NGOs_Activists_and_Foreign_Funds

“ALLAH WILL DESTROY THE TERRORIST STATE OF INDIA”—AID/FOSA slogan (see p.121)

Published byVigil Public Opinion ForumH-12/3 Pari StreetKalakshetra ColonyBesant NagarChennai 600090India, & EditionFirst 2006Second 2007PriceRs 400.00 (Rs. Four Hundred only)© ReservedPrinted atNarula Printers, Delhi

2 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsMuslims. And they sat around for a whole day deciding the fateof Jammu and Kashmir. But before that, Nirmala Deshpande askedsome of the women present there, and Vigil’s Radha Rajan wasone of them, to tie rakhis to our dear brothers from across theborder - quite forgetting that our dear brothers from across thethe border had tortured Saurav Kalia for 21 days, mutilated hisbody and then sent it back.Radha Rajan then decided she’d get to know NirmalaDeshpande and Admiral Ramdas and their kind much better, andthe kind of industry of which they are a part. Radha had the pleasureof listening to Arundhati Roy soon after Pokharan 2, when Roysaid she is a mobile independent republic. Roy also said she isnot a flag-waving patriot. But we are sure, since Roy has a passport,it must have something to do with the Indian nation. So, the Indiannation is relevant at least to the extent that it allows these peopleto travel abroad to badmouth this country.The position of these activists in regard to national territory,the opinions they express in regard to Jammu and Kashmir, thekind of nonsense they speak on American and Pakistani soil aboutour jawans, is a cause of grave concern, because they are membersof either the National Integration Council or of CABE or of theNational Advisory Council of the UPA government. And they arenot above glorifying terrorism. Mahasweta Devi, Sandeep Pandey,Nirmala Deshpande, among others, were present at a function tohonour the ‘slain martyrs’ in the Naxal Maoist cause, whom wewould call Maoist terrorists dealt with by the State, to honour whomthese illustrious activists gathered in Patna.They have no faith in our elected parliament, they have nofaith in our judiciary, they have no faith in the NHRC. They go tothe US State Department to depose before it, begging the US StateDepartment to come to India and protect India’s democracy. It ishigh time legislation is put in place banning such people fromdeposing before alien governments against the Indian army andIndia’s democratic institutions. Very little is generally known aboutthe kind of position these people take on American soil againstthe Indian nation, or what Sandeep Pandey’s position is on Jammuand Kashmir, or what Akhila Raman has to say about our army.

6 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundstheir criticism of these pillars of our democracy on foreign soiland even before foreign governments. Perhaps the time has comefor Parliament to enact a law which would make such criticismof important national institutions on foreign soil and to foreigngovernments a cognizable offence akin to treason meriting theseverest punishment. Parliament should also consider suitablerestrictions being placed on retired judges, retired armed forcespersonnel including and above the rank of Brigadier, retiredbureaucrats including and above the rank of Assistant Secretaryand retired policemen including and above the rank of SP fromundertaking projects for foreign or foreign-funded think-tanks andfrom deposing before foreign governments and their departmentson any issue without prior permission from the Government ofIndia.The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has beensitting for over five decades on the title suit of the Ramjanmabhumiwhile the Supreme Court promptly issues interim orders on casesfiled by the Muslim community seeking to deny Hindus accessto the site; those guilty of the genocide of Sikhs during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, those guilty of the genocide of Kashmiri Hindusand those that render Kashmiri Hindus refugees in our owncountry; those guilty of burning Hindus alive in the notoriousRadhabai Chawl incident during the Mumbai riots of 1992, haveall escaped the notice and attention of these very nationalinstitutions and the same ‘peace’ and human rights activists whocontinue to campaign for the Muslim victims of the Gujarat riotsof 2002. There is a growing perception among the Hinduintelligentsia that ‘peace’ and human rights NGOs and activistsare holding all democratic institutions in the country hostage tointernational opinion about democracy and good governance toserve the cause of ‘secularism’ in a peculiarly one-sided fashionwhich may be interpreted to be anti-Hindu.India’s so-called secular polity is teetering perilously on thebrink of minorityism aided and abetted in no mean measure bythis well-networked group of Hindu-baiters who have succeededin cleverly cloaking their congenital anti-Hindu bias in the garbof constitutional ‘protection of minority rights’ discourse. TheseNGOs and other politically motivated activists are embarked on

1INTRODUCTION:De-Hinduising the Indian NationRadha RajanThe rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in national politicswas widely interpreted, both nationally and internationally, asthe rise of Hindu nationalism for the first time since 1947, partlybecause the BJP was perceived as the political offspring of theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and partly because the majorideological issues upon which it rose to prominence were viewedas rooted in Hindu national consciousness. As a corollary, the riseof the BJP was seen to be indicative of the RSS affirming its presencein the polity, and RSS assertion in politics was likewise perceivedas a conscious attempt to empower the Hindu community.Understandably, this was bad news for those who had madetheir fortunes and careers out of Nehruvian secularism and Hindudisempowerment. This was bad news also for the United States,which considered the rise of Hindu nationalism to be a threat tothe made-in-the-USA post-Cold-War world order. This book seeksto document the activities of some of the better-known forces andagents who thrive on Hindu powerlessness, and it will be readilyapparent to the discerning reader that this group constitutes averitable—albeit unclassified and untaxed—‘industry’! The powerof this Hindu–baiting industry, in concert with so-called religiousminorities to influence Indian polity through control over publicdiscourse, is in inverse proportion to Hindu incapacity to modulate,much less control, the system.This book is about exposing the essentially anti-Hindu activism

10 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsof some NGOs and activists, whose activism has been facilitatedby Hindu powerlessness, and their foreign sponsors, supportersand funders who have their own vested interests in keeping theHindus in this state of powerlessness. Hindu politicaldisempowerment has been both the cause and the result of thegrowing power of the ‘minorities’ to influence the Indian polity.1. Indian National Congress – origins of Hindu powerlessnessThe RSS was born of a need to give voice to and protect Hinduinterests when it became obvious that the independence movementas it developed in the early 1900s was beginning to show signs ofdistancing itself from the Hindu character of the majority populace.From a very early period, the Indian National Congress showeda tendency towards de-nationalising and ‘secularising’ the nationalfreedom movement, and this trend was continued inexorably evenafter Mahatma Gandhi assumed leadership of the movement byaround 1917. Until the advent of Mahatma Gandhi and his goalof purna swaraj, the independence movement was an elitist, urbanresistance movement to colonialism, led by the Western-educatedIndian elite. This section found slavery to colonial rule abhorrent,but nevertheless considered Western parliamentary democracyto be a good model for governance and administration and worthyof emulation and, therefore, sought only to replace White withBrown. And, until the advent of Mahatma Gandhi, the British werenot troubled unduly by this elitist resistance movement.Gandhiji, after his return to India in January 1915, transformedboth the independence movement and the Indian NationalCongress (INC) from their elitist character into a people’smovement. In retrospect, it would seem that Gandhiji had firedhis first salvo at the British. Not only did he draw the urban Hindumiddle class into the freedom movement, he also broadened thescope and deepened the movement by drawing our villages intothe resistance; he also had the foresight to engage with the Muslimsto forge an alliance against the British and this he did by addressinghimself to the non-Western-educated, non-secular Muslimleadership. Gandhiji had succeeded in temporarily neutralisingthe multi-faceted British policy of divide and rule, first by organisingthe Hindus into a resistance group and then by organising all

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 11Indians. The independence movement, because it had become amass movement once again, had also become so powerful thatthe British had to change its character to subvert the movementfrom within.By around the middle of the 1920s the British begin to addressNehru separately from Gandhiji, and Jinnah separately fromMahatma Gandhi and from the INC; it is around this time thatthe Indian communist movement and the Hindu/Brahmin-baitingDravidian movement begin to raise their heads threateningly. Thesetwo movements seriously threatened the unity that Gandhiji hadforged for fighting the British. From then on the transformationhad begun of Jinnah (from a Western-educated irreligious Muslimwho was as nationalist and no different from Gokhale, MotilalNehru or Chittaranjan Das in his abhorrence for slavery butadmiration of White civilisation) into a man who increasinglyassumed radical and uncompromising Muslim postures. Theprocess of disempowering the Hindus and weakening MahatmaGandhi’s authority had also begun in earnest. And, althoughGandhiji used language and symbols that struck a responsive chordin Hindus and Muslims alike, he too could no longer prevail uponJinnah and the rest of the Muslim leadership, the communists andthe Dravidians to close ranks to unitedly confront the British untilindependence was achieved. From the beginning of the 1930s theINC under the de facto leadership of Nehru began the process ofMuslim appeasement on terms that whetted their appetite for anever-increasing communal leverage. This made it easy for Jinnahto radicalise the Muslim community in his quest for a separateMuslim state.By the beginning of the 1930s, it became apparent thatMahatma Gandhi could not halt either the ‘secularization’ or theIslamization of what began as a Hindu resistance movement toend colonial rule and nip the nascent Muslim desire to re-imposeIslamic rule after the departure of the British. Dr KB Hedgewarforesaw the inevitable rise of anti-Hindu sentiments in India, andset up the RSS as a bulwark of Hindu society against this developingmalaise. Within less than two decades of the founding of the RSS,it became evident that the Hindus would be powerless to averteither the vivisection of India on anti-Hindu lines or the subsequent

12 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsanti-Hindu nature of the polity in independent India.This book profiles certain high-profile individuals and nongovernmentorganisations that are normally found to be in theforefront of anti-India and anti-Hindu propaganda on variousissues. Indeed, we have found a tangible relationship between theanti-India and the anti-Hindu, for there is simply no Indiannationalism that is contrary to or separate from Hindu nationalism.It is a natural corollary that the continuing attempts to de-Hinduisethe polity have implications for national security and therelationship of so-called religious minorities with Hindus and theIndian state.The question that legitimately concerns us, therefore, is,whether de-Hinduising the polity may be conceived of as an attemptto de-nationalise Hindu consciousness and, more importantly, toensure the political disempowerment of the Hindu community.Political disempowerment of Hindus has been achieved in greatmeasure by thwarting every attempt by Hindu organisations,political parties and religious leaders to weld the Hindus into anorganised force and a decisive vote-bank. It seems natural to askwhat forces benefit from this goal, what tools they employ, whoare their agents, and what have they achieved so far.2. What this book aims to doWe aim specifically to examine the following issues:(1) De-nationalising the Hindu consciousness aims at desensitisingthe Hindu mind to the critical importanceof territory for survival as a people. This was achievedin substantial measure when Hindus could not prevailover an ascendant Islam and thwart Partition in 1947.It was only natural that unchecked jihadi Islam whoseappetite for territory had been whetted by Partitionwould, in course of time, enhance these gains by riddingthe Kashmir valley of Hindus through genocide andterror; a process still continuing in the rest of Jammuand Kashmir. In the North-East, emboldened by an everintrusiveUS Government into India’s internal affairs toprotect Church and Christian interests and emboldenedalso by the creation of the Christian state of East Timor,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 13Christian secessionism and terrorism is mainly armedand funded by the American Baptist and the RomanCatholic Churches.(2) This book scrutinises a loose coalition of opportunistic,specific-to-India, anti-Hindu Christians, Muslims,communists and Nehruvian secularists who actuallyadvocate sedition when they dismiss Indian nationalismand deny the concept of Hindu India’s territorialintegrity.(3) This group uses history and social ‘science’ to indoctrinateyoung and impressionable minds with the agenda tode-root the Hindu community from its culturalgeographicalnationalism. It should come as no surprisethat most individuals under scrutiny had been mademembers of the Central Advisory Board on Education(CABE) by the present United Progressive Alliance (UPA)Government led by the Congress Party. 1 And it shouldalso not come as a surprise that the UPA governmentgave the defunct National Integration Council (NIC) anew lease of life and packed it with ‘secularists’ and‘minorities’ including the Archbishop of Delhi! 2 Whilesome of the activists under the scanner in this book findplace in both CABE and NIC, most of them can be foundeither in one or the other. What is remarkable about thechoice of members in different categories is that thereis not a single member in CABE or NIC to representHindu interests while Muslims, Christians, Marxists andNehruvian secularists have been nominated exclusivelyto represent Muslim, Christian, Marxist and anti-Hindu‘secular’ interests.What is also remarkable is that the US StateDepartment Annual Report of 2003 on InternationalReligious Freedom (IRF), laments the fact that the NDAGovernment was ‘rewriting’ history textbooks withouttaking counsel from CABE and further laments thatCABE has not had any sitting during this period! USinterest in enabling, and its intentions to exert pressurein the direction of the de-Hinduisation process, is

14 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsunderscored when the issue of reviewing historytextbooks for children in India at the school level findsmention in the annual report on IRF by the Bureau ofDemocracy, Human Rights and Labor, although whatthis has to do with religious freedom is anyone’s guessor why the US State Department should agitate itselfover the dysfunctional CABE. Not surprisingly, one ofthe first things that the ‘secular’ UPA Government didwas to re-constitute NIC and CABE and pack them withthose activists and representatives of NGOs who hadcampaigned extensively against the BJP in the 2004Parliament Elections.The Congress-led UPA coalition defined itself as a‘secular’ (as opposed to ‘communal’ Hindu) group andso rewarded these anti-Hindu activists who made anti-Hinduism the keynote of their political activism. Theseindividuals and groups distort history and historicaltruths, negate the nation’s Hindu civilisational mooringsand deny the primacy of Hindu culture and ethos topropagate the twin falsehoods that there is no ‘Hindu’community and that India was always a ‘pluralist’country. In this context, we will also examine the conceptof ‘pluralism’.(4) The principal objective of these individuals and groups,who have conveniently found space in Americanacademia, particularly in the Humanities, in ‘South Asian’studies, in the social and political sciences, in Sanskritand Indic studies, is to propagate the concept of ‘SouthAsia’, a concept gaining currency since the 1990s. Thepurpose is twofold: one, to question or de-legitimiseIndia’s national borders and, two, to negate the nation’sHindu roots and character, which they realise is theessence of Indian national identity.History is essentially the story of civilisationalmemory, accomplishments of its people, of the intimaterelationship with their territory, narratives of historicalthreats to their territory and way of life, and the storyof their continuity. A proper rendition of history

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 15commemorates the civilisational memory and revalidatesthe nation’s foundational ethos. Dismissing the Hinducharacter of the Indian nation and trifling with nationalborders has been the hallmark of the Marxist renditionof Indian history and, today, it has acquired a newdimension – a history of a nebulous South Asia and anamorphous South Asian people. 3The propagation of a faceless, characterless SouthAsian identity derives from a growing realisation thatIndian nationalism cannot ignore or marginalise themajority population. Hindus constitute 85% of the Indianpopulation and Indian national identity, no matter howmuch one may try, cannot ignore the Hindu ethos, Hinduinterests and Hindu sensibilities. The creation of anartifice designated ‘South Asia’ serves two criticalobjectives – one, it aims at bringing the Muslims ofPakistan and Bangladesh into the picture so that a de-Hinduised India and de-nationalised Hindus may besubsumed by a large, more organised and more vocalMuslim populace of the region and, two, it provides theoverseas Muslims from Pakistan and Bangladesh settledin Europe and North America with the intellectualdisguise to conceal the uncomfortable baggage of theirIslamic identity in the conviviality of non-residentHindus of India. This is an issue in itself, meriting greaterattention than it gets.(5) We will also look at how Indian Marxists, acknowledgingthe critical role played by American and other Westerncountries in promoting the NGO industry in this countrysince the early 1950s to further their agendas, also beginto promote NGOs of their own, owing allegiance toMarxism and its other avatars like Maoism, Leninismand Naxalism.(6) The NGOs and activists use three principal devices toimplement their de-Hinduising/de-nationalisingmission:Penetration and infiltration of ‘secularists’ (Muslims,Christians, Marxists and foreigners) into important

16 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundspolitical parties, Hindu social and religious institutions,and into important political families by marriage or bysecretly converting close family members of politicalleaders to some aggressively proselytising Christiandenominations.De-legitimising as ‘communal’ all issues that affectHindu sensitivities.Raising the pitch on human rights whenever theState is compelled to deal sternly with the two most vocaland influential ‘minority’ communities which have takento insurgency and terrorism and with the growingMarxist terrorist groups in the name of Marxist-Leninist,Maoist or Naxalite.(7) This anti-Hindu coalition uses NGO activism in ‘peace’,education and healthcare as a façade to facilitate transferof very large amounts of money from abroad either assupport funds for their ‘charity’ and social causes or aspeace and human rights awards, and thereafter use themfor political objectives.(8) This group regurgitates American and Western slogansof human rights, religious freedom and pluralism witha view to strengthening the politics of minorityism whichis intended to weaken Hindu influence in the Indianpolity. This diminution of Hindu influence is essentialif these forces and their agents are to succeed in denationalisingthe Indian State.(9) Politics of minorityism includes softening the Indianperception of Islam and jihad as a tool of foreign policy;disregarding the history behind the creation of Pakistan;ignoring Pakistan’s stated objectives with regard to India;preventing the government from dealing ruthlessly withdemographic aggression by Islam in the border districtsand states through infiltration from Bangladesh; refusingto acknowledge or discuss the alarming rise in the birthrateof Muslims in India, in Pakistan and Bangladesh;and ignoring Christian demographic aggression in theNorth-East and a growing number of districts in otherparts of the country by foreign and domestic churches

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 17and Christian missionaries, the aim of which is perceivedto be separatism, secession and the creation of newChristian nation-states on the lines of East Timor.3. De-Hinduising the freedom movementThe attempt to de-nationalise Hindu consciousness and de-Hinduise the nation began even during the freedom movementwith the rise of Nehru as Gandhiji’s political heir. Retrospectiveanalysis of events is a legitimate tool for understanding history.In this light, it would appear that the Indian National Congresshijacked Hindu society’s national resistance movement of the 18thand 19th centuries, which was spearheaded by Hindu nationalistswho rallied around the issue of cow slaughter. Sriman Swamy,Subramania Bharati, Veerapandi Kattabomman, Lala Lajpat Rai,Mahatma Gandhi, Lokmanya Tilak, Veer Savarkar, Bhagat Singhand Rajguru were typical of Hindu nationalist leadership andresistance.A common tactic by the Western world to dilute commitmentto ideology in important organisations, to erode nationalism,deaden threat perception or disarm resistance to a looming threat,is to infiltrate these very organisations and groups with their ownrace or with domestic stooges. Seen in this light, the fact that theIndian National Congress (INC, or simply the Congress) was startedby AO Hume and that, soon thereafter, the Congress hijacked theHindu nationalist resistance movement comes as no surprise.Infiltration, beginning in the late 19 th century and continuing intoearly decades of the 20 th century, was a tactic used to penetrateHindu religious organisations at around the same time becauseIndia’s freedom movement began and gained momentum onlyas a Hindu resistance movement. Swami Vivekananda andMaharishi Aurobindo, carrying forward the struggle initiated bySriman Swamy, were the most powerful and articulate symbolsof Hindu religious resistance to Christian/colonial rule. Thepenetration and infiltration by foreigners into important politicaland religious structures needs to be understood in this context –that while the Hindus were using their religion to influence thepolity from the standpoint of Hindu interests, these foreignerswere engaged in subverting the movement powered by Hindu

18 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsnationalist aspirations by influencing our religious sub-structuresand thus influencing the polity.The process of de-Hinduising the resistance movement beganby de-nationalising the resistance. AO Hume, Annie Besant, CFAndrews, and Madeline Slade or Miraben are important instancesof such de-nationalization/de-Hinduisation. Incidentally, MadameBlavatsky (as also Mirra Alfassa, the ‘Mother’ of Auroville Ashram)was a Western occult practitioner and came to India looking forgreener pastures. And, lest we forget, Madeline Slade came to Indiato find Gandhiji after her meeting with Romain Rolland whoallegedly described the Mahatma as being ‘another Christ’. 4Annie Besant commanded a huge space in the polity as wellas in the religious arena in India in the troubled years of the early20 th century. She was the successor to Madame Helena Blavatskywho, with Henry Olcott, founded the Theosophical Society in Adyarin the then Madras, the intellectual capital of the nation and animportant seat of Hindu orthodoxy. 5 Blavatsky and Olcott’s earlysupporters and followers were AO Hume, the founder of the IndianNational Congress, Annie Besant (an important functionary in theIndian National Congress and later its President in 1917), CharlesLeadbeater (J Krishnamurti’s early mentor), and the upper castesin the Hindu community who had been co-opted into the colonialadministration and who later gravitated into the Congress toparticipate in the freedom movement. Having successfullypenetrated and de-nationalised the political and religious arena,these foreigners assiduously promoted Jiddu Krishnamurti, abrahmin iconoclast in whom Annie Besant saw the new Messiah;the theosophical movement headed by Annie Besant projectedKrishnamurti as ‘The Rising Star of the East’ and ‘The WorldTeacher’. De-nationalising and de-Hinduising the freedommovement and Hindu religious spaces had begun in earnest.Upper class and upper caste Hindus comprised the bulk ofJ Krishnamurti’s audience in India and, as could only be expected,his so-called ‘teachings’ at this critical moment in the Hindu journeydenied the legitimacy of gurus and priests, sacred texts andtradition. Having severed his gullible Hindu acolytes from theirroots, he then offered himself for cult worship in the ensuingvacuum. J Krishnamurti, who fancied himself Jesus Christ and

