HEADLINE = Why NGOs pose a mortal danger to India

STRAP = Indian NGOs in cahoots with their controllers in Washington, London and Scandinavia are
working overtime to prevent Indias rise as a major power.

Its official. Western governments are tirelessly working behind the scenes in a bid to arrest Indias
economic growth and keep it in a state of perennial under development. The Intelligence Bureau (IB)
Indias leading internal security agency has submitted a report
(http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/foreign-aided-ngos-are-actively-stalling-
development-ib-tells-pmo-in-a-report/) to newly-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, identifying
several foreign-funded non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are negatively impacting
economic development.
The 21-page IB report reveals that a significant number of Indian NGOs, funded by some donors based
in the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries, have been noticed to be using
people centric issues to create an environment which lends itself to stalling development projects.
Further, in 2014 the NGOs plan to up the ante by targeting vital projects such as the Delhi-Mumbai
Industrial Corridor, Gujarats Special Investment Regions and the Par Tapi Narmada River Interlinking
Project.
The report adds: Foreign donors lead local NGOs to provide field reports which are used to build a
record against India and serve as tools for the strategic foreign policy interests of the Western
government.
To be sure, this isnt the first time the country has been warned about the foreign hand. In February
2012, at the height of the protests against the Russian-built nuclear power station in Kudankulam, Tamil
Nadu, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh uncharacteristically railed
(http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-02-25/news/31099791_1_ngos-kudankulam-
project-home-ministry) against the protesters, saying Indias atomic energy programme had got into
difficulties because of mostly US-based NGOs.
The day after the PMs comment, central minister V. Narayanaswamy came to the Prime Ministers
defence, saying the contention was based on a home ministry probe. He said, the protests against the
Russian plant are being funded by organisations from the US and Scandinavian countries.
After the PMs accusation, the Home Ministry didnt waste any time in freezing the accounts of four
NGOs, including an Indian Christian group, Tuticorin Diocese Association.
Enemies in our midst
The problem with NGOs is that its hard to tell the good from the bad. Take the Peoples Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL), the countrys largest and oldest human rights group. PUCL was mentored by none
other than Rajindar Sachar, a retired high court judge, who shot to fame after he headed a committee
that filed a report about the state of Indian Muslims.
The Sachar Committee report was widely panned for highlighting poverty among Muslims while ignoring
the fact that poverty was rife among Hindus as well. In 2010 an IB report blew away the PUCLs patina of
altruism. According to the report, PUCL was a front organisation of the outlawed Maoist terrorists.
Said the IB communique:
(http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main44.asp?filename=Ne220510the_crimson.asp) It is after the
front bodies have done the groundwork that the armed activity would start.
An investigation by Open Magazine (http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/business/foreign-
funding-of-ngos) reveals the well-known Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), headed by Sunita
Narain, has some pretty dodgy donors. Between 2006 and 2012 the Delhi-based organisation received
over Rs 67.7 crore, mainly from Denmark-based Dan Church Aid and Germany-based Evangelischer
Entwicklungsdienst EV.
Again, Vandana Shivas Navdanya received Rs 16.7 crore between 2006 and 2012 in foreign donations
from mainly Christian churches and the European Union.
The chances that these organisations are likely to keep Indias interests above that of their church or
European backers appear smaller than small.
Madams hand
The reason why NGOs are able to run amok in India is that until now the country was run virtually by
NGO Raj. The patron saint of the NGO community is Sonia Gandhi, who has sought to make an NGO
headed by her the National Advisory Council a super-government, able to inflict its views on a
government where prominent ministers.are openly subservient to her dictates, writes Madhav
Nalapat, Professor of Geopolitics, Manipal University.
In departments across the system, including in the crucial field of education, the influence of the NGOs
(many of whom get foreign funding and have foreign staff) is all-pervasive, which is why so many
ministers come up with ideas that are designed to wreck what little excellence remains within the
system.
Dangerous drift
There is a small but vocal English speaking lobby in India that wants closer ties with the West,
especially the US. They point out various benefits that would accrue from hitching Indias wagon to the
American engine, such as high technology, security umbrella and democracy.
