http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-editorials/greenpeace-books-are-clean-allegations-wont-stand-well-hold-home-ministry-to-account-samit-aich/
Greenpeace books are clean, allegations won't stand -- we'll hold home ministry to account: Samit Aich May 13, 2015, 12:08 AM IST Greenpeace India is in the eye of a storm after the home ministry froze the NGO's bank accounts. Samit Aich, executive director, Greenpeace India, spoke with Rohit E David about why he thinks Greenpeace is under the scanner, UPA versus NDA on NGOs -- and how Greenpeace plans to navigate this episode: *Why do you think Greenpeace is under scrutiny?* In June last year, a leaked Intelligence Bureau report made an accusation that Greenpeace India had single-handedly reduced India's GDP by a significant amount -- this is patently absurd as we're an organisation of less than 400 people with a small budget. But soon after, funds coming in from Greenpeace International were blocked. We had to revert to the high court. We won the case since the ministry of home affairs (MHA) had absolutely no evidence to support their accusations. But the attacks didn't stop -- soon, one of our colleagues was stopped from travelling to London, taken off the plane, the word 'offload' stamped on her passport. It was later revealed her name was in a lookout circular because she was travelling to London to register her complaint against a UK-registered company with British parliamentarians. On filing a writ petition in the Delhi high court, it was clear MHA had crossed the line by infringing rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India. Thereafter, our bank accounts were blocked and we were accused of a series of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violations. *Please explain your funding sources.* About 70% of our funds come through individual funding from Indian citizens. These are funds we generate through our direct dialogue programme where our street teams spend hours talking about issues we work on and asking for Indian citizens' support. It's against our core values to accept funds from corporations or governments. *How are you planning to save Greenpeace within a month's time?* We've filed our response to the notice issued by MHA and are considering further legal action. We are absolutely confident and have been open and transparent throughout. Our books are clean -- allegations made against us will not stand in a court of law. Beyond our legal work, we'll be doing everything in our power to hold MHA to account. We have thousands of supporters in India who are ready to raise the volume and make this a key question of democracy. We'll work with our civil society allies -- we are all in this together. We're part of India's vibrant civil society and campaign using non-violence and peaceful protest -- if the government wants to shut us down for that, who is next on the chopping block? *The previous government also felt NGOs were anti-development, arresting activists after Kudankulam, etc -- is this now established official thought?* There is absolutely no doubt that the space for dissent started to decline during UPA's regime -- however, now the decline is quite rapid in comparison. Everyday, we read about NGOs being forced to bend to authority. The current government came to power promising progress and development -- but cracking down on NGOs is neither leading to development, nor progress. DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