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 19Maithreya, was also a virulent critic of the concept of nation andnationalism. Sandeep Pandey, Nirmala Deshpande and AnandPatwardhan (a relative of Achyut Patwardhan, one of JidduKrishnamurti’s leading acolytes) are typical products of ‘anti-nation’Krishnamurti conditioning which currently conceals itself inGandhian clothing. De-nationalising the freedom movement, deculturisingthe English-educated Hindus and de-Hinduisingimportant institutions and organisations were all perfectlydovetailed in the troubled years immediately preceding andfollowing Partition when nationalist Hindus alone could haveundertaken the herculean task of nation-building.Not one of the illustrious foreigners mentioned above wascontent to merge into the mainstream of the organisations theyentered ostensibly as devotees; all rose to important positions withinthese groups—either gaining proximity to the leadership oreventually exercising considerable influence over the leadership.Some eventually rose to become centres of power themselves. Onecan observe a similar trend of infiltration today by foreigners inthe UPA Government, in administration, in important Hinduorganisations and even in Hindu religious structures. The processof de-nationalising the Hindu consciousness has been resumedwith a vengeance. The first wave of infiltration was the West’sresponse to a resistance movement that was gathering momentumas a fierce Hindu nationalist movement, and the current infiltrationand other moves to de-Hinduise Hindu consciousness is in responseto growing Hindu assertion in the Indian polity and public spaces.Besides our religious and socio-political organisations, theprocess of de-Hinduising the nation is being accentuated throughneo-Islamization of the polity and the ‘secularisation’ of the BJP.Unfortunately, we do not perceive contemporary events in thepolity as important steps in a de-Hinduisation continuum because,as a nation, we have failed to scrutinise the first wave of infiltrationand unravel its motives. Nehruvian secularism ensured that wedid not scrutinise the first infiltration, much less question it oreven talk about it. Then, as now, infiltration by foreigners and‘secularists’ aims at checking growing Hindu politicalempowerment. Vigorous attempts by all denominations of churchesto convert close family members of high profile politicians and

20 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundssocially and culturally important Hindu families is another potentweapon aimed at compromising these politicians and the politicalparties to which they owe allegiance, even though the parties mayremain oblivious of the truth. This effectively silences prominentHindus on issues arising from the politics of minorityism.4. The price of powerlessnessGandhiji’s ahimsa was a complex weapon, which he usedwith mixed results. In retrospect, while it put the colonialadministration in a spot on several occasions, it also dampenedthe fire of resistance characteristic of Hindu society which hadwaged a relentless war of resistance and survival for almost 1200years against waves of Muslim invasion, occupation and rule.Ahimsa also proved completely ineffective as a tool of engagementwith the Muslims. Gandhiji’s unflinching insistence on ahimsaas the only tool in the war for freedom robbed the resistancemovement of its ferocity and sting because Hindu nationalists whotried to make the British pay with their blood for the sins of theirChristian-colonial rule were morally de-legitimised. The Congress’accommodation bordering on self-destructive (for Hindus)indulgence of Muslims in the INC and their growing clout innational politics was the direct fallout of disarming anddisempowering the Hindus. Along with Nehru’s pervertedindulgence of the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, this dealt theHindus two mortal blows, one resulting in the vivisection of Indiaand the other culminating in the genocide of Hindus of Jammuand Kashmir. Hindus paid the price of their forced powerlessness;Hindu-baiters tasted blood.Purna swaraj, Gandhiji’s ultimate objective of independencefrom Muslim and colonial rule and an echo of the Hindu nationalistresistance movement, was given up by the INC without seriousdemur after the movement was hijacked by Nehru. Purna swarajwas surrendered for the lesser goal of Independence, which wasonly a shade different from the Dominion Status and Home Ruleadvocated by the foreigners in the freedom movement and whichcame as a package along with Western ideals of democracy and‘secular’ governance ‘nobly’ intended to be an example in contrastto the Islamic State of Pakistan. Its real intention was to de-Hinduise

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 21the Hindu nation. By insidiously promoting a Westerniseddilettante like Nehru as Gandhi’s political heir and renderingGandhiji ineffective within the INC from the beginning of the 1930s,the British achieved two critically important objectives – theirreversible process of de-Hinduising the nation and creating thestrategically important territory of Pakistan, and the attendant‘disputed’ territory of the equally strategically important Jammuand Kashmir.After the bloody Partition of 1947, the mission of de-Hinduising the nation continued in the guise of Nehruviansecularism (some call it Nehruvian Stalinism) which was accordedthe status of high philosophy, second only to Advaita. Perversely,over the years following Partition, Islamic ideology spread its wings.Not content with an electoral alliance with Nehruvian secularism,it stretched itself into a cult of minorityism and went on to forgealliances with anti-Hindu Marxist and Christian groups, becominga bloated anti-Hindu monster that holds the polity in thrall today.This book attempts to scrutinise this unholy anti-Hindu/de-Hinduising coalition.5. Nation and nationalismIf nation is different from nation-state, then citizenship isdifferent from nationality and patriotism different from nationalism.A nation’s identity determines its national interest. Some of thebig components of national interest may be said to be – nationalsecurity, interests of the majority, type of government, frameworkfor inter-religious/inter-cultural or inter-ethnic relations withinthat country, and foreign policy. If Americans are debating whatit means to be American, then the British are debating what itmeans to be British. It is a fact that this soul-searching has beentriggered among White Christian Europeans—in France, Germany,the Netherlands and Britain. These countries are confronting thegrowing militancy of their Muslim population.It may be instructive to know that today as Americans debatewhat it means to be American, they are positioning the WhiteAnglo-Saxon Christian identity of the original White settlers (whode-populated the land through systematic genocide of the NativeAmericans) and the English language as the core of American

22 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsnational identity, around which they now want latter-dayimmigrants/entrants also to position themselves, intended firstto subsume and then annihilate their own cultural, religious andlanguage identities (Samuel Huntington, ‘Who Are We? TheChallenges to American Identity’, 2004). White-Christian Americanshave done it successfully to the Africans they transported intothe US as slaves and to the Native Americans who survivedextermination.In India, we are still hesitant to discuss whether India isdifferent from Bharat which is different from Hindustan. We havenot begun to discuss whether all three mean the same or if thereis a conceptual distinction to these names, given that Hindusconstitute 85% of the population. We have not yet begun to discusswhether the name is really important because we, the intellectualand ruling elite, subscribe in the main to the contents of thecontemporary and Western notion of nation-state and thereforethink national identity, nationality and nationalism are of no realconsequence. The rise and entrenchment of Sonia Gandhi in Indianpolity is the result of this reluctance.Which brings us to the question, what are the contents ofthe nation-state as it has evolved today? Broadly speaking, thecontemporary nation-state remains today as it was in the past, acreature of White Christian imagination – specifically, ProtestantChristian imagination. Its features are democracy, rule of law andsecularism. Pluralism, individualism, free press, independentjudiciary, human rights and religious freedom are hinged to thethree cardinal features of this modern nation-state. Any one, more,or all of these are used as weapons of containment by the US, theEuropean Union and other Western White Christian nations, theUN and the Commonwealth, and their sundry human rights agentsto pressure, coerce and harass countries like India, China, Russiaand even Myanmar. And whenever smaller countries likeZimbabwe, Indonesia, Venezuela, Vietnam and Malaysia have stoodup to the bullying ways of these White Christian nations, thesenations and their pan-optic instruments of power, like the UN,and their human rights organisations, like Amnesty Internationaland Human Rights Watch, have menaced them with these weaponsof war-by-another-name.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 23That the modern nation-state is a creature of Anglo-Protestantintent is not a far-fetched argument by nationalist Hinduintellectuals. Samuel Huntington states:‘The American Creed’ as initially formulated by ThomasJefferson is the ‘crucial defining element’ of American identity.The Creed, however, was the product of the distinct Anglo-Protestant culture of the founding settlers of America in the17th and 18th centuries. Key elements of the culture include:the English language; Christianity; religious commitment;English concepts of the rule of law, the responsibility of rulers,and the rights of individuals; and dissenting Protestant valuesof individualism, the work ethic, and the belief that humanshave the ability and the duty to create a heaven on earth, a‘city on a hill’.And again,If American identity is defined by a set of universal principlesof liberty and democracy then presumably the promotion ofthese principles in other countries should be the primary goalof American foreign policy.And that is the crux of the matter. That Huntington can stateglibly that basically Protestant values are universal principles and,flowing from that presumption, that the core of American andWestern foreign policy is the unabashed promotion abroad of whatare essentially these Christian values. Samuel Huntington mustbe thanked for stating the truth so bluntly – that foreign policyfor the US and other White Christian countries is not about buildinginternational relationships on the basis of common or mutuallybeneficial interests but primarily to promote, establish and sustainAnglo-Protestant and Christian values packaged as democracy,sundry freedoms and rule of law. White Christian nations believethat just as their religion is the only path to their only God, theirconcept of a nation-state is also the best and universally desirable.Without going deeper into what White Christian intentions are,we need to examine the implications of this browbeating foreignpolicy on India and how it is influencing domestic politics whichin its turn is affecting the Hindus who constitute 85 per cent ofthe population.

24 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds6. Dispensing with nationalismFrom around the mid-1990s, Western intellectuals have soughtto make a distinction between nationalism and patriotism. Thedistinction is now more or less well-established and the conceptsnot interchangeable. Nationalism was described as being regressive,because it defined itself in part in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’.Essentially, nationalism excluded ‘them’. Pope John Paul II gavevoice to his dislike of nationalism in the United Nations GeneralAssembly in 1995 because he perceived the growing nationalismin Russia and in some of the countries of Asia as being the mostinsurmountable impediment to his Church’s evangelising mission.Western Governments were quick to perceive the dangersof ‘nationalism’ to their national interests as embodied in the newglobalised economy which many non-Western nations viewed asbeing neo-colonial in intention and methods. Not surprisingly,around the mid-1990s, Western intellectuals and American thinktanksexplicitly begin to bad-mouth nationalism and all itsdimensions – religious, cultural and economic. Simultaneously,these agenda-setting groups also began to talk of the imminentcollapse of the nation-state and of the world moving towards thepost-nation-state era in history.Explicitly articulated in this package is the threat that theseWhite Christian nations reserve the right to intervene militarilyand wage war against those nations that refuse to promote theirvision of democracy, freedoms and rule of law (read ‘Christianway of life’). Chris Patten, former European Commissioner forExternal Relations and currently Chancellor of Oxford University,told us all in Chennai in November 2003 that national sovereigntywas like virginity and that we Indians tend to make too much ofit. National sovereignty, like virginity, he said, was there one dayand gone the next and nationalist Indians and the rest of the worldmust get used to the idea of ‘sharing’ (read ‘surrendering’) nationalsovereignty.The sheer audacity of this Anglo-Protestant presumptionproposes:• National identity is bad because it breeds nationalism whichis an impediment to their neo-colonial ambitions. Therefore,national sovereignty for non-White Christian nations isdispensable.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 25• Why make a big deal of national sovereignty and nationalidentity given that the nation-state is even otherwise onthe verge of disappearing.• The collapse of the nation-state will not lead the world toanarchy because White Christian nations would haveenforced their version of democracy, freedoms and ruleof law in all parts of the world well in advance of thisimminent collapse.• This is to say that the nation will be deliberately erodedwhile the state will remain. In this utopia of Anglo-Protestantimagination, constitutions and rule of law will replacenational soul and ethos.• What all people of the world really crave for is goodgovernance that respects individualism, pluralism, humanrights, religious freedom and rule of law. People do notneed ideology or exclusivist nationalism.And so, nationalism is passé. So is national sovereignty andso is territorial integrity. This is the essence of American foreignpolicy for the ‘Third World’. Glib declarations that the era of nationstatesis over and that the world is entering the post-nation-statephase in the evolution of world polity, the idea that nations mustget used to sharing sovereignty, and dubbing nationalism asjingoism, xenophobia, tribalism and parochialism are intendedonly to pressurise de-nationalised elites to reduce their nationsto client markets of the old colonial countries. Is it just a coincidencethat no Western leader dared peddle such garbage in Europe afterFrance and the Netherlands rejected the draft European UnionConstitution?The concept of the irrelevant nation-state is being peddledby Washington whose own growing military strength – and whoseheightened fears of a truly borderless politico-religious entity calledIslam – fails to live up to this assertion. It is interesting that countriesattempting to build a coalition called the European Union, in orderto counterbalance American economic and military might, havefailed precisely because their citizens view the move as corrosiveof national sovereignty and national identity. This is to say thatthey fear that the exercise of political power in their respective

26 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundscountries would fall into the hands of self-serving economic elite,with little accountability to the national citizenry in each country.The US, its arch rival Russia, and the European nations arefighting for influence in world affairs. The US and Europe standto gain if other nations can be made to discard their nationalistmoorings and permit them to divide the ‘shared’ sovereigntybetween them. ‘Sharing’, of course, only means that ‘I keep all ofwhat is mine, let me share yours’. Of course, the structuring andarticulation of this predatory foreign policy is not explicit, but isunambiguously implied. Nationalism and national sovereigntyin the American/Bush foreign policy doctrine is taboo for nationsof specific interest to America, which means just about every partof the globe where the US and Europe have converging/competinginterests. Lending an added edge to US foreign policy (alwaysaggressive at best and bullying at worst) is the overtly Christianagenda of the Bible-thumping incumbent President.Even at the best of times, America has not been known to treatnationalist Heads of State kindly whenever their nationalismtranslated into anti-White Christian or anti-White Americanism.Nationalist leaders of Communist regimes, democracies, and leadersof countries with other forms of governance have merited closeattention from the American state for their sin of being anti-Americanand/or anti-White Christian. Suharto, Robert Mugabe, Allende,Patrice Lumumba, Mahathir Muhammad, Indira Gandhi, HugoChavez and Saddam Hussein are only some examples of leaderswhom America and other White Christian countries found difficultto countenance. Even a non-compliant Secretary-General of the UNlike Boutros Boutros-Ghali was replaced by the more pliant KofiAnnan. The US State Department is, therefore, taking more than akeen interest in Hindu nationalist organisations and powerful Hindunationalists. The annual report on international religious freedomissued by the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, HumanRights and Labor is testimony to the US’ obsessive interest in Hindupolitical organisations and political leaders.These reports, between 2003 and 2005, give expression to theUS Government’s morbid fear of Hindu assertion and the growingpower of the Hindus to re-define the nation’s face and characterin keeping with the character of its majority populace. These reports

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 27are unabashedly anti-Hindu in content because these reports areabout protecting Christians and the Christian religion in the worldand a powerful testimony to American intentions and determinationto interfere, forcibly if need be, in the country’s internal affairs toserve US interests. These reports stated unequivocally that theirdiplomatic mission and embassy in Chennai was working andinteracting closely with state government officials to get the anticonversionlaw revoked. The 2003 report also laments the NDAGovernment’s decision to rewrite history books rejecting theMarxist-‘secularist’ perspective of the nation and its character.Attempts by the US Government to depict the RSS and thesangha parivar as violent organisations and to speak pejorativelyabout Hindutva in these reports are aimed at intimidating educatedHindus into distancing themselves from the politically assertiveRSS with the implied threat that the US will not tolerate them ontheir soil. And that is why the US State Department, in violationof its own laws, refused to give a visa to Narendra Modi as anexemplary measure against a person widely considered bypolitically conscious Hindus as the face of Hindu assertion.Understanding well enough that it is the RSS and its affiliatedorganisations which are empowering the Hindus towards assertion,there are increasingly shrill cries of ‘Hindu nationalist’, meaningan RSS Hindutvavadi, whenever Hindus organise themselves intoa proactive or a protest group for a cause. The growing clout andaffluence of the anti-RSS and, therefore, anti-Hindu NGOs andactivists under scrutiny in this book may be attributed in largemeasure to the patronage extended by Western nations, specificallythe Governments of the US and UK, and American and Britishdonors of all persuasions.7. NGOs as tools of containmentNGO activism is a perfectly crafted weapon of containment.Western nations have funded overtly and covertly and awardedand rewarded with ‘peace’ and human rights awards individualsand organisations taking up the cause of anti-nationalism, ‘peace’,anti-nuclear programmes, anti-war marches, human rights,religious freedom, environment and a host of issues which canparalyze a government or at least inhibit it from acting as it ought

28 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsto in the national interest.The activities of some of these individuals and organisations,whose USP is a pathological hatred of Hindutva, have beensubjected to critical scrutiny to see if they are contrary to the nationalinterest and the Hindu interest. Those thus placed under the scannerinclude Teesta Setalvad, Praful Bidwai and Achin Vanaik, MartinMacwan, Arundhati Roy, Aruna Roy, Nirmala Deshpande, AnganaChatterji, Akhila Raman, Sandeep Pandey, Raju Rajagopal andHarsh Mander. The NGOs under scrutiny include FOIL, AID,ActionAid, Parivartan and ASHA.A common denominator with all these bleeding-heart‘peaceniks’ is that they all take their cue from the US foreign policyagenda for India and Pakistan and its point of intersection.Domestically they advocate ‘communal harmony’ even in the faceof Islamic jihad’s relentless war against Hindus, and promote ‘peace’with Pakistan despite the fact that Pakistan has stubbornly refusedto dismantle the terrorist infrastructure it has set up with statepatronage. They continue to insist on a ‘peace’ dialogue withPakistan despite the fact that every act of jihadi terror around theworld has a Pakistani connection and despite the fact that thereis neither peace nor harmony between Hindu victims and localMuslims in Jammu and Kashmir. These bleeding-heart activists,like the US, continue to advocate ‘peace’ in utter disregard ofPakistan’s stated objectives vis-a-vis ‘Hindu’ India.Further, there is complete non-cognizance of the fact that whileChristians and Muslims may be waging a war to the finish indifferent parts of the world, while Catholics and Protestants maybe killing each other in Northern Ireland and in fierce competitionin the UK and the US, while Shias and Sunnis may be at eachother’s throats in Pakistan and the entire Islamic world, while thestated ideology of Communism is to treat all religions asadversaries, they have worked out a Grand Truce in India. As aresult, in India, Christians, Muslims and Communists have forgeda powerful anti-Hindu alliance and work in tandem, with powerfulsupport from the US. This anti-Hindu coalition of Marxists,Muslims, Missionaries, Khalistanis and Nehruvian Stalinistsdisplayed its unity most visibly in the name of Coalition AgainstGenocide (CAG) with the single-point agenda of pressuring the

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 29US establishment to deny Narendra Modi a visa to visit the US inApril 2005.There can hardly be doubts on this score. All ‘advocacy’ artistshave been rewarded with peace and human rights awards byWestern governments and international human rightsorganisations, almost invariably for taking an anti-Hindu positionon political issues. These peace awardees and human rights activistsare essentially political activists playing for big stakes. Personslike Martin Macwan, Harsh Mander, Arundhati Roy, Aruna Royand Sandeep Pandey, no matter how persuasively the de-culturiseddomestic English media and international community may try topackage them, are political activists rather than social workers.Their social activism and peace talk is a front, a mask for the greaterwar against political Hindus and Hindu nationalism. It makes sense,therefore, that they are anti-military, anti-police, anti-nuclear, anti-Hindu, anti-RSS and anti-Hindu-view-of-history. Each ‘anti’ stanceis part of a well-planned battle in the war against the Hindu nationand Indian/Hindu nationalism.This can be readily discerned when these activists denounceHindutva and nationalism in the same breath. In their publicdiscourses, speeches and writings, Hindutva is co-terminus withnationalism; they have thus unwittingly strengthened theperception that Hindutva is only Indian nationalism. Hence, whenthey attack Hindutva and belittle nationalism, these NGOs andactivists also deride the nation and national integrity. They condemnHindu religious and political consciousness in virulent language.No American/Western patronage is forthcoming for nationalismor the Hindu cause, but there is big money and powerful patronsin activism which issues shrill calls for doing away with nationalismand which supports the surrender of territory. There is big moneyin the politics of minorityism and in issues that serve, intentionallyor otherwise, Western and American interests.All the above-mentioned peace awardees and human rightsactivists have been feted and wined and dined by the internationalcommunity (read White Christian nations and their human rightsindustry) in the years between 1996-2004 when the BJP-led coalitionruled the country, first for 13 days and then for six years. It seemsdifficult to avoid the conclusion that they were being rewarded

30 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsfor the virulent anti-Hindu and anti-BJP/RSS campaign theyspearheaded. They obediently articulated the US-Western positionon the status of Jammu and Kashmir; India’s nuclear weaponsprogramme; the politics of minorityism; US State Department viewson religious freedom, Dalit rights, women’s rights and humanrights; and condoned nuclear apartheid by calling for denuclearising‘South Asia’ alone. If evidence is needed of the US-NGO-activist link, it can be seen in the fact that the very groupsand individuals who raised the pitch on these issues, and pushedthe BJP into a corner and made Hindus defensive about theirassertion in the polity, were subsequently used by the AmericanState Department to gather information on domestic events tocompile its annual reports on human rights and religious freedom.This partnership serves both sides well. The Americans usethis group to check and bad-mouth growing Hindu influence inIndian polity and Indian nationalism while American and Westernpatronage gives these individuals and groups international visibilityand legitimacy and access to funds and sponsorship for theirpolitical ambitions and NGO activism.8. American and Indian Marxist forays into the NGO industryNehru and Nehruvian secularism packed the teaching facultiesof the country’s premier educational institutions with Marxist and‘secular’ academicians who shared an anti-Hindu orientationtowards the nation’s history and cultural heritage. Not surprisingly,some of the Hindu minds that passed through these institutionswere influenced and conditioned by Marxist notions of historyand nation. Raju Rajagopal, Angana Chatterji, Ram Puniyani,Gautam Navlakha, Sandeep Pandey and Vijay Parshad are all ofMarxist persuasion and leading NGO industrialists at home andabroad. A brief account of the American and Marxist foray intothe NGO industry accentuates the idea of India being the prestigiousand chosen battle ground for the two inherently violent andmutually annihilating European philosophies – market-drivencapitalism and communism. In the current stage of their neverendingwar, one of their major battles is being fought out throughthe agency of NGOs. A noteworthy feature of American sponsorshipof anti-Hindu activism is the choice of persons for the Magsaysay

