----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Fernandes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 12:42 PM Subject: [Goanet]Asian Age
>'British public fooled into funding RSS' ================================= Headline: India refuses visas to charity investigators By: Sam Jones Source: The Guardian (UK). Friday February 27, 2004 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1157275,00.html India refuses visas to charity investigators Sam Jones Friday February 27, 2004 The Guardian The Indian government has refused to grant travel visas to Charity Commission investigators examining a UK-based Hindu charity, the Guardian has learned. The commission began looking into complaints about Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) and its finances in November 2002. HSS, a registered charity that operates from Leicester, aims to "organise the entire Hindu society and to lead it to all round glory of Hindu Dharma and Hindu culture". The commission became interested after allegations surfaced that money raised was not being used for welfare work but to fuel communal violence. A report yesterday by Awaaz, a British-based group campaigning against religious fundamentalism, alleged that the HSS's fundraising arm, Sewa International, has used money collected in the UK for Indian earthquake victims to fund a Hindu extremist group. It claims Sewa International sent £2m collected for victims of the earthquake in Gujarat state in 2001 to its Indian counterpart, Sewa Bharati. Awaaz says that Sewa Bharati is a front for the National Volunteer Corps (RSS) which supports India's ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata party. Last July, the Charity Commission received a letter from the Indian high commission rejecting its request for visas. No reason was given. "We have been in touch with the Indian government to request that they reconsider," said Rebecca Drake of the commission. Dhiraj Shah, a HSS spokesman, said the charity had no links with the RSS and had never given them "a single penny". All the two groups had in common were religious and philosophical beliefs. He said Sewa International raised funds for humanitarian projects, and described the allegations as "false, malicious and politically motivated". ================================== See also: RSS criticises report on misuse of donations Times of India, India - 27 Feb 2004 AHMEDABAD: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has taken strong objection to a report released by Awaaz, a UK-based organisation, which has claimed that donations made by British citizens for the Gujarat earthquake and the Orissa cyclone were actually being used to sponsor anti-minority violence. For full text see: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/525181.cms ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################