But the problem is that unlike, say, Russian or Japanese lobbyists, American influence peddlers
represent rabidly right wing groups that dont want US sway in India restricted to trade and diplomacy.
In his book, The Armies Of God, British-born Malaysia-based academic Iain Buchanan looks at how some
of the powerful evangelical outfits operate often as US government proxies in countries such as
Indonesia, Thailand and India. He says, The secular departments of Western governments, whether
they be departments of state or corporate businesses, find such evangelicals to be very effective
partners.
For the targeted country, the consequences are dire. For, the West doesnt stop at mere conversion of
the pagan Hindu. Active Christian proselytisation is often just a small part of the process, says
Buchanan. In addition, there must be infiltration of every sector of influence in a society, from religious
groups to government departments to local charities to private business.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many Western right wing groups were running amok in Russia
trying to shut down the crown jewels of Russian industry. Buchanan says these groups promote a brand
of economics which stresses individual profit, corporate obedience, the sanctity of making money.
The 10-year long rule of Sonia Gandhi and her proxy Manmohan Singh hugely facilitated the rise of
Western NGOs, especially church groups in India. In 2010 Tehelka magazine produced an exhaustive
report (http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main.asp?filename=ts013004qaeda.asp&id=1) on the
American penetration of India via evangelist groups.
US-funded evangelical missions have succeeded in putting in place a loosely tied network of Indian and
international evangelical missions that operate with their blessings and support, but which cannot be
easily traced directly back to them, says the report. Probably, it is this loose structure that has enabled
the US-funded evangelical missions to operate in India, without attracting attention of the intelligence
and police agencies.
Manmohan Singh had once telephoned the outgoing George W. Bush, saying India loves you. But does
the US love India back? According to Tehelka, Bushs closest ally, Pat Robertson (a Southern Baptist
minister), has described Hinduism and Islam as Satanic religions and the worship of these religions is
akin to 'devil worship'. Others have described Varanasi (Indias holiest city) as the seat of Satan.
According to Buchanan, in most new evangelical churches, great attention is paid to a theology of
economics which stresses individual profit, corporate obedience, the sanctity of making money. This
"theology" is a key part of modern imperialism. It ties tightly into the wider global network of more
secular influences (in business, government, education, the media, the military) which underpins
Western expansion.
Russian solution
Theres no rocket science to handling NGOs. The Russian solution is to simply label NGOs involved in
political activity as foreign agents, which is fair enough as they are clearly acting in the interests of a
foreign state. This does not necessarily mean they are foreign agents.
To some that might sound harsh but such labeling is useful in keeping a close eye on potential fifth
columnists. At any rate, the law is inspired by American policies. In the US, similar NGOs have to file a
report of their activities every six months, produce copies of all their contracts and even verbal
agreements with outfits they work for.
Recent Russian history suggests such measures are indeed necessary. It is well known how the likes of
Washington, London and Brussels poured billions of dollars into post-Soviet Russia to bribe officials and
politicians in order to engineer a government that was subservient to the West. The corrupt practices of
Western businessmen and politicians shamed even the most hard-boiled Russian criminals.
The West succeeded in making inroads into the Kremlin and installing its puppets such as Andrei
Kozyrev, who in fact refused to meet Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimhas envoy Mani Dixit in
Moscow, disdainfully saying Russia would henceforth not treat India as a special friend. The
consequences of that snub are being felt even now by the Russian defence industry, which has seen
many Indian contracts go to US firms. The Americans must have got cramps laughing at Kozyrevs
naivete.
Targeting Modi
Lets not forget that it was the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a US-
funded agency working with Indian NGOs, that was responsible for the US visa ban on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. It was a churlish act that also tarred India by implication, a snub for which India must
demand a US apology.
To be sure, there are tens of thousands of NGOs that are not in the pay of the West. But there are
others like Citizen Initiative, which played an active role in tarnishing Modis name while working for
their Western masters. They need to be watched, warned and then stopped.
For, as Cicero, the Roman statesman, said, A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it
cannot survive treason from within. The traitor rots the soul of a nationhe infects the body politic so
that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.