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 31awards. Martin Macwan, Sandeep Pandey, Aruna Roy, NirmalaDeshpande and Admiral Ramdas, anti-Hindu activists all of them,not surprisingly, have been awarded the Magsaysay in the yearsbetween 2000 and 2004, when the BJP-led NDA Government wasin power.The Magsaysay awards conferred upon Asians is not an Asianaward. It is an American award for Asians. The Magsaysay awardsin different categories are constituted by the Rockefeller BrothersFoundation and a substantial part of the cash component is fundedby the Ford Foundation (FF). The Indian Left has always beenstrongly critical of the FF because it believes that the FordFoundation, which it claims is consciously infiltrated by the CIA 6 ,set up shop in India even in Nehru’s time only to avert a verypossible communist take-over of the country after Nehru’s death;this, the Marxists hold, the FF set out to do by investing heavilyin rural development, in the green revolution and over time inNGOs as part of Ford’s ‘Asset Building and CommunityDevelopment Program’, which ‘supports efforts to reduce povertyand injustice by helping to build the financial, natural, social, andhuman assets of low-income individuals and communities’.The FF New Delhi office webpage 7 claims that ‘at the invitationof Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the Foundation establishedan office in India in 1952’. In fact, Chester Bowles, US Ambassadorto India from 1951, initiated the process. Like the rest of the USforeign policy establishment, Bowles was profoundly shocked atthe ‘loss’ of China (i.e., the nationwide coming to power of thecommunists in 1949). Linked to this was his acute worry at theinability of the Indian army to suppress the communist-led peasantarmed struggle in Telangana (1946-51) ‘until the communiststhemselves changed their programme of violence’. Indian peasantsexpected that now, with the British Raj gone, their longstandingdemand for land to the tiller would be implemented, and thatpressure continued everywhere in India even after the withdrawalof the Telangana struggle.Bowles wrote to Paul Hoffman, then President of FF: ‘Theconditions may improve in China while the Indian situation remainsstagnant.... If such a contrast developed during the next four orfive years, and if the Chinese continued their moderate and

32 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsplausible approach without threatening the northern Indianboundary.... the growth of communism in India might be verygreat. The death or retirement of Nehru might then be followedby a chaotic situation out of which another potentially strongcommunist nation might be born.’The New Delhi office was soon set up and, according to theFord Foundation, ‘this was the Foundation’s first program outsidethe United States, and the New Delhi office remains the largestof its field office operations’. It also covers Nepal and Sri Lanka.Bowles wrote that ‘under the leadership of Douglas Ensminger,the Ford staff in India became closely associated with the PlanningCommission which administers the Five-Year Plan. Wherever therewas a gap, they filled it, whether it was agricultural, healtheducation or administration. They took over, financed andadministered the crucial village-level worker training schools’.There is a sophisticated and comprehensive strategy workedout in imperialist quarters to harness the forces of voluntaryagencies/action groups to their strategic design to penetrateIndian society and influence its course of development. It isthe imperialist ruling circles, which have provided throughtheir academic outfits the political and ideological basis forthe outlook of a substantial number of these proliferatinggroups in India. By providing liberal funds to these groups,imperialism has created avenues to penetrate directly vitalsections of Indian society and simultaneously use thismovement as a vehicle to counter and disrupt the potentialof the Left movement. The CPI (M) and the Left forces haveto take serious note of this arm of imperialist penetration whilefocusing on the instruments and tactics of imperialism. Anideological offensive to rebut the philosophy propagated bythese groups is urgently necessary as it tends to attract pettybourgeois youth imbued with idealism (Prakash Karat in anarticle in The Marxist, titled Foreign Funding and the Philosophyof Voluntary Organisations, 1988: 2-3).Indian Marxists nurture a natural and implacable hostilitytowards the US in general, the FF in particular and their ‘imperialist

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 33intentions’ in India. But the communists have learnt two importantlessons – one, that the US and other Western nations by fundingand supporting NGOs are actually influencing social trends andpolitical and economic policies and, two, the urgent need to starttheir own flourishing industry in NGO activism which would givetheir socially disruptive anti-Hindu activism a façade ofrespectability. Sandeep Pandey and Aruna Roy are (in)famousexamples of Marxists venturing into NGO activism. SandeepPandey’s communist nexus began to unravel when, within monthsof accepting a Magsaysay award in 2002, he announced to theworld that he will be returning the money US$ 50,000 componentof the award because, he says, having called the US a terroriststate he cannot very well be receiving money from any Americanorganisation. It is obvious now that the communists used SandeepPandey to deliver their first punch at the ‘imperialist’ US and theFord Foundation.The second punch was delivered soon thereafter and this timethe World Social Forum was the context. The Indian communistsdid to the FF what they claim the FF did to them in the 1950s –hijack the World Social Forum from the Ford Foundation and thushijack an entire American/European NGO agenda, an entireconstituency of NGO activism and its beneficiaries, which hadbeen created and funded by the Ford Foundation, the UN andseveral North American, European and Scandinavian governmentsand quasi-government and non-government organisations,intended to render hors de combat any communist pretensionsfor a comeback. The ‘celestial war’ between capitalism andcommunism is once again gathering momentum and India seemsto be their chosen battle ground this time with Hindus who viewthem both with equal suspicion becoming their combined target.In keeping with its agenda to thwart the communists of theworld from staging any more great communist revolutions in anycontinent (and the WTO had created a fertile soil for suchrevolutions even without the Soviet Union to trigger and supportthem), the Ford Foundation was one among the major contributorsof funds for the World Social Forum which convened for the firsttime in Porto Alegre in Brazil in 2001. Not surprisingly, the FordFoundation, which has been accused of being in partnership with

34 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsthe CIA, is now accused of funding the Left. 8For three consecutive years the World Social Forum held itsannual conventions in Porto Alegre and so buoyed up were theorganisers with the response that in 2003 alone they organisedan Argentina Social Forum in Buenos Aires, a European SocialForum in Florence, a Palestine Thematic Forum in Ramallah (on‘negotiated solutions for conflicts’), an Asian Social Forum inHyderabad, and an African Social Forum in Addis Ababa. Thepenetration and the take-over of the World Social Forum by thecommunists of the world was complete by 2003 and, in 2003, theBrazilian Organising Committee and the International Councilissued a triumphant war cry deciding to hold the next WSFgathering not in Brazil, but in India.One of the principal organizing forces behind the MumbaiWSF meet in January 2004 were the two major communist partiesof India – the CPI and the CPI(M), and the National Alliance ofPeoples’ Movements (NAPM) an umbrella organisation for allNGOs affiliated to these parties or owing allegiance to thecommunist ideology. And the first decision taken by the IndianOrganising Committee was to reject Western sources of funds forthe WSF, notably the Ford Foundation. In the words of Lisa Jordanof the FF,We are not supporting this year’s forum because the IndianOrganising Committee (IOC), which represents acomprehensive attempt to bring together a large cross-sectionof Indian society, includes some groups who have objectedto Ford’s activities in India since 1953 – especially supportfor the Green Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s. They feelthat contributions made by the Ford Foundation helped toprevent India from undergoing communist revolution. In thebeginning the idea for the WSF in India had been for a verybroad funding base with Ford, Britain’s Department ForInternational Development (DFID), the MacArthur Foundation,the European Union and others. But in the end, the IOC chosenot to seek funding from any of these.The NAPM is a conglomerate of Indian NGOs whose agendasinclude:

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 35‘Resolving the Kashmir dispute’.Internationalising the Dalit issue with the slogan ‘Dalit rightsas human rights’ to sever the dalits from the Hinducommunity–Agents: Christian NGOs, sundry churches Indianand foreign.Propagate the slogan ‘Women’s rights as human rights’ andsever Hindu women from their families and religion – Agents:Marxist and Christian women’s groups and women’sorganisations.Education with emphasis on church-run rural and mofussilschools, writing of history and teaching the social sciencesfrom a so-called subaltern, minority and gender perspective.Nirmala Deshpande and Admiral Ramdas of Pakistan IndiaPeople’s Forum For Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) have alreadyearned their own Magsaysays for dabbling in Kashmir and hardsellingpeace with Pakistan, while Sandeep Pandey has originalideas on nationalism and, of course, on the status of Kashmir. Oneof the sessions in the WSF in Mumbai 2004 was devoted to theKashmir issue. 9 And just so we entertain no delusions about thepolitical ambitions of these NGOs and other activists, speakers atthe seminar included Ved Bhasin, Chairman of Kashmir Times;Yasin Malik, Chairman of JKLF; Pervez Hoodbhoy, Professor,Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad; Balraj Puri, Activist andWriter from Jammu; Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Associate Professor,JNU; Karamat Ali, Director, Pakistan Institute of Labour Educationand Research (PILER), Karachi; and Gautam Navlakha, AssistantEditor, Economic and Political Weekly. Incidentally, Gen. KaramatAli, along with Admiral Ramdas, is one of the luminaries of PIPFPD.The same group arranged for Martin Macwan, the so-calleddalit Christian from Gujarat with White American Christianpatrons, to speak about untouchability at the Durban conferenceon racism. 10 This group has succeeded in equating the practice ofuntouchability with caste, has reduced Hinduism to sati, dowry,caste and untouchability, and has defamed all practising Hindusas being inherently discriminatory towards the ‘lower’ castes andall women. The primary objective of this coalition of Muslims-Missionaries-Marxists-and Nehruvian Secularists is to write history

36 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsin a manner that places large sections of Hindu society outsidethe Hindu fold and another important section as aliens whoinvaded/migrated into the country from the steppes of CentralAsia. They hope thus to de-Hinduise the nation by propagatingthe following theories:Hinduism is Brahminism. The Brahmins are Aryans who arenot native to the nation but who first invaded and latermigrated into the country, subjugating the native ‘Dravidians’and the adivasis. Therefore what goes in the name of Hinduismis as alien as Islam and Christianity and so there is no basisto the claim of Hindu nationalists that the life breath of thisterritory is the Hindu civilisation or a Hindu nation. Dalitsand tribals are not Hindus. Modern India was created by theBritish and it is pluralistic.The pluralism of this anti-Hindu coalition is not to beinterchanged with diversity which is intrinsic only to Hinduism.The concept of pluralism is examined in this article only to providesome idea of the reasons behind why these NGOs and activiststake up the issues they do and the manner in which they do it.9. Pluralism antithetic to nationalismRemoving the Babri ‘masjid’ from the site of theRamjanmabhumi on the 6th December, 1992 was the first majorstep in independent India by the Hindus towards re-assertion andre-ordering of public spaces. The 1990s saw the rise of Hindunationalism – the growing strength of the BJP, the coming to powerof the BJP-led NDA, and India making the major leap towardsbecoming a nuclear weapons state. Not surprisingly, given therapidly changing geo-politics of the region, this decade also sawthe corresponding mushrooming of anti-Hindu NGOs and otherfreelance political activists, a coalition of Marxists, Muslims,Missionaries, Khalistanis and Nehruvian Secularists, who beganto position themselves openly against the Hindus of the country.A virulent and abusive campaign was launched by these activistsand NGOs in these years against the RSS and the BJP becausethey were perceived as vehicles of Hindu nationalism and

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 37instruments of Hindu empowerment.Assertive Hindu presence in public spaces and in the Indianpolity challenged the sway of Nehruvian secularism and this newbreed of foreign-funded, globe-trotting activists began to defineexplicitly and for the first time since independence the Nehruviansecularist understanding of India. This group derives its intellectualinput from Indian academia as represented by Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU), Delhi University, the Indian Council for HistoricalResearch (ICHR) and the Indian Council for Social Science Research(ICSSR), all of which exemplify Nehruvian secularism. SuccessiveCongress governments at the Centre packed these academicinstitutions with Marxist historians and ‘scholars’ of pseudoscienceslike ‘political science’ and ‘social science’ whose singlepointagenda is to promote the concept of ‘pluralism’.‘Pluralism’ (or its modern, Western nomenclature ‘multiculturalism’)arose as a ‘civilising’ concept in White-Christiancivilisations, which are historically intolerant and genocidal towardsother worldviews and other ways of life. Pluralism in the nationstateera of Western civilisation’s political evolution was thereforemade a compulsory virtue of liberal Western democracy, whichtypically tried to make it ‘universal’, given its ineradicablemissionary mindset.Marxist historians and pseudo-scientists in academia whothrive and perpetuate themselves and their breed under Nehruviansecularism earn their salaries for attributing a ‘pluralist’ characterto the Indian nation. Denying that there ever was a Hindu nation,these ‘secular’ academicians project the India of their imaginationas having always been ‘pluralist’, implying thereby that there werelarge sections of the populace outside the fold of the SanatanaDharma, even in pre-Islamic, pre-Christian India. This grouppatronized the writing of ‘sub-altern’ history to propagate thefalsehood of pluralism.The anti-Hindu/de-Hinduising industry of this group ofNehruvian secularist historians peddling ‘pluralism’ in academeand public discourse, rests on two enormous lies – the AryanInvasion Theory and ‘India became a nation only because of theBritish’. The pluralism that is peddled by this group derives itslegitimacy from these two unconscionable lies. The first equates

38 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsHinduism with brahmins and brahminism (whatever that means)while the second denies that India was ever a nation prior to colonialadministration. Now, in one stroke, these two lies read togetherconveniently fragment Hindu society, place important sectionsof the Hindu community either outside national borders or outsidethe pale of the community altogether, and reject the truth of theIndian/Hindu nation. This provides the liars in academia andactivism with the much-needed theoretical space to include allstubbornly separatist elements within the pluralist nation of theirfertile imagination.A ‘nation’ suggests commonality, a common relatedness thatforms the basis for ‘nationhood’. A ‘nation’ is, therefore, the veryantithesis of pluralist co-habitation within national borders, as theUS and other Western nations of Europe are beginning to realisenow. Pluralism, they are beginning to understand (somethingnationalist Indians always understood), provides pan-nationalidentities the space in democracies to perpetuate themselves intoa critical mass which eventually poses the biggest challenge tothe idea of nation, national security and the territorial integrityof countries.Pluralism guarantees these entities the right to remain asindigestible elements within the nation’s body politic. WhiteEuropean and White American Christians are now discoveringthe problems of living in multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multiculturalsocieties where they find their Christian values and theirracial, ethnic and religious supremacist way of life in danger ofcomplete erosion. More critically for them, they are coming to termswith the fact that pluralism or multi-culturalism and religiousfreedom which they have committed themselves to guarantee andsupport, gives the inassimilable elements of their society the rightto enjoy the benefits of citizenship without the matching emotionalcommitment or loyalty to protect the nation or its nationhood.The jihadi terror let loose in London in July 2005 was mastermindedand executed by Muslims born and raised in Britain. They wereBritish citizens but they were Muslim nationals emotionally withloyalty only to the Muslim ummah (Muslim nation).The Islamization of Europe, the Hispanicization of the USand the ever-increasing immigration from Asia and other regions

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 39of the world into their countries, and increasing jihadi attacks bytheir own citizens on their soil is forcing nervous White Christiannations to re-examine issues of national identity and national ethos.What does it mean to be American, What does it mean to be British,Should Christianity be stated to be the religion of the EuropeanUnion in the EU Constitution, are questions that are beingincreasingly and openly debated under pressure from ‘pluralism’.And these countries are forced to examine the ‘salience andsubstance’ of their national identity because what is threateningtheir national identity and security are the very features of a modernnation-state and the compulsions of Western liberal democracythat they have been insisting are universally desirable.Christian and Muslim societies and nations have been racially,ethnically or religiously homogeneous until very recently in theirhistory. The ‘only one God, only one path’ obsession of bothreligions never allowed the demography of other races and religionsto pose a threat to their supremacy (while Native Americans havebeen almost exterminated from their homeland and constitutebarely five percent of the population; the population of BlackAmericans has been kept static at 12 per cent for nearly a century).Europeans moved out to colonise other continents but neverpermitted other continents to inhabit their nations in destabilisinglarge numbers until the last 50 years or even less. Moreover,whenever racial, ethnic or religious demography has been disturbedand sharply altered in the territories controlled by Islam orChristianity or in their vicinity, it has always led to bloody warsacross borders or bloody civil wars within their own borders. Allthis is known history.September 11 and July 7 have compelled the US, Europe andother White Christian countries to deal with issues going beyondterrorism. Issues like rapidly-changing cultural and religiousdemography, increasing assertiveness of sub-national and pannationalidentities of minorities affecting social stability andthreatening national security, policy-making and law-making whichhave a bearing upon minorities and immigrant communities andwhich raise legitimate questions about human rights and civilliberties, and much, much more are cropping up within theircountries with increasing frequency. It is delicious irony if only

40 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsbecause these countries until recently used these very issues tohector and lecture to non-White, non-Christian countries wherethey have political and strategic interests.Grappling with these issues all at once and at the same time,these White Christian countries are being compelled to re-examinethe concept of ‘pluralism’, the importance of national identity,and the substance of their national identity and nationhood. Andsoon these countries will begin to confront the thorny questionof whether national identity and nationhood can be defined withouttaking into account the religious and cultural ethos of the majoritypopulation, especially if that is also the original native populationof the land. While this latter may not find sympathy in Americabecause it will put the White settlers on the defensive, it will findresonance in a Europe deluged by Turkish and other Islamicimmigrants.At home, pluralism provided the Muslim-Missionary-Marxist-Nehruvian Secularist combine with the political space to developthe polity and policies of minorityism. Politics of minorityism ismade possible only by ‘pluralism’. Pluralism, as stated earlier,unduly privileges the indigestible elements in the nation, that is,the elements that stubbornly resist assimilation in the commonor general national ethos. Their insistence on maintaining theirsub-national or pan-national identities without subsuming it inthe national ethos creates the minority identity. The minorityidentity, needless to say, posits itself against the majority populationof the country.Pluralism, Nehruvian secularism and the politics ofminorityism are symbiotic political attitudes which have assumeda virulent anti-Hindu bias. Besides unabashedly flaunting the anti-Hindu bias, this monstrous coalition has distorted public discourseon any issue that concerns the Christian and Muslim minoritypopulation, even when such issues have a bearing upon nationalsecurity and particularly when these issues affect Hindu interests.10. The face of powerlessnessThat independent India will not be a Hindu India in letterand spirit became evident as the Constituent Assembly began todebate the contours and contents of the Indian Constitution. The

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 41Indian Constitution, as it began to take shape, laid the foundationof what was not just a de-Hinduised polity and administrationbut that which was actively hostile to Hindus and the Hindudharma. The freedom movement by tactics discussed earlier hadbeen effectively de-Hinduised by then and the Hindu leadershipwas powerless to use 1947 as an opportunity to regain control ofstate power.Hindu powerlessness was now institutionalized. NationalistHindus like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Madan MohanMalaviya and KM Munshi could not prevail and regain controlof state power. Hindus had been deprived of political power forso long that they failed to comprehend the means of re-acquiringit in a rapidly evolving political and ideological context. MaharishiAurobindo, Sriman Swamy, Subrahmanya Bharati and MahatmaGandhi understood the vital importance of state power forprotecting the Hindus, the territory of the Hindu homeland andthe Hindu way of life. But this was not to be.Through tactical interventions like penetration and infiltration,by covertly goading the Muslims towards separatism followedby violent partition and by legitimising Nehru over Gandhiji, theBritish succeeded in disempowering the Hindus yet again and itwas this leadership which presided over the partition of Hinduterritory and which later represented the Hindus in the ConstituentAssembly; only the overwhelming majority of the Hindus in theConstituent Assembly had already been converted to Nehruviansecularism by then.Rajeev Srinivasan lists the forms that this anti-Hindu polityhas taken in independent India legally and constitutionally:Looting Hindu temples through control of their finances (andonly theirs, while providing largesse for others); wealthychurches and mosques get huge amounts of foreign moneyfor conversion purposes, but this is not even audited;Declaring open season for conversion, which is clearly violenceagainst Hindus because only they are victimised and are neverthe proselytisers;Discriminating against them by only allowing non-Hindusto run educational institutions (thus preparing the way for

42 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsgenerations of Hindus to be brainwashed and alienated);Delegitimising and destroying Sanskrit and Indological studies;Creating and assiduously cultivating a negative Marxistinterpretation of Hinduism and making it the state-supportedofficial view;Continuously insulting Hindu tradition by labeling it primitiveand superstitious, whereas it is highly rational and scientific;Negating Hindu history itself and brushing under the carpetmassive Islamic and Christian damage done to it;Ignoring all human rights violations against Hindus;Propagating as State ideology something called ‘secularism’,which in essence means oppression of Hindus. 11To this I would add the following:Reject the word ‘Hindu’ so that the content of the word isrendered wide open to opportunistic definitions;By removing the protective umbrella of the word ‘Hindu’ fromspecific communities, to encourage and actively support thefragmentation of the Hindu community, both throughintellectual formulations in academia and public discourse,and by NGO activism at the grassroots of Hindu society. Byinsisting that some communities like the Dalits and tribalpeople are not Hindus, these intellectuals legitimize and evenactively encourage religious conversion;Supplant the natural diversity of the Hindu civilisation withthe concept of ‘pluralism’, which is antithetic to nation, toenable the accentuation of sub-national and pan-nationalidentities;Re-write history in a manner that explicitly insults Hindusensibilities and faith, and which makes out centuries ofMuslim invasion and occupation as being nothing else but aculturally enriching phase of Indian history – a phase thatgave us Sufi poetry and the Taj Mahal.Hindu nationalism is under great pressure from its adversariesat home and abroad. Its political voice has been secularised andthus disabled from serving Hindu interests. Whether Ayodhya

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 43or Article 370, whether seeking to ban cow slaughter or enforcinga uniform civil code, whether striving to regain control of templeadministration or seeking to check the flow of foreign funds toChristian churches and ‘charitable’ organisations, the Hindus havebeen rendered powerless from influencing the polity or the judiciaryon any issue. And this is the measure of the success of this anti-Hindu coalition operating under the protective umbrella ofNehruvian secularism.What is happening to the BJP now is not dissimilar to whathappened to the Congress in 1947, and the tactics being adoptednow by Western powers and their ally the de-nationalised Congressto weaken the Hindu BJP vis-a-vis a loosely-aligned coalition ofNehruvian secularists, is similar to the tactics employed by theBritish administration then to weaken the Congress vis-a-vis theMuslim League. The objective always has been to weaken theresolve of important Hindus, Hindus with the power and theinfluence to make a difference, from making any attempt torestructure the polity in conformity with the nation’s Hindu ethosand, if such attempts are made despite extreme opposition, to abortit or thwart in it an exemplary manner.Even in the face of bitter opposition from Nehru, Hindunationalists rallied themselves together to re-build the Somnathtemple. That Nehru was mortally afraid of Hindu nationalism wasrevealed by YD Gundevia. 12 But this was the last major assertionby the Hindus before Nehruvian secularism gained a strangleholdover the country. No leader who opposed Nehru or Nehruviansecularism was allowed to remain in the forefront of Indian polityor public life in the immediate years after independence; it shouldbe obvious that Nehru by himself could not have shaped the courseof Indian polity then. Bringing down the Babri ‘masjid’ in 1992followed by the nuclear tests in 1998 were the first and last majornationalist moves by the BJP before it was rendered hors de combat.The international sanctions that were slapped on India followingPokharan II, the rise of the Italian Sonia Gandhi within the Congressand subsequently in national politics at this time, the new breedof young parliamentarians from powerful political families marriedto foreigners, denial of a visa to Narendra Modi by the USGovernment, and the highly intrusive role adopted by the US StateDepartment in India’s internal policies must be seen as a continuum

44 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsof decapacitating the Hindu movement and thwarting any attemptof the Hindus to organise themselves into a powerful politicalforce.The individuals and organisations that this book profiles haveplayed a major role in the promotion of the politics of minorityism,in the politics of Nehruvian secularism. This is a virulent anti-Hindu coalition, which makes its living from being the obligingshouting brigade of the forces that seek to keep Hindu assertionat bay. While this group which formed itself into an alliance namedCoalition Against Genocide (CAG) chortled with glee when theUS State Department denied a visa to Narendra Modi, politicalobservers smiled cynically because the US has one set of rules for‘freedom fighter’ Yasser Arafat who was treated like an untouchablewhile another set of rules governs it with regard to ‘freedom fighter’Gerry Adams who gets invited for photo ops in the White House.The US has one set of rules for Musharraf and terrorism againstIndia while another set of rules govern its attitude to SlobodanMilosevich and Saddam Hussein.The US State Department’s treatment of Narendra Modi wasmeant to be a warning signal to the BJP and Hindu nationaliststhat the US would not countenance Hindu nationalism. It wasalso a warning to those Hindus who aspired for US visas, greencards or citizenship to distance themselves from the RSS’ Hindunationalism and Hindutva. Hindu nationalism poses the biggestthreat to Western neo-colonialism, resurgent communism, Christianmissionary hegemony and Islamic jihad. While these offspringof the same parent have engaged in murderous wars duringdifferent periods in world history, not one of them has the capacityto eliminate the others. For the Hindus of India all four pose amajor threat to our survival and to our territory while Hindunationalism’s capacity for sturdy resistance poses not only theconceptual threat to their worldview but also a physical threat totheir existence on the territory that is still controlled by Hindus.And that is why these forces are arraigned against Hindus andHindu nationalism. This book is intended to serve notice on thisanti-Hindu coalition and its masters.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 45Notes1. http://www.education.nic.in/htmlweb/cabe.htm2. http://pib.nic.in/release/rel_print_page.asp?relid=68833. http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/aug/16rajeev.htm4. http://www.aicc.org.in/women_and_india%E2%80%99s_independence_movement.htm5. http://www.crystalinks.com/blavatsky2.html6. http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/FordFandCIA.html7. http://www.rupe-india.org/35/app1.html8. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=78359. http://wsfindia.org/event2004/more.php?myvar=47610. http://www.india-seminar.com/2001/508/508%20martin%20macwan.htm11. http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/aug/16rajeev.htm & http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/aug/17rajeev.htm12. In his Outside the Archives (pages 209-210, Sangam Books, 1984),YD Gundevia, Prime Minister Nehru’s last foreign secretary, recallsa Friday morning in December 1963, when Nehru held hiscustomary free-for-all meeting with secretaries, joint secretaries,all deputy secretaries and some under secretaries.There being no specific agenda that particular day, Gundevia askedNehru what would happen to the civil servant if, after being attunedonly to Congress policies so long, the Communists were, tomorrow,elected to power in New Delhi.Nehru pondered long over the question and then said, “Why doyou ever imagine the Communists will ever be voted into powerat the Centre?”After a long pause, he said, spelling it out slowly and verydeliberately, “The danger to India, mark you, is not Communism.It is Hindu right-wing communalism.”Towards the end of the meeting he repeated his thesis.

2NGOs: Description and RegulationsR VaidyanathanOne of the largest members of the Indian economic actionscene is the NGO sector—what is known as the Third Sector (otherthan Government and Private) in academic circles. A Non-Government Organisation (NGO) is any voluntary, non-profit,citizens’ group which is organised on a local, national orinternational level. It could be registered as a society, trust orsection 25 company even though some co-operatives also claimthis label.Table 1Type of Activities of NGOsAge CareAgricultureAnimal WelfareArt & CraftChildrenCitiesCommunity DevelopmentCulture and HeritageDisabilityDisaster ManagementEducationEnvironmentSource: Indianngos.comHealthHIV/AIDSHousing and SlumsMicro FinancePopulationPovertyRural TransformationTribal PeoplesWaste ManagementWaterWomenOthers

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 47Two important criteria are that NGOs are supposed to beindependent of Government and they are organisations not meantfor making profit. They are also expected to be ‘value-based’organisations.The types of activities they are involved in are mind-bogglingas we see from Table 1. It indicates that the range of concerns ofthe Third Sector is as large as that of Sovereign States.The list is indicative and not exhaustive. NGOs are involvedin different types of activities and correspondingly the type oforganisation could differ as indicated in Table 2.Table 2Typical Forms of NGOsItemType of NGO1. Advocacy: These NGOs advocate or campaign on issuesor causes. They do not implement programmes/projects.PETA advocates the cause of ethical treatment of animals.2. Consultancy/Research organisations: They work on Socialand Developmental Research and Consultancy.3. Training/Capacity Building organisations: Training iscalled capacity building by NGOs and some NGOs workon capacity building of other NGOs.4. Networking organisations: They provide a network forother NGOs in specific fields. AVARD works onnetworking NGOs in rural development.5. Mother NGOs: These are recipients of funds as well asgivers. They have a work focus, but instead ofimplementing projects they identify projects and monitor,evaluate and build capacities of other participating NGOs.CRY is an example.6. Grassroots organisations: They directly work with thecommunity. In a sense, all Mahila Mandals fall in thiscategory.7. City-based organisations: They restrict their focus to cities.AGNI in Mumbai could be an example.

48 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds8. National organisations: They have a national presence:CRY, Concern India, etc.9. International organisations: They are parts of aninternational NGO. Like a mother NGO, they receive anddisburse grants. CARE and Oxfam could be examples.10. Self-help groups: They are formed by beneficiarycommunities. Typically, women form these groups of tenplusmembers. In rural Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu,they are increasing in numbers. They are funded evenby commercial banks for productive activities. In a sense,they are not typical NGOs.11. Religious NGOs: Religion-based organisations, manyaffiliated to international church groups.Source: Indianngos.comThe funding for these NGOs could be domestic orinternational. The international flow of funds is regulated by theForeign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) of the CentralGovernment.Table 3Number of associations and amount of money receivedYear Associations Amount ofregistered foreignunder the Act contributions(end-March) received(Rs crore)1993-94 15,039 1,8651998-99 19,834 3,4021999-00 21,244 3,9242000-01 22,924 4,5352001-02 24,563 4,8722002-03 26,404 5,0472003-04 28,351 5,105Source: http://mha.nic.in/fcra/annual/summary_2003-04.pdf

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 49Table 3 provides the trends in the number of registeredassociations and amount of money received under the Act. It istaken from the records of the Ministry of Home Affairs as presentedby them. As is the case with many government statistics, the latestyear for which data is available is 2003-04.Incidentally, of these 28,351 associations only 17,145associations reported receipt of foreign contributions (includingthose that filed nil returns) totaling to Rs 5,105 crores. There existsperhaps substantial under-reporting.The report of the Home Ministry also provides otherinformation regarding the States receiving the largest amountsand their purposes, etc., pertaining to the year 2003-04.It suggests that important States /UT are Delhi (Rs 857 crores),followed by Tamil Nadu (Rs 800 crores) and Andhra Pradesh (Rs684 crores) and Karnataka (Rs 529 crores). USA leads in the list ofdonor countries (Rs 1584 crores) followed by Germany (Rs 757crores) and UK (Rs 676 crores).The leading donor agencies are Foundation Vicente E Ferrer(Spain Rs 135 crores), World Vision International (USA Rs 94 crore)and Christian Children Fund (Rs 74 crore).The largest recipients are the Rural Development Trust,Andhra Pradesh (Rs 126 crores) followed by World Vision of India,Tamil Nadu (Rs 104 crores) and Foster Parents Plan InternationalInc., Delhi (Rs 57 crore). Among the top 25 recipients each withmore than Rs 200 crores as receipts from abroad, nearly 18 areeasily identifiable from their names as Christian ‘charity’organisations.The interesting information is regarding the purpose of thedonations. Establishment Expenses (Rs 639 crores) tops the listfollowed by Rural Development (Rs 495 crores) and Constructionand Maintenance of Schools and Colleges (Rs 222 crores).Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat and AndhraPradesh are some of the States with a large number of NGOs. Itis curious to note that the poorest states like Bihar and Uttar Pradeshdo not have as many numbers.In Table 4, we have provided the flow of funds on the ‘InvisibleAccounts’ which is for religious and charitable donations comingas part of private transfers from abroad. This increased from 581

50 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsmillion US dollars in 2000-01 to 681 million USD in 2003-04. If wetake the exchange rate at Rs 45 on an average, then Rs 3,065 croreshas come according to RBI data from private transfers during 2003-04 as religious and charitable donations. This would have increasedmanifold during the year 2004 after the tsunami effect.Table 4Private transfers on the invisible account [$ million]Item/ Year 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04Religious& charitable 581 632 613 681donationsSource: India’s Invisibles; RBI Bulletin March 2005The number of persons employed in NGOs is not separatelyavailable. One estimate published by Indiangos.com indicates thefigure at 19.4 million with West Bengal (1.52mn), Tamil Nadu(1.49mn) and Delhi (1.03mn) leading the pack.This suggests that the total number of government employeesat nearly 20 million (Central, State and Local bodies) and thenumber employed by NGOs are comparable.By definition, NGO activity is voluntary and hence one expectsthat the overheads of the organisations are lean. In financialparlance, the fixed cost is expected to be relatively very small.Contrary to this belief, we find that the Establishment Expensesare the major reasons for receiving donations from abroad. In otherwords, NGOs are perhaps becoming top heavy like GovernmentDepartments wherein a substantial portion of developmentalexpenses are spent on wages and expenses like telephone, travel(both domestic and international), etc.Another important aspect is the funding and functioning ofNGOs that get funds from domestic sources. Unfortunately, wedo not have a full picture of their financing. NGOs are active inpointing out the deficiencies in the functioning of the Government,be they on human rights or wildlife preservation or child labour.It is also important that the activities of the NGOs be transparent,particularly from the point of view of their sources and uses of

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 51funds. Since the Companies Act does not cover them, it is notrequired of them to file annual reports with the Registrar ofCompanies. They are not part of the Government and hence theComptroller and Auditor General of India does not audit theiraccounts. For instance, this writer has tried unsuccessfully for nearlythree years to get the annual report including annual accounts ofthree leading NGOs in this country, who have a very high mediapresence in newspapers and TV channels.Russia approved a bill that introduces stringent control overthe activities of foreign-funded non-government and noncommercialorganisations in a move designed to pre-empt any‘coloured revolution’ in the country (The Hindu dated 26.12.2005gives details).It says:The Kremlin has learnt its lessons from a string of ‘colouredrevolutions’ in the former Soviet Republics—the ‘roserevolution’ in Georgia, the ‘orange revolution’ in Ukraine andthe ‘tulip revolution’ in Kyrgyzstan—all inspired andorchestrated by Western funded NGOs. The bill allows NGOsto be shut down if they threaten the country’s sovereignty,independence, territorial integrity, national unity andoriginality, cultural heritage and national interests. There are450,000 NGOs in Russia representing religious organisations,charities, think tanks, and professional groups. The USCongress has allocated $85 million for the support ofdemocracy in Russia in 2006.Incidentally, there is an act in the USA called Foreign AgentsRegistration Act (FARA) and it provides for penalties upto 10 yearsin jail for anyone acting as a foreign agent without notification tothe Attorney General. This FARA was originally passed in 1938to prevent the spread of Nazi ideas and propaganda.Hence regulations of NGOs operating within a country areneither new nor something curtailing their freedom. Their activitieshave grown manifold and hence the issue of accountability becomesvery important. This in no way minimises their importance norquestions their functioning. One can argue that they are accountable

52 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsto their donors, but it is not like a corporate situation where thecompany is accountable to its shareholders. They have a largerimpact on our civil society and hence their role is more than thatof giving details to their donors. Particularly in our civil society,which places importance on voluntary efforts and appreciates it,the responsibility is much more.To start with, they can publish their annual reports includingaccounts in their websites on a regular basis. It would also facilitatedomestic individual donors to decide regarding providing fundsto them based on their effectiveness measured by overheads.We are not suggesting that a Central Government regulatoryorganisation should be created with large number of retiredbureaucrats occupying posts and demanding quarterly statementsfrom the NGOs. We would rather have NGOs create a selfregulatorybody, or the community creates a body, which is acreature of their own and to which they are accountable. Theycan co-opt eminent citizens in this body. This becomes importantsince it is perceived that some of the NGOs are engaging in religiousconversions in a rather aggressive fashion and some others areusing the NGO banner for blackmailing well-functioning corporateand Government entities.Social cohesion might be affected by the activities of someof the NGOs, particularly those which are active in proselytisingleading to religious conversion.Of course, the nature and dimension of such activities maybe considered as ‘small’ today but it would be prudent to beproactive and generate credible self-regulating systems to enhancethe effectiveness of the third sector. It would not be appropriateto suggest that everything is fine with every NGO in the country.Numbers are growing, causes are getting enlarged and fundingparticularly from abroad is increasing. Hence, perhaps, the timehas come for them to be more transparent and enhance disclosurepractices to be like Caesar’s wife. And transparency and regulationand full disclosure are what they demand from corporates andGovernment. Hence, it might be appropriate to expect the samefrom them.

3SOCIAL MOVEMENTS TOTOTALITARIANISM:The Role Of NGOs*Veera Vaishnava“...Although this science will be diligently studied, it will be rigidlyconfined to the governing class. The populace will not be allowed toknow how its convictions were generated. When the technique has beenperfected, every Government that has been in charge of education for ageneration will be able to control its subjects securely without the needof armies or policemen.”Bertrand Russell, The Impact of Science on Society, 19521. IntroductionMany social policies espoused by NGOs reflect sensibilities,feelings of guilt, morals, concerns, preferences and values. Theyare further armed with a gloomy view of a ‘Hindu India’ and,* This essay in its original form appeared in http://www.indiaforum.com/articles/101/1/Social-Movements-to-Totalitarianism:Readers are reminded, quite emphatically, that not all NGOs are out todeceive people, or are part of any revolution or participate in socialmovements that are subversive. It is our great nation’s fortune that thereare millions of altruistic individuals and Hindus who quietly servehumanity, diligently avoiding any fortune or fame. There are hundreds,if not thousands, of wellwishing groups and NGOs that volunteer and dophenomenal humanitarian and noble work, but they scarcely get anyattention or mention in the mainstream media. This article is about theNGOs that by words and deeds have—so far—not been truthful, noraccountable for their actions.

54 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsnot surprisingly, this set of sensibilities is the exact reflection of acadre of ‘civil society’ protagonists—extremely well-fundedinternationalists, social/political activists, missionaries, Islamists,intellectual crooks/pimps, academic entrepreneurs, politicians andwealthy foundations of affluent countries.The Economist’s ‘The World In 2002’ author, John Grimond,says of ‘Civil Society’:It is universally talked about in tones that suggest it is a GreatGood, but for some people it presents a problem: what onearth is it? Unless you know,…it how can you tell if you wouldwant to join it? 1These self-appointed guardians of such undefined civil societyhave been allowed, in India, to define and impose the criteria bywhich Indian society (only Hindus) needs to be transformed. Theseactivist groups would like to determine and decide which of oursociety’s goals (political, economic, moral, ethical and practical)are important, and insist that other immediate priorities of oursociety and our nation be ignored and discarded.James Petras, the sociologist, in his article ‘NGOs - In theservice of imperialism’ writes:Throughout history ruling classes, representing smallminorities, have always depended on the coercive stateapparatus and social institutions to defend their power, profitsand privileges. In the past, particularly in the Third World,imperial-ruling classes financed and supported overseas anddomestic religious institutions to control exploited people anddeflect their discontent into religious communal rivalries andconflicts.While these practices continue today, in more recent decadesa new social institution emerged that provide the same functionof control and ideological mystification the self-described Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).Today [1999] there are at least 50,000 NGOs in the Third Worldreceiving over $10 billion in funding from internationalfinancial institutions, Euro-US-Japanese governmental agencies

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 55and local governments. The managers of the biggest NGOsmanage million dollar budgets with salaries and perks thatare comparable to CEOs. They jet to international conferences,confer with top corporate and financial directors and makepolicy decisions that affect in the great majority of casesadversely millions of people especially the poor, women andinformal sector working people. 2Many NGOs indulge in similar rhetoric, packaged to appealto all segments of the citizenry—as they seem very noble—andsome of the key issues are ‘Peace’, ‘Empowerment’, ‘SustainableDevelopment’, ‘Displacement’, ‘Forest Land and Tribals’, ‘ChildRights’, ‘Women Empowerment’, ‘Right to Food’, ‘Animal Rights’,‘Human Rights’, ‘Environment’, and ‘Capacity Building’ (phew!).Much of their utopian idealism is very evident in their missionstatement, mass campaigns, speeches, writings and fundraisers,but sans an enforceable code of ethics (in addition to ‘Transparency,Accountability and Accuracy’) for these groups. It is impossibleto hold them accountable for their actions and consequences onsociety, particularly in a nation whose nationhood is continuouslyunder attack both from within and without, by the same NGOsor their sponsors or allies (home-grown or foreign).2. Social Movements to TotalitarianismHistory is living testament to clever appeals that often maska hidden agenda that actually makes life infinitely worse forpeople—arresting all-round development, breaking families,disturbing the community, creating distrust amongst participantsand atomizing society—at the ultimate ‘receiving end’. After all,what fascist or communist state didn’t rise to power on the claimthat it would help ‘the little people’ and alleviate suffering? Theseare the groups that manufacture grievances, instil persecutioncomplexes, shape public opinion, form alliances with interestgroups, and prey on the moulded collective behaviour of theirtarget groups. Once they form sufficient numbers of participants,eager listeners, they form a political force, as much as they claimto the contrary and claim that ‘serving humanity’ is their onlyintention and purpose.

56 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsThis article is neither about societal development of Hindusociety or of India, nor is it about various forms of social movements(rational and irrational alike). The term is used in a generic way.It is a short essay on how external agents, well-funded NGOs withblatant anti-national and anti-Hindu agendas operate by creatingsocial movements that exploit collective identity and behaviour,in their drive towards a utopian (read totalitarian) state. A statein which Hindus, despite being the majority, once again will besecond-class citizens, unless Hindu society wakes up to thedanger(s) and launches a counter-movement based on internalreform (not a radical revolution), strengthening all strata of societyand defending the soul and spirit of India. Instead, in a countrylike India, in the post-independence era, smitten by Nehruviansecularism, everyone wants to change the future and destiny ofIndia—by hook and/or crook, except Hindus themselves.In a half-baked country that has yet to find and assert itself—its values, culture, social structure, etc., one cannot expectcompletely rational social movements based either on new valuesor opportunities for societies (for the better usually). Example: newvalue movements such as environment protection, universaleducation, universal health, human rights protection. After all,who would oppose such rational movements and noble sentimentswhich better entire humanity?Not being a sociologist, it is safe to say that one can expectto find ‘quasi-rational’ responses to conditions existing in society,social order, especially in India. In other words, conditions canbe created (and induced) to elicit responses from a group of people,to cause pressure and strains on major societal institutions—interand intra. These quasi-rational responses manifest when a society’sirrational elements as well as rational elements both respond.The irrationality, however, once stoked and fomented, inducesstrains within a society that can easily be aggravated andexacerbated. A society then slips into a dysfunctional state, makingit malleable to any externally imposed agendas. The trick, however,is to control and manage the rational elements’ response to furtherone’s cause. For example: a planned and premeditated roastingof 58 innocent Hindu pilgrims on a train unfolds, a totally irrationalretaliation results killing 700-odd people from both Hindu and

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 57Muslim communities, yet the rational elements of society manageto completely ignore the real causes and start justifying thepremeditated murder and blame the victims. The ideologues,managers of the movement (if it can be called one) are still milkingthe unfortunate event abroad.In general, collective behaviour-inspired social movementsare the symptom and manifestation of a sick society. A healthysociety does not have social movements, it has some form of politicaland social participation and does not allow methods thatmanipulate large segments of people by the media or movementmanagers or politicians.When a society gets exposed to such repeated quasi-rationalresponses and movements, it gets strained and the internal systembreaks down. The process of atomization or rootlessness begins.The uprooted and atomized mass becomes vulnerable to directmobilising appeals by powerful elites, religious fanatics, designerNGOs, and charismatic and corrosive leaders encouraging themto participate in mild form of revolution. If it goes unchecked,totalitarian movements emerge.Fortunately, India is yet neither a totalitarian state nor is shean authoritarian state (if the dynastic angle is ignored) – but wemight become one, if our citizens, especially Hindus in India, donot wisen up.One should distinguish irrational and spontaneous outbursts(mob behaviour) from quasi-rational movements that exploitcollective identity and behaviour (of irrationality) and also appealto saner and rational elements within society by appealing touniversal human values. The question is who controls and exploitsthe social movements, on whose behalf and bidding and for whatpurpose (whose agenda).The only way to understand and uncover these movementsand their leaders’ motivations, agenda and purpose is to understandtheir methods, associations, audience in a proper context. In thisessay, a different three-layered approach (a pyramid) ofunderstanding these movements (patterns) that is India-specific,will be outlined. NGOs do play a major role in such movements(patterns) and are as important as their ‘anti-elitist’ elites,ideologues, academic entrepreneurs, and their bloody, irrational

58 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundscomrades who are the foot soldiers, much like homicide bombersof the worldwide ummah movement.3. The ‘-ism’ before TotalitarianismThere are various definitions, analyses and well-nuancedexplanations of ‘Totalitarian State’ coming from various politicalscientists and scholars. 3 While no political party worth its salt andwith eye on power would loudly proclaim that its ideology istotalitarian or undemocratic, it behooves one to understand that inthe public domain such venerable people and organisations operateto dominate and have absolute control over it.Totalitarianism is an extreme form of authoritarian vision,which wishes to wield total and all-encompassing power. Thispower is not limited to political activities but goes far beyond it,wanting to overshadow nearly every aspect of a citizen’s life. Thisnaturally encompasses spectacular mobilisation of citizens, andeffects a profound transformation of human nature. To attain suchends, the rule is arbitrary, based on coercion, fear, rather than bylaw and used on any and all segments of society. This terrorbecomes institutionalised to deter any opposition to its vision ofthe ideal society. The totalitarian vision and belief in, and emphasison, building a utopia is so intense that the leaders are willing totake extreme measures, violate all socially accepted norms andmoral principles. No price is too high to achieve this goal of aperfect society.Depending on the audience and the purpose, this ‘-ism’morphs into many avatars—Progressivism, Post-Modernism,Intellectualism, Secularism, Liberalism, Post-Colonialism—thatappeal to ‘rational’ elements as they have a tinge of respectabilityand modernity in the true sense. Then again, the same crowd hasMaoism, Marxism, Communism, etc., to appeal to the irrationalelements. In India, however, it is fondly called ‘Secularism’. Tobe successful in this revolution, there must be effective tactics andmethods of leadership, ideology, organisation, propaganda, andviolence. All of these factors are necessary to mobilise the publicin pursuit of the utopia. However, the ideology and vision, rhetoric,practice, tools, methods, processes of this ‘-ism’ are identical toTotalitarianism, as we will explore briefly in the following section.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 594. The Pyramid—Big and Broad PictureWe all live in an event-focused era, tending to focus too muchon events and, to a certain extent, their causes but not on howthey fit into larger patterns. Focusing on events alone is akin towearing blinkers insofar as not being able to anticipate them and/or shape them. Most importantly, reacting to events alone doesnot yield any good understanding of the underlying structure,much less altering it. To understand the elusive systemic structurethat drives events and patterns is to figure out high-leverage actions.Thus, the big picture is to gain comprehensive thinking withconsequent actions. It is a pyramid with three layers—Events,Patterns and Structure.In the following sections, this complete context or framework(pyramid) will be put in place, so the reader will be able to putthings in proper pyramidal perspective and understand the complexinter-relationships and dynamics of various forces at work thatare inimical to India, and to Hindus in particular. By any means,the events, patterns cannot be exhaustive as new events and patternsemerge that try to avail themselves of the opportunities eithercreated by themselves or are induced. Regardless of these, thefundamental structure remains in place.5. The Events—Tools/Methods of the TradeThe essential elements that have to be controlled (and thetools) that are needed for a ‘totalitarian’ environment to seed,propagate and manage are:(a) The notion of Ideal Society (Civil Society)—UtopiaThe ideology sets the vision of the utopia. As it is ultimatelya force to transform an entire society, it must unconditionally coverand control all aspects of life. This ideology, directed at producingthe perfect and idealised society, will have to portray the attainmentof such qualities as community and equality and wrap itself inan ‘egalitarian’ notion. It provides an excuse for constant revolution,as ideal society cannot be achieved, i.e, ‘no social differences’ untilthe revolution is complete. Every other notion such as individualityor spirituality are not an integral part of the ideology and mustbe subordinated, unless they are defined first by the head honchos.They must have control over the economy as well, that too a

60 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsplanned one, to fund and sustain the revolution, and to keep themasses passive. Such complete control and organisation often takesmany years of preparation and planning prior to the start of therevolution. Their ideas, vision will propagate and pervade throughthe society, so much that they define the acceptability of moviesand plays, books to be read, etc.Basically, an ideal society as envisioned by them is the onedominated and controlled by the state, an opposite of whatdemocracies have and aspire for—society dominating the state.(b) ViolenceWhen was the last time you ever heard the ‘peace activists’,‘intellectuals’ and the English media condemn any violence againstthe Hindus? Never. When haven’t you heard them justify the violenceperpetrated by anyone against the Hindus? Never. To achieve theutopia, revolution is necessary and violence is just a tool.Terror is a fundamental tactic of these ‘peace activists’ andit must be used effectively to keep up the momentum of a societyin transformation. The cadre or grassroot workers’ duty is simplyto make sure that any opposition does not rise to the surface, aswe see time and again in the states of Kerala and West Bengaland in the Maoist belt.(c) LawThe law is not binding on them, because the leaders merelysee it as a means to achieve the final end. They are above the lawand, as the revolution takes shape, they may change the law toconform to the goals of the utopian mission. Law is a tool, liketerror, at their disposal. Furthermore, individual or group rightsonly exist under the law and since the law is subordinate to thestate, the state may infringe upon what were once rights at will.(d) HistoryAll the revolutionary movements claim they are based onhistory, in the sense that grievances and victims can bemanufactured at will with control on the history-manufacturingenterprise. This revolutionary struggle has to be defined in termsof good versus evil. There is always a clear enemy for the massesto strive to defeat in their utopian revolution. Truth and facts bedamned, but history must be written and taught in a way that itinspires the masses to actually take actions that are said to be

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 61necessary to correct what is currently wrong with modern society.The history must be able to explain any and all the problemsof the past or present by providing a scapegoat. The new reinterpretedpast must portray that this scapegoat is not only thecause of the nation’s and society’s current ills, but also show thatit has always been the cause. This must lead to the inspiration todefeat the enemy before this group causes further ills to fall uponsociety. The scapegoat is never picked arbitrarily, but is usually aclearly identifiable group that was previously hated, feared, orenvied by the masses.(e) EducationWith such lofty aims now set for history, and to give suchre-interpretations a veneer of respectability and resemblance ofscholarship, now must proceed the control of education and science.Once again, they have picked up where the British left off. BertrandRussell, in ‘The Impact of Science on Society’, writes:The subject will make great strides when it is taken up byscientists under a scientific dictatorship.... The socialpsychologists of the future will have a number of classes ofschool children on whom they will try different methods ofproducing an unshakable conviction that snow is black. Variousresults will soon be arrived at. First, that the influence of homeis obstructive. Second, that not much can be done unlessindoctrination begins before the age of ten. Third, that versesset to music and repeatedly intoned are very effective. Fourth,that the opinion that snow is white must be held to show amorbid taste for eccentricity. But I anticipate. It is for futurescientists to make these maxims precise and discover exactlyhow much it costs per head to make children believe that snowis black, and how much less it would cost to make them believeit is dark gray.This is precisely why every revolutionary-minded movement,group wants to control education. British education policy by designturned Indians away from the social sciences, and the governingclass of India, the Nehrus, the Gandhis, and Communists continuedthe policy and have been using education as an indoctrination

62 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundstool. Example: re-writing textbooks and indoctrinating the youngergeneration.(f) MassesThe revolution will not happen if the ideology that propelsit is not powerful and motivational enough to inspire the massesto make extraordinary sacrifices or commit extraordinary acts. Itmust provide an absolute, all-inspiring truth in order to mobilisethe masses. First and foremost, it must appear attainable, for thegeneral public would not devoutly commit themselves to a causethat did not seem achievable to everyone.A doctrine that merely appeals to rationality would not giveway to such extreme devotion to the cause. Moreover, most ofthe time the activities which the regime asks the masses to partakein would be unquestionably rejected if the rational side of humanbeings was appealed to, as these acts often lack rationality. Forthe utopia to happen and for a complete transformation of societythat is desirable to the masses it must appeal to irrational elements—thugs, crooks, criminals as well, so they too will support the effortsof the revolution. Normal folk fail to comprehend how the massescan be inspired to commit irrational acts and how these leadersget away with, and convince others to subscribe to, their absurdallegations and falsehoods.The reason seems to be that they do seem to address some ofthe real problems of the masses, then again that is only a tacticalmove. The masses always want simple and easy answers to complexproblems and revolution leaders are too eager to provide themwith the same. But, by failing to admit that any goal is beyondtheir political reach, their own confidence transfers into the generalpopulation and reinforces the commitment of the masses to therealisation of the utopia.(g) Media and PropagandaFor propaganda to be effective, complete control of media isof paramount importance. These are important tools to promotethe ideology to keep people mobilised and devoted to the utopia.To prevent the rise of opposition forces, the ‘-ism’ leadershipseeks to monopolise the flow of ideas in society by controlling allmeans of communication. Thereby, it is easier to indoctrinate themass public into conforming with them, the goal and to keep the

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 63momentum of the revolutionary movement going once it has begun.Propaganda, the broad dissemination of ideas and informationdeliberately designed to further a political cause, is an activity alltotalitarian regimes must partake in of necessity. In fact, this is oneof the most powerful political tools the regime has, as it is the onethat can most inspire the masses to conform and deter the oppositionfrom rising to the forefront. Like ideology, the propaganda that isproduced by the regime must appeal to the masses and be far moredirected at emotion than intellect or rationality.(h) Sustaining the ‘-ism’ and the RevolutionThe revolutionary leaders who want absolute power needan extensive and sustained organisation, devotion and mobilisationof the masses, and other extreme aspects which are generally notfound in any society, and cannot logically be expected to possesslongevity. These efforts can only be sustained for so long and asit becomes obvious that the ideal is not being realised, the revolutionwill lose its momentum. Although sustained organisation is crucial,there is always the problem of maintaining the monopoly on ideasand mass inspiration that is necessary to keep the revolution going.Thus, there needs to be a constant momentum and movementsunder different names, guises, causes and, at the same time,opposing ideas and movements must be nipped in the bud to ensurethe longevity of the totalitarian movements and causes.(i) Allies and ‘Useful Idiots’Finally, there are allies along the way, in the cause of therevolution. The allies who want to break up Hindu society or theones who want to ‘save the souls’ of the heathens, or the oneswho will ‘kill the kafirs’, or just plain useful idiots who are hopelessromantics completely divorced from reality, real history and plainvanilla common sense. Other than the ‘useful idiots’ who will beleft high and dry, all the other groups and allies have one immediategoal—breakup of India and destruction of Hinduism, even thoughtheir ultimate purposes are different. They have now united toundo the common enemy—the Hindus and a Hindu India.6. The Patterns (Movements)—Role of NGOsMost of the spurious NGOs’ commitment—after exploitingdonors and supporters—to improve other people’s lives changes

64 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsto a desire to improve their own. Regardless of this corruption,web of lies and deceit, they play a very important role in thesesocial movements.Typically, externally induced movements have four stagesleading up to a totalitarian state (and/or demands for seceding).All the events (tools and methods) identified above are used ineach pattern systematically. The broad contours of the underlyingpatterns are in:(a) Propagating Ideologies• General structural conduciveness.• Perpetuate generalised beliefs and theories to keep thesystem unstable and constantly highlight the strainswhenever possible.• Exploit structural strains.The policy of divide et impera or divide and rule ‘is a strategyof gaining and maintaining power by breaking up largerconcentrations of power into chunks that individually have lesspower than the one implementing the strategy. In reality, it oftenrefers to a strategy where small power groups are prevented fromlinking up and becoming more powerful, since it is difficult tobreak up existing power structures’. 4 As a colonial policy, the Britishperfected this art of identifying and recruiting minority allies. Theseminorities received special privileges and actively assisted theBritish in their attempts to maintain rule and keep the majorityin disarray.These minority groups then depended on British rule for theirown defense against the disadvantaged majority. The division ofpeople was effected in several ways, and the racist Aryan theoryis the mother of them all that sowed the seeds of ‘rootlessness’.They exploited social structures, tried to split tribal peoples andadivasis from mainstream Hindus, and missionaries could gladlysupport them in this endeavour as it provided them with ‘lostsouls’ to be saved. After the British left, in Independent India,the works of eurocentric indologists (White supremacistspropagating their ideology) and Sanskritists continue to be taughtunder the guise of ‘secularism’ sans scholarship or honesty. Thissphere of activity is typically for ideologues, academicentrepreneurs, ‘eminent’ historians, media, social and cultural

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 65anthropologists who generate tomes of publications, and talkingpoints. These mutual admiration societies or clubs create, sustainand perpetuate beliefs that appeal to both rational and irrationalpeople. Some NGOs and their charismatic leadership too getinvolved in this sphere. Example: ASHA for Education and AIDunder FOIL (Forum of Indian Leftists) and Indian Social Institute. 5Effectively these generalised beliefs that have been internalisedkeep propagating and perpetuating in various flavors that keepthe whole social system unstable and at odds. The whole idea isto keep the social system in such strain that reconciliation orrapprochement between peoples becomes impossible. Citizens stopperceiving situations and consequences on a collective entity asIndians, but view through sectarian prisms. This is ‘identity’ politics.Example: the ethnogenesis studies—Aryan Invasion/Migration/Influx Theory and the unrelenting support of our ‘eminent’historians and seculars for this disproved and discredited theory.This stage results in the most important product—allegianceto a cause, group, etc., after the identity is shaped by causingruptures in a society. This is the stage where the baton is passedto the designer NGOs.(b) Creating Social Force(s)• Precipitating factors.• Mobilisation of Participants.• Recruitment.With a confused identity, an unstable system naturally givesrise to friction whenever the identities interact, especially whenpower, benefits, etc., are at stake. An ideal situation that can beharvested—ideal ground for recruitment by stoking the passionsof people and harping on their rights and not responsibilities. Noone educates them about collective good, and the benefits to thecommunity and a nation as a whole.Any spontaneous or an engineered event can be used as aprecipitating factor. The talking points generated by the ideologuesare extensively used—building upon the generalised beliefs—asnarratives and rallying cries for recruitment and mobilisation fora ‘cause’ of unsatisfied social segments.The list of vulnerable segments, as well as recruits, is almostendless, but suffice it to say that it can be anyone, as long as they

66 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsare not Hindu or are willing to disavow their ‘Hinduness’. If thereare no groups, they will be engineered. Example: dalits, adivasisand tribal peoples are constantly told that they are not Hindus,of course, a continuing legacy of missionaries in sawing off Hindusociety; or farmers/peasants who are coaxed into revolution orMaoism.(c) Social Movements and Milder Revolutions• Manufacturing victims and discontent.• Customised or boutique NGOs geared for special needsthat cater to focused needs.• Mechanisms of social control and social engineering.• Generate ‘narratives’ of ‘human rights’ violations, etc.• Intellectual pimps in India (and abroad), foreign jaunts,fundraisers, conferences to sustain the movements, andfinally• Sustaining the revolution on the ground—cadre, massesand society.The next logical phase, after a segment is cajoled into becominga ‘victim’ fighting for equality and social justice, is to manufacturegrievances for them and making victims or saints of them. Anabsolute control of education, media helps this propagandaextensively. The colorful brochures, articles in papers and journals,presentations, etc., present the victims with a grand narrative oftheir problems. As one can expect, no solutions will come out ofsuch activities, only grievances, victims and a community indisrepair.New groups and coalitions, complete with their grievancepackages, spring up almost every day. This is part and parcel ofa united front strategy in creating the perception of popular supportand that the movement is far larger than it really is. The importantfact to keep in mind is that all of the massive agitations and anticsare really the work of full-time professional cadres tied togetherin a global revolutionary network.With promotional help from celebrities, favorable coveragefrom the major media, and funding from corporate and foundationsources, and by exploiting volatile, hot-button issues, continuedto produce are some seemingly spontaneous, impressive spectaclessuccessful in obstructing productive growth. The end result –

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 67discontent among common people creating easy targets forrecruitment. After all, prosperous and productive communitiesdo not have an incentive to pursue a career in anarchy.The revolutionaries leading this network are rebuilding themass protest movement of the 1960s, recruiting new youth cadres.They are following the formula they have honed so well: organise,mobilise, radicalise, and militarise. You can expect that theirdemonstrations will become more overtly radical, embracing moremilitant Marxist themes. Marxists expect, nay, hope that thesedemonstrations escalate into violence. This, in turn, will lead tocalls for more police-state measures, thereby destroying civil andlegal safeguards of democratic society, and pushing it closer tothe kind of socialist, totalitarian regimes that the movement leadersso ardently admire. Ultimately, the agenda for all these is to createan environment suited for communism.(d) Full Blown Revolution (socialistic or religiously inspired)and/or SecessionThe optional and the all-too-familiar final step (based on vestedparty’s interest and agenda). Example: ‘India’s home ministry hasblacklisted more than 800 non-governmental organisations (NGOs)in the country’s north-east for alleged links with separatist groups.The move follows a drive by the Government and intelligenceagencies to trace the funding that rebels receive. A senior homeministry official said a list of the NGOs had been given to all StateGovernments in the region with a request to keep them underclose watch. The official told the BBC the the Government hadsolid evidence of close links between the NGOs and rebels. Delhihad been concerned at the proliferation of NGOs in the region.He said most were of dubious origin and served as a conduit forrebel funding both from foreign sources and Governmentdevelopment money.’ 6The bottom line is that it is quite logical and sensible that ifthe above phases are to be managed properly to fulfil the mission,the stages must follow some simple rules. It is just a matter ofpracticality and simple economics for the managers of thesemovements, the leaders of the revolution, from a purely logisticalpoint of view, to target the type of audience and to raise and allocateresources, and to secure the funding sources’ interest, that these

68 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsmovements be split into different functional groups that havedifferent focus areas that require human resources with differentsets of skills and values. Finally, to understand what gives rise tothese patterns in various flavors, forms and shapes is to understandthe basic underpinnings of such movements. The structuralunderstanding helps one to understand the motivations, causesand potential solutions.7. The StructureWhile the above patterns/stages do introduce a notion of time,and an appearance of one stage neatly dovetailing into another;in actuality, this is seldom is the case. The underlying structure,the bedrock and foundation of the events and patterns, is the antistatist,anti-nationalist and blatantly anti-Hindu structure.Whatever rhetoric one hears influenced by the garden-variety ofideologies out there in the ‘social and faith engineering’ market,when they are imported to India, they all have the structure incommon. While they lack specific solutions to any real problem,their focused and specific angst against Hindus and Hinduism isclear. If any event is looked at in isolation, every event will seempretty benign and insignificant, and that is by design. Thus, theneed for understanding the event, along with patterns and thestructure.The only three entities that have all the three in common are—Utopian Movement, Church Movement and Ummah Movement.The rest are all ‘useful idiots’, who fail to see the big picture andfancy themselves as progressives, liberals, or any other name thatstokes their ego or brings fame and fortune.In this structure there could be a combination of the abovethree, and money flows from various foundations and interestedparties that sustain this structure—the addictive ‘honey pot’. It isso addictive that this system makes mere mortals forget theirprinciples, morals, ethics and the truth and facts.8. Indian NGOs—ASHA for Education and AIDThere are over 20,000 registered NGOs across 606 districtscovering India. 7 The actions of two NGOs in particular—ASHAfor Education and AID will be used in this article. The reason for

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 69studying these two groups are for their reach, reputation, andrecruitment that is very far wide and broad. They attract rational(both in India and US) and irrational elements.These un-representative, un-democratic and totally unaccountablegroups gained more prominence for various reasons,and are supported by some nation-states, globalists and groups(secular and religious) that have transnational ambitions, to havereach into various other nations and have access to peoples,purportedly in reaching masses to assist them on humanitariangrounds, applying pressure on nations that violate ‘human rights’or any other ‘universal value’ of the day.By definition, these NGOs (and faith-based groups) are singleissueoriented, passionate and not accountable to anyone, let alonefor the impact of their actions on a society overall. For anyone toexpect accountability and intellectual honesty from these NGOsand their leaders and handlers is utter foolishness.An NGO is a financial entity, although they are nonprofit,as they may compete with for-profit consultancies and serviceproviders. They are independent organisations that receive outsidefunding to support either staff or programs, or both. Althoughthey are not an alternative to the domestic public sector, in manycases they have proved a good conduit for international fundingto sidestep the host country’s political processes in using the aidfunding. The motivation is that the NGOs potentially could beless political than governments and perhaps more able to coordinateother development activities. Therein lies the rub; public sectorinstitutions are intended to respond to domestic political processesand serve domestic interests, not international interests. NGOs,in contrast, respond to needs felt by the individuals who foundedthem and give of their time and energy. These institutions arethus designed to serve the donors or those whose interests coincidewith the donors’ ideology and/or their management goals. In otherwords, NGOs can be a perfect conduit to fund ‘subversion’ of anycountry, as is happening in India, a rising power.NGOs (and faith-based groups) sponsored by like-mindednations and/or supporting structures work in tandem in creatingalternate reality – that is based on their ideology. Some of the tacticsthat these groups follow are:

70 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds• Coming together under a master NGO, such as the Coalitionagainst Genocide (CAG) to protest Modi’s visit to the US.The NGOs are the central players, involved in setting theagenda, drafting documents, writing in the media, paradingas scholars turned activists and lobbying diplomats andgovernments.• Speed is the key to their approach. The way the propagandais unleashed limits the opportunities for dissent andcompromise. Further, one can never verify every claim (lie)made by a Master NGO working for the ‘poor anddowntrodden’.• The various efforts of these new NGO activities arecharacterised by the terms ‘participation’, ‘empowerment’,‘people-centered’, ‘sustainable development’ and‘consensus’. Indeed, their rhetoric and drafts are circulatedas such. The goals are communicated in the language notof international law or organisations but of human rights.By contrast, the approach of the traditional ‘Hindu’ activistsand organisations is anachronistic and primitive.The four essential ingredients for the survival and successof a designer NGO are Credibility, Recruitment, Motivation, andFunds (a terrorist organisation needs a Sanctuary, in addition).Much like any organisation, these groups require financial supportin order to achieve their aims and objectives—creation andsustenance of social movements.In order to be successful, they must build and maintaineffective credibility and financial infrastructures. This includesdeveloping sources of funding, a means to move those funds, anda way to ensure that the funds can be readily used.In all the elements, these NGOs in quasi-rational movementsmust appeal to and manage both rational and completely irrationalelements of a society throughout the full cycle of their movement(s).As they guide a movement, social control and engineering is anabsolute necessity. To that end, there must be control of ‘Education’and all the other vehicles that reach people as well.(a) Ideology to Indian Maoism—Events and Patterns (inbetween)The academic ideologues (and the experts of respectivedomains of the trade), keep at refining their demagoguery (such

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 71as Romila Thapar in History; Angana Chatterji, the ActivistAnthropologist; Aryan supremacists such as Michael Witzel andSteve Farmer; JNU/Marxist scholars in Education and Media/Masses/Society Manipulation). There is an activist academic cliquethat keeps floating groups, starting with proXsa (Progressive SouthAsians) of Angana Chatterji et al, to FOIL (Forum Of Indian[Inquilabi] Leftists) to ‘DESIst’ in US in conjunction with theleadership of NGOs (and professional activists) of India, who intheir quite vocal expressions of aims and objectives, participationin events and patterns, give an opening into their view of Indiaand Hinduism and their goal cannot be any clearer. 8Lal kile par lal nishaan, Maang raha hai Hindustan—The RedBanner over the Red Fort – demands IndiaFor more on proXsa, FOIL and their agendas and connectionswith China, Pakistan, Islamists, Missionaries and Naxalites, thereader is referred to notes 9 & 10. So far communists have failedin India to foment a full-blown revolution throughout India. Butthey have been successful in Kerala and West Bengal in comingto and holding onto power through pseudo-democratic means.In North-East India, missionaries have been successful in foistingan identity on Hindus and Indians and there is no let up. However,the pimping media of India barely mentions their activities. Thefocus of this article, however, is not the architects of missionaries(different cause, but similar politics and phases) but more onmovements of Marxists, post-Marxists using the actions of twoNGOs in particular—ASHA for Education and AID.Mao Tse-tung’s thought is Marxism-Leninism of the era inwhich imperialism is heading for total collapse and socialismis advancing to world-wide victory. It is a powerful ideologicalweapon for opposing imperialism and for opposingrevisionism and dogmatism. Mao Tse-tung’s thought is theguiding principle for all the work of the Party, the army andthe country. 11In India, the Sino-Soviet split resulted in the emergence of

72 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsthree different parties in the 1960s. The traditional CommunistParty of India (CPI) remained loyal to Moscow. In the early 1960s,Communist China co-opted several leaders of the CPI as subversivesas they prepared to invade north India. As the Chinese armyinvaded Himalayan states to come down towards the plainsthrough Assam, and India desperately sent lightly-armed andpoorly-outfitted policemen to fight in the snowy mountains, theseentities started campaigning for the enemy. Several of the leaderswere arrested. Flush with Chinese funding, the China-agents brokeaway from the CPI in 1964, adopting the (M) designation to denotegreater dedication to Marxism, covering their traitorous supportof an invading enemy.As the Soviet Union and Red China developed a face-off, the‘Marxists’ became openly pro-Beijing, and remain so to this day.However, as each version wins elections (usually through massivelyfunded strong-arm tactics in the rural areas) those who fail to winlucrative ministerial posts break off and form an ever more‘fundamentalist’ violent communist private army. Thus we seeCPI(M), CPI(ML), CPI(MLM), the Naxalites, and the People’s WarGroup. The 2004 merger of the PWG and the CPI(MLM) into theCPI(Maoist) was a rare reversal of the fission, probably drivenby their decision to start overt warfare to overthrow thegovernments in Nepal and several Indian states.The Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML), oneof the many red flavors of communism, stands ‘against Imperialismand for glorious Socialist future’. Before the communist party split,it became the proud parent of terrorist Naxalites, in 1967, and CPI(ML) continues to support this terrorism to this very day. It condonesNaxalism as a saga of revolutionary heroism. It continued to birthmany other violent children bent upon destroying the Nation thatis India – an open society, a liberal democracy. DYFI/SFI membersare the misguided youth who dream of the heaven that communismhas always promised. When Marxists and Islamists joined forcesall over the globe, CPI(M) along with its intellectuals andpropaganda machines started condoning Islamic terrorist groups,jihadis in India, Israel and US. The Indian Left has openly expressedits Maoist solidarity with its blood brothers of Nepal.While the usual murder weapons used by the CPI(M)’s various

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 73offshoots were the sickle (their symbol), knives and axes, the presentavatars are funded enough to have superior automatic assault rifles,grenade-launchers and other modern weapons, far superior to whatthe typical Indian or Nepalese policeman is issued. The basicguiding principles of these groups, who differ only in the leveland methods of violence, are:• Reject parliamentary form of democracy,• Belief in waging protracted war and seizing power – Chineserevolutionary model, and• Through guerrilla warfare, build base areas in villages, formguerrilla zones and declare them as liberated zones, thenencircle towns and cities and seize political power.They are known by other names as well; they are PWG, PW,Left-wing extremists, Maoists, and Naxalites. Whatever name itgoes by, it is a terrorist organisation. For its ‘human rights’achievements by inflicting mayhem and mindless violence oncivilians, see the South Asia Terrorism Portal. 12(b) Financial Support—Why Charity Sector?To sustain the revolution from ideology to full-blownrevolution, financing is the key. It is not enough to just havemotivation or intellectuals or ideology. The mother of all free moneyis in the Charity Sector, apart from other sources of money forthese groups.Charity is supposed to be a vehicle for altruism without anyhidden agenda, without politics, and only for the purpose of trulyhelping those who need it and without expecting anything in return.Charities typically rely on a network of volunteers and underpaidfoot soldiers, often unaware of the ideological moorings of thecharity managers and directors. Money pours in, usually out ofdonors’ moral compulsions or out of plain goodness of heart.However, when groups that are unaccountable control it, how canone be sure that the person or groups associated with charitiesdo not abuse it. Further, it is an open secret that some charityestablishments have been exposed and prosecuted for fraud andembezzling. The charity industry is enormous. Just how big isit? Recent estimates peg it, despite the state of economy downturn,at $184 billion globally. All charity contributions, includingfoundation and corporate contributions and bequests, totaled $241

74 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsbillion.(c) FOIL—Mother of ASHA, AID (and new and upcomingversions of social movements)In 1991, Biju Mathew, Sangeeta Kamat and Madhav Prasadstarted … Sanskriti. It dealt with issues ranging from theNarmada movement to communalism to Hinduja investmentsin Columbia University’s ‘Indic Studies’ programme. .. FOILgrew out of Sanskriti. It now connects hundreds of SouthAsians through the Net. Biju Mathew was the spirit behindit, although in the early days Vijay Prasad, the rambunctiousMarxist scholar from Hartford .. was an ardent collaborator.FOIL became both a clearing-house and a networking tool. Itput talks onto the Net (for example: ‘Diwali and decolonisation’).(d) ASHA for Education (or Revolution?)Indians for Collective Action (ICA) is a San Francisco-basednon-profit group that helped Sandeep Pandey start ASHA forEducation, as well as his peace march to Pakistan in 2005. ICA,like all new value movements’ mission, has an honorable mission.‘Our mission is to enable the poor to seek and gain access tohealthcare, education, local natural resources, and sustainable,community-based income earning opportunities.’ ICA too claimsit works with ‘secular’ groups and not with any religious or politicalparty affiliated entities. ‘It is ICA’s practice only to work withthose NGOs whose guiding principles are secular, non-partisanand democratic.’ 13ASHA for Education was founded in 1991 with SandeepPandey spearheading the movement. Its mission statement is: ‘Tocatalyze socio-economic change in India through education ofunderprivileged children.’ ‘Asha for Education is a secularorganisation dedicated to change in India by focusing on basiceducation in the belief that education is a critical requisite for socioeconomicchange.’ 14 Pandey is also active in the notorious NationalAlliance for People’s Movements (NAPM) and a Magsaysayawardwinner who stressed the need of unity of revolutionarycommunist organisations like CPI(ML) and social movements to

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 75take on fascist danger. Today ASHA has over one 1000 volunteersand over 65 chapters across the world. Essentially it is anorganisation created by US funds, and multinational corporationsthat have matching contributions that employees make to theirfavorite charity or non-profit group/NGO.His quality education apparently includes the education inmadrasas, as he promises to bring quality education for the poorestof the poorest in India and some of the poorest of the poor andleast educated in India (and right in UP) are Muslims. Saudi Arabia,a $250 billion economy, is perhaps the biggest donor of Muslimscholarship in India. Arguably all of it, as in 100 per cent, goestowards madrasa education. Obviously, he and ASHA considerthe education in madrasas a quality education. Wouldn’t the readerlike to know how much has Saudi Arabia, its sheikhs, its citizenscontributed to ASHA for ‘quality education’ as judged by ASHA.Has Pandey ever approached Saudi Arabia with ASHA’s educationplan? Has anyone in ASHA done that? Perhaps ‘secular’ qualityeducation is only for Hindus to make them ready for revolution,and the allies in the bigger ‘revolution’ would not be appreciativeof poaching on their territory. Using similar logic, Pandey doesnot have quality education for missionary-run schools. Then, pray,who is the target for this ‘quality education’?He has taken up the cause of poor farmers and fighting againsta Coca Cola bottling plant in India. However, there is nocontradiction or double standard in this stance, if all his actionsare seen as posturing or extorting. Another example: Pakistan getsbillions of dollars from the US and the West. Has it stopped itsjihad campaign?In the case of Coca Cola, the target for social movement is‘farmer/peasant’—a bountiful harvesting/recruiting ground forthe Naxalite movement. Besides, the Coca Cola issue has dimensionsother than (potential) extortion. It is a wonderful chance for creatinga social force, to merge it with the ongoing Naxalite movement.Further, his particular agitation or movement is in UP alone, butCoke plants have come up all over India, and especially in Kerala –a communist bastion. Isn’t the answer in supporting the nationalwater grid for optimal usage of water resources throughout thecountry to save the lives of farmers all over the country?

76 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsIn March 2005, he went to Pakistan on a peace march, fundedby his supporters/donors with or without their knowledge. TheSouth Asian website proclaims of Pandey that ‘he opposes thewhole idea of security based on arms and the military because ittakes away crucial resources from the poor. To further this goal,he works on peace and harmony amongst all nations and peoplesin South Asia. The philosophy underlying the work has beeninvolving the common citizens of the South Asian countries, andhis tool has been peace marches to provide a unique opportunityfor people to intermingle and negate the destructive tendenciesof distrust, hatred, and enmity.’ The article goes on ‘An offshootof this work has been a group actively working on visa-free bordersbetween India and Pakistan.’ 15Warm, fuzzy sentiments that will make any lotus-eating soulcry. This agenda, however, not surprisingly, is also the strategicvision of Pakistan’s ISI—a war of thousand cuts on India, andChina’s plan to defang and encircle a militarily weak India thatcannot compete with China. One might have missed the fawningIndian media that glorifies Pandey and his antics, but have wemissed out on Pandey’s exhortations of giving up on nuclearweapons by Pakistan and China? Did he stand for empowermentand human rights in Pakistan? Did he request the ‘enlightened’dictator Musharraf to stop sending across jihadis to slaughterHindus? Perhaps saving Hindus is too communal a concern forour secular activists.For more questions to Sandeep Pandey, from an ASHAvolunteer who clearly lays out the patterns and the underlyingstructure of anit-statist, anti-nationalistic and anti-Hindu, the readeris referred to note 16.(e) Association for India’s Development Inc. (orDestruction?)AID was founded in 1991 and its website states: ‘Associationfor India’s Development (AID) is a volunteer movement committedto promoting sustainable, equitable and just development. Insolidarity with non-violent people’s struggles, AID supportsgrassroots organisations in India and initiates efforts in variousinterconnected spheres such as education, livelihoods, naturalresources, health, women’s empowerment and social justice.’ 17

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 77Post-Tsunami, AID got involved in fundraising for the victimsand documented all over the place is their dishonesty, duplicityand denial flaps, leaving one to conclude that this group getsinvolved in anything that is inimical to India’s and Hindus’interests.Since then, it has morphed into yet another group, called‘DESIst’ This group calls for ‘Cease and DESIst’ and claims to be‘An experiment in (re)claiming a revolutionary Anti-ImperialistSpace in South Asian America’. In their own words (and admissionof the need to focus and organise functionally), AID is involvedin this new avatar. ‘Any discussion of this sort would bedisingenuous without at least attempting to make explicit thedifference between an absence or lack of visibility of South Asiansand South Asian Americans from the broader social activism scenevs. specific anti-war work in a truly South Asian mobilisation sense.Although great work is being done by organisations that havelong predated DESIst such as AID, ADP, ASATA, FOSA, CAC,SACA, PBN etc. these each have their particular organisationaland functional limitations that prevent them, for one reason oranother, from being the vehicle or the impetus for the building ofa radical anti-imperialist South Asian anti-war movement.’ 18While the Anti-War sentiment is being exploited by DESIstin the post-Iraq era, a possible AID front has opened up yet anothersocial front, targeting rural children and raising money to educatethem. It is called ‘Spread India’ and it is an acronym for ‘Societyfor the Promotion of Rural Environment And Development ofIndia’. 19 This new outfit is based in Michigan and raised $35,000for rural Indian kids, attended by Kiran Vissa, the Director of AidIndia Organisation. 20In the West, AID denies their links to the communists, becausethere is an increasing awareness of communist and Islamist/terrorist links in subverting open societies and liberal democraciessuch as India, US and Israel. The Democratic Youth Federation ofIndia (DYFI) is one of two ‘mass organs’ of the Communist Partyof India (Marxist), along with another AID affiliate, the StudentFederation of India (SFI). Both DYFI and SFI are known for theirdestructive activities and mindless promotion of violence to settlepolitical scores. By AID’s own admission, donors in the US have

78 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsbeen angered by revelations of funneling their money to fund DYFI.This admission followed a spate of vehement denials anddiversions. While communist parties may still be anachronisticallylegal in India, and terrorism tolerated pathetically in India, theyhave no place in the US – neither the acts nor their sponsors.The ‘Required Reading’ section provides a thorough layoutof AID land. Furthermore, for continual updates on these massesand media manipulators, one can refer to sites such as in note 21.9. ConclusionThe California Textbook episode is a classic case study thatshowcases the ‘Events, Patterns and Structure’ pyramid (seeAppendix 1).The entire Indian sociopolitical system is systematically builton a structure that is quite openly inimical to India as a Hindunation. To understand such a system, the structural understandingis critical because it leaves evidence of its presence, even when it isnot quite openly visible or articulated. It is the structure that enablesthe complex inter-relationship of the system’s constituents. Theconstituents’ organisations and goals are always kept well-hidden.However, it is the inter-relationship of these players and groupsand associated NGOs that makes the structure visible.While the proclamations of the NGOs’ missions may be noble,they do not disclose their methods of operations, their associations,balance sheets, tactics and strategies. Let’s list all the values andheartwarming sensibilities and areas of activism they are in. Thereader must bear in mind that any and all of their pro stances andconsequent agitations do not come with any clarification (or theirdefinitions), conditions and consequences on a society. Rest assured,they are all built on the structure that is ‘anti-statist, anti-nationaland anti-Hindu’.Let the truth be told about many of the NGOs operating inIndia. They are acting on behalf of external forces and ideologies,while making profits in ‘social’ markets of a weak Hindu society.It is indeed an arduous task to keep track of such social movementsas they spin off under different names and banners (much like jihadigroups in Pakistan) that overlap and network with the divisiveagenda of others.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 79In their shrill shrieks for human rights, civil society, minorityrights, etc., there are another three words one will never hear—Responsibilities, Rapprochement and Reconciliation. After all,wouldn’t that be a commonsensical solution without tearing up asociety?An agenda, in the long-term, for patriotic Indians and Hindusshould focus on the understanding and a comparative study of theoutcomes and consequences of social movements. Comparisonsbetween different political contexts, different movements, anddifferent periods will shed light over the causal dynamics involvedin processes of social and political change. In the short-term,however, a two-pronged approach behooves every citizen of Indiaand Hindus in particular.Offensive• To constantly expose and embarrass the so-called guardiansof the downtrodden, the ‘peace’ activists and ‘charity’workers who exploit the weak societal structure to promotetheir agenda—Communist International, Ummah, Church,Globalist or International Socialist. Until the critical massamong people’s awareness is reached this will be asecondary goal while sustaining initial losses in the courtof public opinion. The primary goal, in the face of initiallosses, will have to be Educating Hindus.• Hold them publicly accountable and responsible anddemand accuracy from them, be it academics or activists ormedia that supports and glorifies such actions andpersonalities.• Know your local NGO agenda and actors, better yet, formyour own NGO or NPO to counter their moves.Defensive• To continually strengthen any weak societal structures (thatare almost always exploited). A specific example ispreventing the state taking over the control of temples. Theassault on Hindu temples by combined forces that areinimical to Hindus is yet another attempt to weaken theHindu social structure.

80 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds• Know, understand and educate the people, leaders andreligious leaders about (anti-Indian and anti-Hindu) IdentityPolitics that is unleashed on Indians.Just as in 1893, Bal Gangadhar Tilak started a popularmovement and began organising the Ganesh Utsav as a social andreligious function to galvanise the people, the need of the day is tore-vitalise Hindu society by taking back control of the temples, andinfusing vibrancy in them. This will go a long way in Hindusconnecting with each other across social strata and will hastenHindu identity all over India.While it is a fact (that ought to be celebrated) that non-Hinduswho are nationalists are and have been contributing to the nation,it is Hindu society that needs a wake-up call to undertake themission of rebuilding on a war footing a truly progressive andinclusive society. It is the Hindus alone who can strengthen thesociety without unduly pandering or yielding to anti-nationals whowant to destroy the Indic identity and Sanatana Dharma bypromoting narrow identities—ethnic or religious or caste or class.Let a true progressive agenda of all patriotic Indians andHindus be the agenda of the nation.Notes1. http://globalresearch.ca/articles/AZI201A.html2. http://faisalmustaffa.blogspot.com/2004_04_01_ faisalmustaffa_archive.html3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divide_and_rule5. Veera Vaishnava, Through A “Looking Glass” - Affairs of ISIhttp://tinyurl.com/87hob6. India Blackists 800 NGOs—http://www.globalpolicy.org/ ngos/state / 2003 / 0619india.htm7. http://www.indianngos.com/8. Debashish Mukherjee, ‘Education Controversy – It is a war of ideas’,The Week, Nov.15, 19989. Narayanan Komerath, ‘Yesterday Once More’—Part 1: FOILPRIMER.http://tinyurl.com/7zb7o, and reproduced elsewhere in thisvolume.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 8110. Veera Vaishnava, ‘Terror AID’—Communist—Pakistani links toAttack Inside Democracies http://tinyurl.com/9naz711. http://art-bin.com/art/omaotoc.html, http://www.marxists.de/china/harris/16-abroad.htm12. http://www.satp.org13. http://www.icaonline.org/14. http://www.ashanet.org15. http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/000466.html16. “Open Letter to Dr Sandeep Pandey”, http://tinyurl.com/88nws17. http://www.aidindia.org18. http://ghadar.insaf.net/November2005/MainPages/desiST.htm19. http://www.spreadindia.org/20. http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/dec/22rural.htm21. http://www.aidindia.info, http://foilciis.blogspot.comRequired Reading on AID/ASHA, etc.,a sample of Patterns and Events[a] “Fund only DYFI Libraries”:http://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/doc1.pdf[b] “Marx For Beginners for Children, No to Storybooks”:Scroll to page 21 of the document at http://www.geocities.com/ aid_india_ info/doc2.pdfhttp://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/eps/faculty/apple.asphttp://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/%7Eira/illich/biography.htmlhttp://www.preservenet.com/theory/Illich/Deschooling/intro.htmlhttp://www.webster.edu/%7Ecorbetre/philosophy/children/aries.htmlhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0679725121/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-8737048-6089410?#reader-page[c] “AID Deleting References to DYFI”:http://www.aidindia.org/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=viewhttp://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/1.pdf as on January 4, 2005http://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/2.pdf as on December 30, 2004[d] “Sandeep Pandey at Naxalite Conference”:http://www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_2003/january/feature.htm[e] “AID claims it does not fund DYFI”:http://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/doc6.pdf[f] “But, AID Does Fund DYFI”:

82 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundshttp://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/doc5.pdfand original document athttp://www.medicointernational.de/projekte/seebeben03.asp[g] “AID with CAIR”:http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=Abouthttp://www.danielpipes.org/article/394http://www.danielpipes.org/394.pdfhttp://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.21599,filter.all/pub_detail.asphttp://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-16-terrorgroup_x.htmhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/AID-MN/message/2195 &http://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/aid_cair.JPG[h] “AID US Chapters Hosts Marxist Ideologue”:http://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/doc7.pdf[i] “AID Sulekha Fraud”:http://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/mdon.pdf[j] “Sandeep Pandey at AID Retreat”:http://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/doc8.pdf[k] “Sandeep Pandey and Naxalite Terror”:“CPI-ML faction to honour kin of 1000 Naxalites”, http://www.rediff.com/_news/_2002/nov/15naxal.“Caste War and Red Terror”, http://www.hindustantimes.com/ news/6253_249856,0009.htm[l] “Yet another report AID admitting to funding DYFI”:http://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/doc9.pdf[m] “Yet another claim that it has no long term plans with DYFI”:“Letter: Tirade against AID is baseless”, from Indian Herald Newspaper[n] “And, AID Does another Flip Flop, says it adopts two villages withDYFI and SFI”:“This will also slip away from public memory”, http://in.rediff.com/news/ 2005/_jan/03amit3.htm[o] “AID decides to fund Sandeep Pandey’s march to Pakistan”:http://www.geocities.com/_aid_india_info/IndoPakPeaceMarch_FundingRequest.pdf[p] “Sandeep Pandey’s Naxalite/Maoist Group, CPI(ML) talks usingillegal and extra parliamentary forms of struggle and organisation”:http://www.cpiml.org/pgs/partyprogram/prog.htm[q] AID/ASHA/FOSA stand behind “Allah will destroy terrorist stateof India”:

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 83http://www.friendsofsouthasia.org/events/indpakpeacehttp://www.pakalliance.org/html/ny_protest.html[r] “TNSF’s Ideology Explained” - The ideas of power, politics,hegemony, social consciousness, how people think, struggle, Marxistanalysis techniques, etc that I have learnt are now a part of me.http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/aid/web/articles/articles/balajireport9799.htm[s] “Marxist mailing list on Science Forums”:What is the ‘All India Science Movement’?“There is nothing called the ‘All India Science Movement’ There are a number ofdifferent peoples science organisations all over India. These organisations arerather diverse, with ideologies ranging from variants of Gandhism to radical left.The most well known of these is undoubtedly the Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad(KSSP), which is a massive organisation. Most of its human power is composedof school teachers, and it has informal affiliation with the Communist Party ofIndia [Marxist]. Another active group is called Bharatiya Gyan Vigyan Jatha(Indian Science and Knowledge Movement). In the late eighties (especially) thePeople’s Science Organisations in India tried to come together and form variousnetworks. One of them is the All India People’s Science Network. Dinesh Abrol,who is mentioned by Ulhas’s post, is a prominent member of the Delhi ScienceForum, which is another well-known ‘people’s science organisation’ and alsoaffiliated (informally) with the CPM. The science movement is interesting, andlargely influenced by the Left (though I believe exceptions exist, like the PPST—People’s Progressive Science and Technology—which started with the line ofrevival of native Indian science, and some say is today close to the Hindu right).However it is not, in general, a peoples movement, though it has led peoplesmovements in the past. In particular, today it is playing a leading role in the antinukemovement, after India exploded her nuclear bombs. Its activities are in thefield of science education, environmental movements, popular science education(anti-obscurantism and anti-fundamentalism), use of appropriate technology toimprove peoples lives, raising issues related to science policy and economic policyetc.” – Ashok. An email in http://www.marxmail.org/archives/Mar99/india.htm[t] “Strategic Partnership with CPI(M)”:“My tour started from Chennai, the capital city of the province of Tamil Nadu.There I met Mr M.A. Devdas, office coordinator of the Tamil Nadu Science Forum(TNSF) and then with the Director of an NGO called AID India (Action forIndia’s Development). The groups associated with the CPM and the All India

84 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsPeople’s Science Movement have reached a strategic alliance with AID byimplementing relief measures and taking up mid and long term rehabilitationwork. While the material purchase and construction is done by AID, the humanpower is provided by over a thousand volunteers of the AIPSN, SFI (StudentsFederation of India), DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India), AIDWA(All India Democratic Women’s Association) and TNSF itself.”http://www.alternatives.ca/article1657.htm[u] “Comrade Sitaram Yechury explains the Partnership”“While the expenditure on education was decreasing, the literacy mission waspromoted by the ruling classes as a cheaper alternative. Such an activity wasenvisaged to be conducted through non-governmental organisations and many ofour science movement organisations participated in this programme. This gave afurther boost to the growth of the All India People’s Science Network.Simultaneously, opportunities also emerged for the Party to intervene in manyother spheres as well.”http://pd.cpim.org/2005/0731/07312005_pol-org%20report.htm[v] “AID with Taliban supporting Islamist, Kaleem Khawaja”http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01032002/0103200254.htm

4‘YESTERDAY ONCE MORE’:a FOIL PrimerNarayanan Menon Komerath‘IDRF announced a donation of $25,000 towards relief effortsfollowing the World Trade Center collapse... the peopleresponsible for perpetrating the disaster were Muslims, and thevictims largely non-Muslim.’Thus did Girish Agrawal, Angana Chatterji, Shalini Gera, BijuMathew, Ali Mir, S Ravi Rajan and Elahe Heptullah brilliantly‘prove’, in a report after ‘five years of meticulous research’ (M5R),their ‘simple and single conclusion – the IDRF does fund hate’.Thedonation mentioned was to the families of New York firefightersafter the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA. Thisexemplified the heavily-funded, choreographed hate campaignby Ms Teesta Setalvad’s private limited company SabrangCommunications and the US-based Forum of Indian Leftists (FOIL)in 2002-03 to deprive Indian orphans, tribal kids, earthquake victimsand leprosy patients of their only source of hope.Their assault collapsed in utter humiliation. FOIL’s spokesmanDr Vinay Lal, Associate Professor of History at the University ofCalifornia at Los Angeles, removed all doubt about their standards,stubbornly maintaining that the Meeraj Medical Centre, an affiliateof the Presbyterian Church of North America, was an ‘RSS’institution set up for the sole purpose of ‘hinduization’. Peoplelaughed off that ‘research’, not to mention intellectual honestysince there wasn’t any, in 2003. As realisation dawned that theirfalsehoods had been exposed, they slunk away, declared that the

86 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds‘fascists’ (their term for those who failed to bow to their Politburo)had latched on to ‘one error’ and used that cruelly to destroy theircredibility. True, we nearly hurt ourselves laughing at their ‘FAQ’and the declarations of Dr Vinay Lal (who always took pains toproclaim that he was Associate Professor of History at UCLA andhence superior to us ignorant, mere Indian peasants). But theydidn’t specify which particular howler was the ‘error’ of thehundreds in their ‘report’ and their ‘FAQ’ and their myriad pressreleases and articles and interviews.For a while, there was relative quiet. Then they found newcontracts as ‘Kashmir researchers’. But, like the wild onions inmy lawn, they’re back again and flowering, hoping you’veforgotten. So ‘it’s yesterday once more’.*As a shocked world rushed aid to the tsunami-devastatedareas, FOIL was equally busy. It spewed hate, exhorted the gulliblenot to support the rescuers, again using the same bogus M5R‘report’. It did this from email servers run by the University ofIllinois in Urbana-Champaign, and using Pakistani propagandawebsites, through its new spokesman and so-called ‘watchdogacademic’, ‘Ra’ Ravishankar. Obstructing help to the needy is, afterall, what FOIL does best. But it is by no means the only thing itdoes well.Dr Angana Chatterji of the Progressive South Asians(PROXSA) which is the mother-ship of FOIL and of their ‘CoalitionAgainst Genocide’ created ‘news’ again. Their network has nowexpanded to such impressive names as ‘Promise of India’. Notsurprising. With the Marxist communists actively in Governmentin New Delhi, they can smell their stated goal: Lal kile par lal nishaanMaang raha hai Hindustan. The Red Banner over the Red Fort –demands India – a mandatory essay topic for candidates takingthe State Education Board Exams in Marxist-ruled West Bengal.Probably a required question on all job applications when the LalNishaan files over the Lal Kila. My congratulations to the Comrades.* This essay in its original form appeared in http://www.indiacause.com/columns /OL_050414.htm, which see for detailed references, supportingnotes and links. The title is taken from ‘Yesterday Once More. Memoriesof the Carpenters and their music’, www.yesterdayoncemore.net. For thefull lyric, see www. lyricsdepot.com/ the-carpenters/yesterday-oncemore.html.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 87I feel that the desi community deserves to learn much more aboutthe toils of FOIL – by far the most powerful ‘South Asian’organisation in America after General Musharraf’s Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI). Then again, per Pakistani newspapers, they maynot be that different at all. FOIL is the hottest item in Indian-American politics today.The Comrades have worked tirelessly – and, quite contraryto what they say, they did not start in February 2005, shocked bythe Gujarat Chief Minister’s impending visit, or in March 2002,shocked by the Gujarat riots. Their ‘Coalition Against Genocide’is just the latest in a vast web of organisations, all run, and possiblyfunded, by basically the same entities. They started many yearsago. Some of what follows is repeated from what was posted onthe internet—my thanks to that user.1. OriginsIn May 1997, Indians all over the world were preparing forthe 50 th anniversary of Independence. So was FOIL in the US –not to celebrate, but to focus on India’s failure to come up to theirstandards of perfection. In their own words:Ghadar—a bimonthly publication of the forum of Indian leftistsVolume 1: Number 1, May 1, 1997 Editorial: Ghadar arrives!....a journal slash newsletter slash rag that is born out of a needfor the left to have a print medium for organising anddiscussion. We, the ‘left’, are diasporic Indians (and SouthAsians) in the US, and some in Europe, who have bandedtogether under FOIL (Forum of Indian Leftists). FOIL’s goalsare to put forth into the mainstream the ideas of secularism,social justice, and equality. .. Names such as ‘Red Brownie’,‘Samvaad’, and ‘Counterfoil’ poured in. ‘Ghadar’ won by areasonable margin in a vote. … this issue was put togetherby Sanjay Anand, Rahul De, Shubra Gururani, Bikku Kuruvilia,Biju Mathew, Niraj Pant, Gautam Premnath, Mir Ali Raza,Sharmila Rudrappa, Anitha, S. and Gautam Sethi. Addressall correspondence to: Ghadar, c/o Mir Ali Raza, School ofManagement, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA01003. Or by email to foil@dti.net. This publication is partiallyfunded by readers like you.

88 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsThe patriotism brought tears to my eyes. I wondered whofunded the rest. But why May Day 1997? Just to celebrate theBolshevik Bloodbath of 1917? The answer was readily explained:Speakers Bureau: Going along pretty well too. The brochureis ready and beginning to get circulated. Some offers to speakhave also come along. Especially in the context of the 50thyear of independence this may be a very important project.There are many places/organisations who are desperatelylooking for people who can come and deliver 30 minute talks.Why not ensure a good lefty talk? Also, most places offermodest honorariums and these monies could be the best wayto fund various FOIL activities. What we lack currently arevolunteers who are willing to spend those 2 or 3 days in thenext nine months doing this. Vijay Prashad is coordinatingthis project.2. Sidhartha describes the origins of FOIL in 2000In 1991, Biju Mathew, Sangeeta Kamat and Madhav Prasadstarted … Sanskriti. It dealt with issues ranging from theNarmada movement to communalism to Hinduja investmentsin Columbia University’s ‘Indic Studies’ programme. .. FOILgrew out of Sanskriti. It now connects hundreds of SouthAsians through the Net. Biju Mathew was the spirit behindit, although in the early days Vijay Prasad, the rambunctiousMarxist scholar from Hartford .. was an ardent collaborator.FOIL became both a clearing-house and a networking tool. Itput talks onto the Net (for example: ‘Diwali and decolonisation’).As for ‘Genocide’, they have been fantasising about that fora long time. Niraj Pant went through contortions in ‘Ghadar’ in1997, trying to argue that the active and articulate presence ofwomen in Indian society and politics proved his fantasy of apredilection towards genocide against minorities. The second issueof Ghadar summarised FOIL’s Independence Day celebration. I’llleave the pleasure of perusing that to the reader. 1

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 89The Ghadar creators’ list was essentially unchanged. No doubtFOIL agitated after the May 11, 1998 nuclear tests (as opposed tothe Pakistani tests) and were instrumental in getting the US toimpose sanctions on India – after all, look at their awesome influencein the State Department, White House, Congress, etc., per AnganaChatterji. By the third issue (November 1998) they listed an emailserver ‘as a space for discussion, information, and the mobilisationof support for various petitions and rallies’, coordinated by RajuRajan at an IBM.com email address, as well as a PROXSA websiteand two more run by ‘FOILers’ SP Udaykumar and Harsh Kapoor.Ghadar, the ‘bimonthly’ journal, then disappeared, to surface againin May 2000. The globalisation protests were only a few monthsaway. The editorial board had expanded.3. Victorious – Over the New York Traffic PoliceIn September 2000, FOIL participated in ‘New York People’sAssembly Against Imperialist Globalisation (NYPAAIG), a newmulti-tendency city-wide anti-imperialist coalition, and the occasionwas the final day of the UN Millennium Summit’. In their ownwords: ‘NYPAAIG was formed, bringing together suchorganisations as the Colombia Action Committee (CAC),International Action Center (IAC), Committee to Support theRevolution in Peru (CSRP), Committee in Solidarity with the Peopleof El Salvador (CISPES), Forum of Indian Leftists, Direct ActionNetwork and Student Liberation Action Movement.’Manco Rojas of the CSRP spoke, denouncing PeruvianPresident Fujimori as a fascist puppet of US imperialism, callingfor support for the people’s war led by the Communist Party ofPeru to overthrow Fujimori. After further speakers, the crowdchanted ‘USA-CIA Out of Peru!’ and ‘Fujimori, CIA, How ManyKids Did You Kill Today?’ before marching to the El Salvadorconsulate. This was victory number two for the people: the policehad declared no marching. ‘Many heads turned at the sight of 90people carrying signs and a 22 foot banner reading “Down withUS Imperialism!’ and chanting “Brick by Brick, Wall by Wall, USRule is Gonna Fall!” ‘Another victory. Another blow against the system ofdemocratically-elected governments. Another call to overthrow

90 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundselected governments, in the best traditions of the Red Revolution.Another traffic jam caused to the Petty-Bourgeois Running Dogsof the Paper Tigers of Capitalist Imperialism (if I remember rightthose Maoist rants from the loudspeakers in Marxist-ruled Kerala).FOIL’s later condemnation of IDRF for sending money to thefamilies of fallen New York firefighters is seen to be no accident –it is completely consistent with their contempt of law and orderand of those who must enforce it.4. Heroes of the Red RevolutionFOIL’s leading light, as seen above, is Dr Vijay Prashad ofTrinity College, Connecticut. He is the author of ‘Red Salute toComrade Uncle Ho’ (Ho Chi Minh, communist dictator of NorthVietnam who caused the deaths of several million innocentVietnamese, and over 55,000 Americans and Australians sent toprotect them). Dr Prashad has long worried about the dangersof the dreaded Yankee-Yehudi-Yindoo (YYY) combine to the true‘democracies’ of the world. See his definition:The restless lions of west and south Asia join the tigers ofeast Asia to encircle China and the predominantly Muslimstates of west and central Asia. … eager to undermine thepolitical process with the sorts of hardware that ensures thatour world remains undemocratic. Empire is alive and well.Dr Vijay Prashad is disgusted by the desi community’s obscenetraditions of working for a living, bringing up families, abidingby the law, etc. Caswell quotes a Prashad declaration, eerilyredolent of a desi Rev. Jim Jones: ‘My main idea is for us to commitmodel minority suicide!’ And he’s clearly striving to help thecommunity along towards this noble goal.FOIL’s other intellectual giant, as the above indicates, is Dr BijuMathew. He is described, at least since early 2002, as a ‘Professor’ –a promotion that Rider University, New Jersey, appears to be failingto recognize – they still described him in 2005 as an associateprofessor! Dr Mathew’s Rider University website invites studentsto be inspired by the UnaBomber Manifesto, Puerto Ricansecessionists, and various Marxist discussion groups. They are also

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 91asked to donate money to worthy causes such as FOIL’s traveland entertainment kitty, the SINGH Foundation. Last we checked,the SINGH Foundation had a 52% overhead above their ‘directprogram costs’. And what were these charitable direct programs?They consisted of screening hate movies, travel for their trusteesand visiting comrades, and support for the Youth SolidaritySummer whose graduates include people now high up in the IndianMuslim Council. Rider University students were specificallyexhorted to send money to SINGH for their friends and latersponsors, the wife-husband duo Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anandof the private limited company Sabrang Communications, whoclaimed a dire need to avoid working for a living.This is another FOIL success story. Today Ms Setalvad andher organisation are famous all over India and Pakistan as heroicdefenders of (non-Hindu) human rights and combatants against(Hindu) ‘communalism’. Their organisation is a major recipientof Congress Party largesse, including from the Madhya PradeshState Government before the 1999 elections, and their excellencein campaign work was recognized publicly with the Rajiv GandhiPrize. More recently, Ms Setalvad and her friends are known asthose accused by Ms Zaheera Shaikh, the 20-year-old riot survivorfrom the Best Bakery tragedy, of kidnapping and threatening MsShaikh into signing ‘affidavits’ composed by Ms Setalvad. In 2002,people noticed that Ms Setalvad’s website prominently displayeda map of ‘South Asia’ with all of Jammu-Kashmir, and parts ofGujarat and Rajasthan as being part of Pakistan. However, sheappears to be above Indian law regarding such propaganda.Today, Ms Setalvad is obviously doing much better than thepathetic situation depicted by her ‘appeal’, though one recognizesthat the high life in Juhu, the Mumbai equivalent of Beverly Hills,must still require a good deal of money. Thus the SINGHFoundation appears to uphold the best traditions of Marxistphilosophy, ‘Rob the Rich and Feed the Poor – and WE are ThePoor!’ and ‘To Each According to His/Her Needs!’ Ms Setalvad’sgratitude showed in her generous support of FOIL’s ‘5-yearMeticulous Report’ masterpiece, which was at the core of theirhyena-pack attack on the IDRF. Let me not convey the impressionthat all the writings of FOIL are so negative. Quite the contrary, I

92 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsassure you. I have seen in them nothing even remotely negativeabout Communist China, the Soviet Gulag, the Siberian People’sParadises, the Tienanmen Square People’s Liberation Army Tank-Tread Lubrication Event where they ran over the Democracydemanding‘splittists’ (children), The Red Guards Re-EducationMovement, Fidel Castro’s respect for the idea that dissidence isthe highest form of patriotism, Ho Chi Minh’s North VietnamesePeople’s Paradise, the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot and the Genocides(sorry! ‘Re-Educations’, perhaps?) in Cambodia, the Sudan, orRwanda, or the Myanmar dictatorship. Comrade Fidel is lovinglypraised in FOIL writings. Likewise, in ‘Red Star Over West Bengal’,Dr Prashad speaks lovingly of the Marxist communist governmentof West Bengal, which hosted him for a conducted tour of thatPeople’s Paradise. He wants us to be assured that it is free of crime,corruption or inefficiency, the people delighted with thewonderfully approachable and compassionate Political Officersat the rural offices. Of course, the media reports on the horrors ofMarxist rule in West Bengal, for example on opposition candidatesbeing ruthlessly assassinated, must all be imperialist lies?The point of the above FOIL Primer is to show its long historyof dedication to the Red Cause, and the fact that it is extremelywell-organised with a network, at least since 1998, and confirmedto be so since 2000, of ‘hundreds’ of active members.The general criterion for their activism appears to be: ‘Is thissomething that helps people get jobs, get education, get hope, getthe right to vote and express their views? If so, FOIL it!’ I am surethis takes a rather rare talent and mindset, far more so than nuclearscience or genetic engineering.Now to some indications of funding sources that keep suchorganisations and their efforts thriving.5. The Shansi-Oberlin DeclarationIn late Fall 2001, America, in upheaval after the 9/11 terroristattacks, realised some measure of common cause with India andIsrael, the dreaded ‘YYY’ alliance. Some people had other prioritiesin mind. Oberlin College, Ohio, was busily organising a conferencefor April 2002. The conference was titled ‘Siting Secularism in India’.Papers were solicited. The funding for the conference came from

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 93the generous Oberlin Shansi Foundation. Interestingly, Prof.Anuradha Needham of the English Department, listed as theorganiser and contact point for the conference, was also listed asa trustee of the very Foundation that was funding the conferenceshe was organising. If the conference produced any Proceedings,they are not to be found on the internet, and the actual list ofspeakers is also long gone. What remains however is the OberlinDeclaration of April 21, 2002. Coming within weeks of the Gujaratriots triggered by the Godhra atrocity of February 27, the 45signatories declared the Indian Government guilty of genocide,etc., etc. The signatories came from the US, India, UK and France.‘Professor’(?) Biju Mathew of Rider University, ‘Professor’(?) RazaMir of Monmouth College and Harsh Kapoor of the South AsiaCitizens’ Web were all there. Harsh Kapoor had flown in all theway from France for the event. Six days after the conference, theDeclaration appeared on Kapoor’s PROXSA website run by theSouth Asia Citizens’ Web in France.How was such a conference with so stellar a constellation ofMarxist and related invitees organised in so timely a manner? Whywas the Shansi Foundation so interested in ‘Siting Secularism inIndia’, and who is the Shansi Foundation? These questionsapparently drove internet user Abdul Bin Mao to a different age,and across the world. The facts cited by Bin Mao are on the internetall right, as of this writing. 26. The Shansi ConnectionOberlin College is an ancient institution, reputed for its liberaladmission policies and inclusive environment. It was also thusfavored by ‘leftist’ (some would say ‘communist’) academics, fromthe days of the Russian Revolution, through the horrors of theMcCarthy era. ‘Shansi’ used to be ‘Shanxi’, a city and province inChina. In the 19th century, Christian missionaries from the USopened a mission there. During the Boxer Rebellion, themissionaries were killed and dumped in ditches. After the rebellionwas suppressed, their remains were exhumed and moved to aproper graveyard. The Mission’s sponsors evolved into an academicinstitution, fostering China-US exchanges. They also expandedinto India, particularly south India, bringing Chinese studies there,

94 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsand Indians to the US. The thrust was still to spread Chinese culture.In the 1950s, all contact with the People’s Republic was cut off,and the Foundation focused more on India.Then, circa 1998 (coincidentally, about when FOIL foundresources to start ‘Ghadar’) the Shansi Foundation found favorwith the Beijing regime again. Now there are excellent contactswith Shansi University – presumably with official blessings fromthe Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China.7. The Second Coming of GhadarGhadar reappeared suddenly after a two-year absence, andwith evident hurry, on February 21, 2002. ‘After lying dormantfor nearly two years, this occasional publication of the Forum ofIndian Leftists has been revived through the efforts of those whofelt its absence. This issue was put together by Priyamvada Gopal,Ashwini Tambe, Anhoni Patel, Murli Natrajan, Biju Mathew, RazaMir, Amitava Kumar, Rahu De’, Gautam Premnath, Usha Zachariasand Maya Yajnik.’8. Guilty conscience? The curious declaration of how FOIL gottogetherIn late 2001/early 2002, with activity heating up, there wasapparently a conference in the Washington, DC area, attendedby leaders of FOIL, the political-activist ‘charities’ AID-INDIA,ASHA and ICA, the SINGH Foundation, EktaOnline, FOSA (Friendsof South Asia) and their gang. The exterior purpose was to organisethe attack against Indian-American charitable fundraising.Now we come to the surprise. FOIL claims that its memberswere able to organise so quickly after the riots broke out, onlybecause they had screened a movie by Anand Patwardhan inJanuary 2002. From the June 21, 2002 issue of Ghadar:When news stories from Gujarat first hit our screens in lateFebruary, we had just finished organising a screening of AnandPatwardhan’s film ‘Jung aur Aman’ (War and Peace). Unlikesome other Patwardhan film shows, which have beensabotaged by vitriolic Hindutvavadis, the DC event had ahighly sympathetic audience, and provided an opportunity

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 95for us to connect with each other. The email addressesexchanged helped mobilise an immediate response four dayslater, as the horror of state ministers condoning killings andpolice inaction unfolded. About seven of us, from organisationssuch as FOIL (Forum of Indian Leftists), ASHA for Education-DC, and AID (Association for India’s Development) met,finalised a date for a peace rally and a meeting with theambassador, made posters and agreed on the text of a petition.We mobilised every media outlet at our means, including localdesi newspapers; publicized the petition on the internet; anddistributed flyers at public events, including desi filmscreenings. Three days later, the petition denouncing the state’scomplicity and inaction had been signed by 600 signatories.Remember that in 1998 they had already established emaillists and servers, had websites all over the world, and they hadbeen continuously in contact since 1991. FOIL, PROXSA, FOSA,and SACW started their diligent ‘research’ (which consisted ofdownloading pages posted by IDRF on the website www.idrf.org)‘five years of meticulous research’ before November 2002. Shouldn’tI assume from this that all the co-authors of the report had knowneach other since November 1997? Apparently not, according toFOIL’s ‘FAQ’, as of January 2003: ‘We found each other—via theinternet and through personal contacts—in the aftermath of theGujarat riots earlier this year.’Consider the evidence. From the PROXSA website on FOIL(date impossible to determine, but certainly post-1997 and pre-2002): ‘We feel it is time to launch such a forum so that in timewe might join together to take common positions and interveneon political matters. Isolation only helps the ruling clique; we needto organise ourselves. Hence FOIL!’As for ‘mobilising every media outlet at our disposal’, thesame page had given directions years earlier:Project on Media Presence: The unique strength of the Indianleft outside India is that a significant number of us make ourliving through writing—either within the academy or outsideit. For a group with such a skill it is indeed surprising that

96 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsour presence in the Diaspora’s media arms—newspapers,magazines, TV shows etc. is next to non-existent. A constantand visible effort in such centrists newspapers such as IndiaAbroad, India Tribune, India West etc. is possible with a littleplanning. One way of looking at it is simply that betweenthe fifty odd of us, if each of us volunteer to put out one articlefor one such newspaper or magazine every year we wouldhave said something literally every week. Contact AmitavaKumar for volunteering on this project.My congratulations to Amitava Kumar. The media co-optionwas certainly visible when the attack on IDRF came out – obedientarticles uncritically parroting FOIL’s propaganda appeared withregularity from AK Sen of OUTLOOK, Ashwin Mahesh of IndiaTogether, Ashfaq Swapan of India West and Aziz Haniffa of IndiaAbroad.Why the apparent guilty conscience? What were they coveringup? The Oberlin Declaration? Why? What was wrong in creditingthe conference for bringing vital members together? Why hidetheir links?One final point: According to the same PROXSA page, theobjective of FOIL was:Our bourgeois ‘leaders’ and their friends in Washington needto get a wake-up call which blows their eardrums: I think wecan in our noisy, desi manner concoct something suitable. LetFOIL be that noise!Now I am by no means suggesting that the ‘noise’ that ‘bleweardrums’ was the one on September 11, 2001. But, as for laterevents, who am I to say?9. Academic integrity, FOIL stylePerhaps the incredible denial of their prior association wassimply habit. Dr Shalini Gera, then associated with the StanfordUniversity Medical School, is no stranger to the medical profession,and could see perfectly well that the Vivekananda Medical Missionin Kerala was bringing desperately needed succor to people who

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 97literally had no access, and no money to access, any other medicalcare. But that did not stop her in M5R from describing thatorganisation of heroes, and those who funded them, as hatemongers.Her later employer advertised her thus:Dr Gera makes a valuable addition to the [firm name deleted]team. Her interdisciplinary background and strongquantitative and analytical skills are important in projectsrequiring technical knowledge and intellectual rigor. Herfamiliarity with academic and pharmaceutical researchprovides the necessary background for undertaking severalcomplicated projects in highly specialised fields. She haswritten articles for scientific publications as well as populartrade journals, and can communicate effectively with technicalas well as non-technical audience.Awesome. But don’t ‘familiarity with academic research’ and‘communicating effectively with a non-technical audience’ comewith a responsibility to be honest? Can a person of such ‘intellectualrigor’ be unaware that the report she co-authored was blatantlyfalse, and used cooked-up ‘data’ to prove what is diametricallyopposite to the truth?Another experience might shed better light on this mystery.One week after FOIL put up a petition attacking IDRF,concerned citizens got together and put up a site calledwww.LetIndiaDevelop.org with a petition to Let India Develop.Within days, that petition had left FOIL’s petition in the dust, aspeople rushed to tell FOIL to quit hate-mongering and go dosomething useful.The attackers then bought the name “www.LetIndiaDevelop.com” and used it to mislead voters to their site instead.When outraged readers alerted the Internet Service Provider tothis blatant fraud, the ISP published the name and address of thebuyer. The address of the site-buyer was revealed as PO Box 20136,Stanford, CA 94309. This was the same as the mailing address ofthe ‘Friends Of South Asia’ (FOSA), run by Akhila Raman. MsRaman, then described as a software consultant, later became a‘Kashmir researcher’ and a prominent organiser of the ‘KashmirForum’ which the Pakistani media described as being funded and

98 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsdictated to from Islamabad:The only thing international about the conference was that itwas held in Washington, but its principal audience appearedto be the establishment in Pakistan, which obviously hadaccorded its full blessings to the event. ....no word was availableas to the costs of the exercise and which agency, organisationor individual had defrayed them. The patronising hand of thelone state agency which in recent years has taken almost soleresponsibility for Kashmir, was much in evidence. A memberof the Pakistani national legislature said ‘a certain outfit’ inIslamabad had cleared the list of those invited to speak. Thelist of invitees from Pakistan remained confined to those whowere expected to represent the official line or the line of theany. No representative of any major political party, barring theofficial Muslim League, was given an invitation.Today, that PO Box is listed as the address to send checks to‘Ekta’ for ‘Organising Youth!’ (OY!). The owner’s telephone numberlisted there, however, is that of Shalini Gera, with a StonewoodLane, San Jose address. Any connection to Dr Gera? Your guessis as good as mine. By the way, ‘Ekta’ is associated with ‘ICA’ –the ‘Indians for Collective Action’ that is now very active in the‘Coalition Against Genocide’. Before their website was ‘cleansed’,ICA hosted the SINGH Foundation’s advertising.10. California Integral Studies: 12,000 × 5 = 1,000,000?Dr Angana Chatterji is no stranger to the realities of tribalvillage life in the Narmada valley, unless I am wrong in believingher claims of having been there, as she and her well-funded gangobstructed the government’s desperate efforts to deliver drinkingwater to the thirsty, long-suffering women and children of Kutch.She knows how much the tribal kids in India need access toeducation, and hope for the future, if she spent any time lookingat the tribal people she was supposedly protecting from theNarmada dam waters. She knew this as she attempted to destroythe Ekal Vidyalayas – the one-teacher schools, by attacking IDRFfor helping to fund them.Now I am curious about the Narmada controversy, which

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 99pitted the thirst of arid Kutch and the desperate need for irrigationand electric power to create jobs and food, against the homes andlivelihood of several tribal villages in the Maharashtra/Gujaratcatchment area of the Narmada dam. This drew much admiration(including mine) for Ms Medha Patkar of the Narmada BachaoAndolan (Save Narmada Front) as Defender of the People. I toofelt strongly that the villagers in the catchment area must beproperly compensated and rehabilitated, before the waters wereallowed to rise. But what happened in reality was something elseentirely. The agitation became politicised, grew more powerfulthan the government, and with tear-jerker novelists and foreignfundedpropaganda, managed to get the World Bank to withdrawsupport as the delays dragged on. The project was delayed by atleast seven years, probably by many more, and the costs to Indiamultiplied. The women of Kutch walked miles in the desert sunevery one of those days, carrying meager pots of water for theirfamilies’ survival. Did the Saviours of the People use the reprieveto get the catchment area cleared and the villagers rehabilitated?Was Stalin a saint?When the Supreme Court of India disposed of the finalobjections and the dam was filled and the water flowed throughthe canals of Kutch, the scenes of tearful rejoicing were heartrending– as one thought of the years wasted keeping these hardypeople thirsty.Angana Chatterji cites ‘a million’ tribal people ‘damned’ bythe Supreme Court of India’s eventual overruling of the agitators.However, the number of displaced families is cited as ‘12,000’.From where did Chatterji get the ‘million’ figure? A tribal familyhas an average of 83 members? Or 1,000,000 sounded grander than60,000 which is probably far less than the number of people whomshe was obstructing from access to drinking water? As for theinitial stated objective of getting fair compensation andrehabilitation assistance to the displaced villagers, I am yet to seeany evidence that Chatterji and her gang ever contributed an iotato anything other than political grandstanding and riot-incitement.The tribal people were eventually left to fend for themselves asthe agitators lost political interest, in the best traditions ofLimousine-Marxist anarchism. The villagers even told the

100 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundspatronising American-returned ‘social servants’ funded by theorganisation AID to get lost and leave them alone.This sort of bloating of figures for political purposes, and theobvious cooking of data in the M5R, led me to check into somethings where I am qualified to judge for myself. In the Americanuniversity system, novices with PhDs and a few years of experience,are hired as Assistant Professors, and given up to 6 years to eitherget promoted to Associate Professor or get out. Promotion toAssociate Professor generally comes with, or is followed by, grantof tenure. But that is a far cry from getting promoted to ‘Professor’.That promotion may come after six or more years in theAssociate Professor rank to most people, and is based on merit,not seniority. Some retire as Associate Professor - perfectlyrespectable. What is not respectable, nor tolerated in any respectableinstitution, is for people to arrogate the rank of ‘Professor’ inpresenting themselves to the outside world. In kindergartners itmay be cute, like the young lady of my acquaintance who usedto respond at age 5 to ‘What grade are you in?’ with ‘MBBS’! Butin grownups, such claims are no less contemptible than claiminga false degree (a degree only takes 2 to 3 years, versus 6 years ofhard work for promotion to Professor) – and doing so in a letterto the Federal Government might actually bring serious action.Which may explain sudden attacks of truth about Chatterji’s rank –aberrations in Dr Chatterji’s claims about herself. I could fill apage with proof of similar bogus claims, but the point, I believe,is made. There is no room for doubt on this issue. 3Dr Chatterji’s practice of inflating her credentials is apparentlyroutine for FOIL members’ standards of integrity. Dr Biju Mathewhas been describing himself as ‘Professor’ when Rider University,New Jersey continues to describe him as ‘Associate Professor’.Dr Usha Zacharias, editor of the Ghadar edition that was rushedout a week before the Godhra atrocity, and Dr Raza Mir extendthe practice to its logical extreme. She describes herself as ‘Professor’though Westfield State College, Massachusetts insists that she isan ‘Assistant Professor’. Mir’s webpage at the William PatersonUniversity now describes him as an Associate Professor, and listshis prior experience as ‘Assistant Professor’ at MonmouthUniversity – while he was claiming to be a ‘Professor’ there. The

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 101up-and-coming FOIL leader, ‘Ra’ Ravishankar, graduate assistantat the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, describes himselfin newspaper diatribes as ‘an academic’. Wow! I’ve attendedkindergarten at a Catholic convent, and spent a couple of yearsas student in a Catholic junior college. I guess that makes me a‘Cardinal’?To people outside academia, these issues may seem small,but consider that industry routinely and automatically fires peoplecaught claiming false degrees on their resumes. A degree takes atmost four years or so. A promotion to Professor takes six. Ifcredential-bloating is acceptable from faculty at their employers’institutions, what kinds of institutions are these to send yourchildren for an education, or to trust for research results? Can youtrust research results from people who write ‘a million’ when thetruth is under 60,000? Do you trust them to insist on standardsbefore conferring degrees? Do PhDs from CIIS, for example, meananything beyond undergraduates playing ‘Dr’ there, given thattheir faculty claim ranks that they have never achieved? RiderUniversity, Trinity College and Westfield State College, mercifully,don’t seem to claim to give PhDs.11. Concluding RemarksEver wondered why Angana Chatterji and Biju Mathew don’tgo around displaying pictures of the innocents in Bengal, Bihar,Orissa or Nepal, machine-gunned by the Maoist terrorists who shareFOIL’s philosophy (and perhaps their sources of funding)? Whydon’t they publish pictures of innocents with their limbs choppedoff by the Naxalites? Could it be because those are the same Naxaliteterrorists who must have been at that Terrorist Convention thatFOIL’s associates attended? You won’t hear the Coalition AgainstGenocide being bothered by the genocides in Cambodia or Tibetor Bangladesh, or the ethnic cleansing in the Kashmir Valley orPakistan-occupied Kashmir, or terrorist-infested Assam. Excuseme – Chatterji was mentioned in a CIIS letter expressing sympathywith Tibetans protesting genocide, but the gist of the letter was tolet them know of Chatterji’s own ‘sacrifice’ – a THREE-DAY ‘hungerstrike’ – against the World Bank. My women colleagues will bedelighted to hear that what they call ‘diet’ is now a noble ‘hungerstrike’. I am proud to declare that I go on a ‘Five-hour Hunger Strike’

102 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsevery working day – between 6:45 and 11:45.You won’t find pictures on the FOIL websites of the babieswho died gasping for breath when Air India Flight 182 was blownup over the Irish Sea, or the 20,000 or more innocent victims ofthe Khalistan terrorists – terrorists whose comrades FOIL and IMCapplauded as invited speakers to demand the breakup of mymother country at the IMC-FOIL Convention in California.Associate Professor Angana Chatterji represents FOIL andthe California Institute of Integral Studies very well. From someonewho attended one of her diatribes: ‘She flared up and said thatshe is a PROFESSOR at the Institute, and that I was calling her aliar’. Hmmm! How unnecessary!Satyameva jayate.Notes1. “50 years?” Editorial, GHADAR, Vol. 1, No.2, November 26, 1997.http://www.proxsa.org/ resources/ ghadar/v1n2/edit.html2. Abdul Bin Mao, “Who Knew About the Godhra Riots– And OtherMysteries”, http://www.india-forum.com/forums/index.php? Showtopic=753&st=0.3. Academic promotions, FOIL Style:• August 2002, Angana Chatterji in Asian Age: “Angana Chatterji isa Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the CaliforniaInstitute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, US.”• August 2002, Angana Chatterji in Milli Gazette “Angana Chatterjiis a Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the CaliforniaInstitute of Integral Studies.”• June 2002: Angana Chatterji in DAWN of Karachi “Angana Chatterji,Professor, Department of Social and Cultural AnthropologyCalifornia Institute of Integral Studies...”• December 2002, Angana Chatterji in Dissident Voice: “AnganaChatterji is a Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology atthe California Institute of Integral Studies...”• November 2003: Angana Chatterji in SACW: “Angana Chatterjiis a Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the CaliforniaInstitute of Integral Studies” (and numerous other instances…)Two rare attacks of honesty:• February 2005: Letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice:“Angana Chatterji, Associate Professor, California Institute of

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 103Integral Studies.”• March 2005, Angana Chatterji in Asian Age: “Angana Chatterji isAssociate Professor of Anthropology at California Institute ofIntegral Studies, and member, Coalition Against Genocide”Back to old habits:March 2005, OUTLOOK, Letter signed by:• Dr Angana Chatterji, Professor of Anthropology, California Instituteof Integral Studies, San Francisco.• Dr Usha Zacharias, Professor of Communications, Westfield StateCollege, Massachusetts.Congratulations on your (self) promotions, Drs Chatterji, Zacharias,Mathew and Prashad!

5THE LASHKAR-E-PINOCCHIORIDES AGAIN *“The Wild Bunch—They’re only a hundred. But they ride—as ifthey were a T-H-O-U-S-A-N-D!”Narayanan Menon KomerathMr Prem Panicker once wondered on rediff.com at General‘Pinocchio’ Pervez’s energy in, well, whatever Pinocchio used todo. Unfair. He ignored the General’s tireless camp followers. Idedicate this essay to those followers who toil, unlike the Attacrew, with no expectation of the rewards of Houristan. Or perhapsin anticipation of something more tangible? First, let’s take a brieflook at one of their events, then at their broader effort.They met in the June warmth of Santa Clara – ‘over 500’attendees according to the hyped press release, 46 according tothose who counted, at the Marriott (room rate then $180 + tax pernight). The Forum of Indian Leftists (FOIL), the Friends of SouthAsia (FOSA), ‘senior writers’ of the Indian English-language media,the secessionists and soul-harvesters represented by ‘Khalistan’and FIACONA, and several political ‘charities’, all hosted by theIndian Muslim Council (IMC).* This essay in its original form appeared in http://www.geocities.com/charcha_ 2000/essays /Lashkar-e-Pinocchio.html which see for detailedreferences and supporting notes. The title quote is from the Terence Hillmovie: ‘My Name is Nobody’.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 1051. The First Annual Convention of the IMCThey whipped themselves into a lather repeating the only‘news’ in the past five or so years they consider worth reportingabout our nation of a billion humans: their long-since disprovedincendiary tales of random murder and assault, and their versionof the Gujarat riots of 2002 following the Godhra atrocity – theriots which dozens of Indian policemen died trying to stop.Their mutual applause for bashing India rose to a crescendofor the Khalistani speaker. This worthy presented his dream ofbalkanizing India into little sectarian islands of xenophobia,amenable to being divided between the Caliphate of South Asiaand the Empires of the Pure and the Harvested Souls. As Messiahsof Secularism, they gathered to sneer at democracy. And theycelebrated the damage they hoped they had done to India with apompous news release – wisely omitting all reference to theKhalistani diatribe.2. The Khalistan ConnectionRemember Khalistan? The relatives of over 21,000 of theirvictims surely do. Including the 329 on Air India’s Flight AI182on June 23, 1985, murdered over the Irish Sea. The US CongressionalRecord remembers:The role played by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence Agencyin exporting terror to Kashmir and Punjab in neighbouringIndia was sufficiently well-documented for the previousadministration to place the country on the watch list of statessponsoring terrorism.And so does the US State Department List of Terrorist Groups:Sikh terrorism is sponsored by expatriate and Indian Sikhgroups who want to carve out an independent Sikh state calledKhalistan (Land of the Pure) from Indian territory. Activegroups include Babbar Khalsa, International Sikh YouthFederation, Dal Khalsa, Bhinderanwala Tiger Force, and theShaheed Khalsa Force...Attacks in India are mounted againstIndian officials and facilities, other Sikhs, and Hindus; they

106 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsinclude assassinations, bombings, and kidnappings. ExternalAid: Militant cells are active internationally, and extremistsgather funds from overseas Sikh communities… internationalorganisations that lobby for the Sikh cause overseas. Mostprominent are the World Sikh Organisation and theInternational Sikh Youth Federation.They can now add: “IMC, FOIL, FOSA, ASHA, Sabrang,ActionAid and AID” to that list.FOIL, FOSA and Sabrang need no introduction – not aftertheir loud attempt to destroy an Indian-American charity andreplace it with their own, 52-percent overhead rip-offs. The wholegang rushed, like rats after the Pied Piper, to ‘endorse’ with highsoundingtitles, an infantile ‘91-page Report’, as a comprehensiveproduct of five years of meticulous research. Exposed as fraudsand laughed off by public opinion, they have now turned to morelucrative pursuits – general India-bashing. Good Wahabi $$ to behad there, no doubt, with all those pilot-training funds goingwaste…3. Factual Accuracy – IMC styleThe IMC itself has earned its notoriety the old-fashioned way.From their ‘newsletter’ comes this sample of their integrity - a‘condemnation’ of the Godhra atrocity of February 2002:The attack on the train by Muslims to rescue a woman abductedby the armed fascists in the train led to the fiery death of 58people (the names of victims were never released by theGovernment.). All the Muslim groups of India unconditionallycondemned the response of the Muslim rescuers. Nevertheless,the fascists used the attack on the train to launch their longplannedpogrom. The rapid spread of fire inside the two steelcars has raised suspicion that the gasoline carried by themilitants in the train caught fire.And just in case that was not incendiary enough, here is theirexhortation to Arabs to hurt Indians, from the same full-color poster:

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 107How Arab Muslims can help Indian Muslims! … More than12 per cent of the Indian Diplomatic Corps is Muslim comparedto less than 1 per cent of other civil services where they areheavily discriminated against. Occasionally, India appointsa Muslim President, who serves as figurehead only with noreal power. Indian propaganda is so strong in the Arab worldthat when a recent New York Times article criticized Arabsfor not speaking out for Indian Muslims while condemningthe killing of Palestinians, some in the Arab media actuallydefended the silence of the Arab world. Action suggested: Ifyou are an Arab and would like to help us convey the storyof Indian Muslims, please contact info@Imannet.com.Gee! I wish the IMC had told me that Nawab Mansur AliKhan of Pataudi, captain of the Indian cricket team, was a ‘token’—before I blew my life-savings of Rs 14 on that dream GenuineKashmir Willow cricket bat bearing his ‘signature’. Or thatDr APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India, who achieved theaerospace engineer’s dream – to be admired far more than he wasever feared, by those privileged to have worked with and for him—is just a ‘token’.4. Bones for Faithful FriendsThe Desi-Angrezi Media and the Political Charities werepresent in force. A veritable galaxy of stars—Red Giants and BrownDwarfs 1 , judging by the concentrations of hot air. Ms ArundhatiRoy of AID, Dr Sandeep Pandey of ASHA, Prof. Praful Bidwai. Arepeat of their meeting at the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) event to ‘honour’ fallen Naxalite terrorists in December2002. Remember the Naxalites, who relieved Bengali, Malayali andTelugu farmers of their heads and left them on their doorsteps astheir version of ‘class war’ in the 1970s? The latest mutation ofNaxalite terror is the ‘People’s War Group’, which has announced‘death sentences’ on the chief ministers of three Indian States, witha public website declaring these, along with their full support ofthe communist terrorists in the Philippines. Prof. Bidwai, true tohis Red Giant status, decried the democratic election in Gujarat,declaring how the opinions of his editors and himself were clearly

108 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundssuperior to those of the stupid voters of India. The media campaignwas planned with the usual ