within civilisation' is any indication:
Contrast this with the way social, economic and political tensions are resolved in India, which has the maximum diversity any democracy can withstand. The unrest in States like Mizoram has been resolved, while dialogue and negotiations are on in Nagaland. Linguistic separatism, as in Tamil Nadu in the 1950s, got subsided in the democratic process. Even separatist movement (promoted by Pakistan) in Punjab has since died. Is it because the democratic system of India draws its strength from Hindu ethos, steeped in pluralism and catholic outlook?
bpunj@email.com
I have pointed it out to him though I have not heard anything from him so far.
09-11-2006, 06:23 PM (This post was last modified: 09-11-2006, 06:24 PM by Bodhi.)
<!--QuoteBegin-Capt Manmohan Kumar+Sep 10 2006, 11:28 PM-->QUOTE(Capt Manmohan Kumar @ Sep 10 2006, 11:28 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Is it because the democratic system of India draws its strength from Hindu ethos, steeped in pluralism [/size]and catholic outlook?
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Capton ji, adjective 'catholic outlook' here simply means 'Free from provincial prejudices or attachments'. It does not mean the Catholic sect of Christians. That way Hindus are one of the most catholic people in world.
<!--QuoteBegin-Bodhi+Sep 11 2006, 06:23 PM-->QUOTE(Bodhi @ Sep 11 2006, 06:23 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-Capt Manmohan Kumar+Sep 10 2006, 11:28 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Capt Manmohan Kumar @ Sep 10 2006, 11:28 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Is it because the democratic system of India draws its strength from Hindu ethos, steeped in pluralism [/size]and catholic outlook?
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Capton ji, adjective 'catholic outlook' here simply means 'Free from provincial prejudices or attachments'. It does not mean the Catholic sect of Christians. That way Hindus are one of the most catholic people in world.
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<!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo--> If u say so, Bodhi, I will let him go provided none of u is looking towards Sonia; moreover, v don't know whether this is same Balbir as MP Balbir.
<b>Shabana 1st Indian to win Gandhi Peace Prize</b>
Indrani Mitra Roy | September 11, 2006 14:58 IST
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Shabana Azmi makes every Indian stand six inches taller </span>as she becomes the first Indian to receive the prestigious International Gandhi Peace Prize for her contribution in social work.
Previous recipients of this award include Nobel Laureates, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The award is granted by the London-based Gandhi Foundation. The actor's husband, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar, will accompany her to the award ceremony in London, where she will also deliver the annual Gandhi lecture at the House of Lords on October 26.
India: Of, by, and for NGOs
This title can be slightly odidied as:
<b>"Indian and Foreign NGOs Of, by and for USA and the West mainly"!</b>
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp...t&writer=mishra
Many are aware of the book written against these foreign and local SPIES.
The best person to comment on it is none other than the hon'ble Gujarat CM,himself.
The exploitation of RELIGIOUS and INDIVIDUAL FREEDOMS,Human Rights and DEMOCRACY,to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations,by the USA and the West,should be condemned in no uncertain terms.
I am posting full article,
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Modi's prescription for NGOs must be heeded</b>
Pioneer.com
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has initiated a debate on the role of NGOs. Should NGOs be regulated and held accountable? While releasing a book, "NGOs, Activists and Foreign Funds - Anti-Nation Industry" edited by Radha Rajan and Krishen Kak, he said the opinion in this regard is firming up the worldover.<b> In America, these NGOs are termed as Limousine Liberals, in Europe they are described as Service Entrepreneurs. In the Indian context, Narendra Modi described them as Five-Star Activists, who travel by air, in the business class, and stay in Five-Star hotels.</b>
Modi was cautious in not clubbing all the NGOs together. He recalled India's great tradition of thousands of organizations that involved themselves in selfless service to the society. Even today, there are lakhs of such organizations genuinely engaged in social service. The elected representatives have been made accountable for their assets and activities by evolving laws. Administrative personnel are also required to periodically submit their statements of assets and liabilities. <b>Modi rightly told the audience that time had come when foreign-funded NGOs must also be regulated by law</b>.
I think no reasonable person can differ with the Gujarat Chief Minister, barring elements having vested interests in the NGO sector. The type of activities of these NGOs engage in, is mindblowing and so is their growing number. <b>The range of concern of this third sector seems to be as large as a sovereign state</b>. According to an RBI bulletin of March 2005, over Rs 3,000 crore poured in the year 2003-2004. Since they are not covered under the Companies Act, they are not required to file their annual report with the registrar. As they are not part of the Government, the CAG of India does not audit their accounts.
Russia has now introduced stringent controls on the NGOs and non-commercial organizations receiving foreign funds. The Hindu, dated December 20, 2005, says, "The Kremlin has learnt its lessons from a string of 'coloured revolutions' in the former Soviet Republics - the 'rose revolution' in Georgia, the 'orange revolution' in Ukraine and the 'tulip revolution' in Kyrgyzstan all inspired and orchestrated by West-funded NGOs. <b>The bill allows NGOs to be shut down if they threaten the country's sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, national unity and originality, cultural heritage and national interests. There is an Act in the USA, called Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and it provides for penalties up to 10 years in jail for anyone acting as a foreign agent. The FARA was originally passed in 1938 to prevent the spread of Nazi ideas and propaganda..." After 9/11 several stringent laws came into operation in the US.</b>
It goes without saying that foreign-funded NGOs must be held accountable by law enacted by the Parliament. Unfortunately, some of the comments appearing in the newspapers have linked Modi's ire with NGOs' attitude towards him, for they opposed him tooth and nail after Godhra and Gujarat riots and dragged him to the Supreme Court.<b> This is a dubious tactic to deviate from the central theme of the need to regulate foreign-funded NGOs and making them accountable. It is a well-known fact that many NGOs went to the extent of opposing the US visa for Narendra Modi.</b>
Former Additional Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India, B Raman, in the book recalled several big riots. He has recounted horrendous atrocities perpetrated by upper castes on lower castes during the Congress regime of K Kamraj and his personal experience about Jabalpur riots, which broke out against molestation of a Hindu girl and continued for long. He also mentioned anti-Sikh riots of 1984.
He further states, <b>"How does one judge whether the police acted firmly or not in riots between members of two religious communities? From the number of people killed in police firing, it was reported that more Hindus than Muslims died from police bullets during the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002, and also during the anti-Muslim riots in Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s. Does this show culpability on the part of the Gujarat administration?</b>
"If Modi is guilty of violation of human rights of religious minorities, as alleged by the US, so were Narasimha Rao, Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, DP Mishra, and Kamaraj. Why did the US, in its hypocrisy, choose to act against Modi, and never in the past against the others? One reason is that the Christian influence on US policymaking and its political leadership was not as strong in the past as it is today."
NGOs working in India never approached outside international agencies and foreign Governments as they did against Modi. Many NGOs are actively involved in anti-nation activities. Today India is more vulnerable than the Soviet Union or the USA but the fact is that the Indian establishment is totally unmindful about activities of a section of NGOs.
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