Scare-mongering about foreign funding

Journalists aren't generally expected to comment on news in which they figure. But I'm compelled to do so when confronted with a leaked, well-publicised, report by India's Intelligence Bureau which links me to a “conspiracy” by foreign-funded non-governmental organisations to “take down” development projects and halt India's progress.
The leak seems calculated to muzzle NGOs to ram through environmentally harmful projects. The home ministry has already initiated action against Greenpeace-India.
The report is essentially a figment of the IB's imagination. It levels grave allegations against numerous NGOs and individuals. But it's based on cock-and-bull stories and flimsy evidence of the “subversive” activities of NGOs opposed to nuclear and coal-based projects and genetically modified (GM) crops.
The report's premise is that the thousands of Indian activists who oppose these out of conviction have no independent minds; “the foreign hand” must instigate them.  The premise is fundamentally wrong. Nuclear power is deeply unpopular globally and in India, particularly post-Fukushima. The Indian government itself admits that burning coal is the greatest driver of climate change, which gravely threatens humanity.
The report baselessly claims that NGO activities inflict a loss on India's economy equivalent to 2%-3% of GDP. But a far greater loss is wrought by environmental destruction/degradation. The World Bank estimates it at 5.7% of GDP. The Energy and Resources Institute estimates it at 7% to10% -- higher than India's current growth rate!
Environmental NGOs perform a public service by reducing this loss. Yet, the IB accuses them of forming anti-national “territorial networks” controlled by “one superior network” guided by “renowned activists.” It doesn't cite an iota of evidence in support.
The report charges the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which campaigns against the Koodankulam nuclear plant, with illegally accepting foreign funding. But income-tax authorities found no irregularities in PMANE's accounts. Its convenor S.P. Udayakumar put all its transactions on a website.
The IB weaves another conspiracy theory. It says a German “contact” (Hermann Rainer Sonntag) emailed Udayakumar a map showing India's nuclear sites and the contact details of 50 activists, comprising “eminent persons including Praful Bidwai, Achin Vanaik, Admiral Ramdas…”
These maps are available on official websites. Udayakumar has known us for years and didn't need our contact details from Sonntag. He also denies receiving his email. The IB gives no evidence that he's wrong. The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, with which we are associated, established in 2000, accepts no foreign, corporate or government funding.
Going by the information it contains, the IB report was commissioned by the Manmohan Singh government, which never hid its antipathy towards the opponents of Koodankulam and G.M. Singh accused them of acting at the behest of Western interests -- without a shred of evidence. His government summarily deported or refused visas to more than half-a-dozen foreign nationals. But if it had evidence against Sonntag, it should have prosecuted him.
To please the new government, the IB sycophantically plagiarised a 2006 anti-NGO speech by Narendra Modi. For good measure, it also added Gujarat-based environmental NGOs to the list of villains.
Remarkably, the report fails to show that any NGOs acted illegally or violated the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. FCRA was imposed by Indira Gandhi during the Emergency out of her paranoid belief that “certain foreign powers” wanted to destabilise her. FCRA banned funding for political parties, trade unions, the media, etc.
Getting an FCRA permit has never been easy, and usually takes two years or longer thanks to close, careful screening. Only 39,000 of India's two million-plus NGOs have such permits. FCRA was amended in 2010, restricting permits to five years and debarring groups from “political actions”, including “bandhs, hartals, rasta roko, rail roko, or jail bharo.”  These are all nonviolent democratic forms of protest, recognised around the world as legitimate.
Having failed to find grounds for legal action against NGOs under FCRA, the IB has resorted to spinning fairy-tales based on innuendoes and guilt by association. The leaking of the report is clearly linked to the government's declared intention to fast-track industrial projects by subverting environmental regulations. This reveals blatant double-standards: oppose genuine NGOs, but rely on imported reactors and 100% FDI in defence production.
Besides, millions of dollars have been poured into Sangh Parivar coffers by India Development and Relief Fund (US) and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (UK).
Muzzling NGOs is unbecoming of a democracy. Self-confident democracies should encourage, indeed applaud, the involvement of citizens' associations in social-political decision-making and development planning.  Instead, India's paranoid government bullies them.
This raises serious issues about the IB. It was created to serve the colonial government, without a clear legal framework or charter of duties. After Independence, it continued to maintain close links with its parent, the MI5. Recently released documents show that it cooperated with it to spy on VK Krishna Menon, India's former High Commissioner to the UK.
The IB has been abused by successive governments to further their narrow political agendas. This must end. The IB should be brought under Parliamentary supervision in keeping with the practice in accountable democracies -- without delay.

The writer is an eminent Indian columnist.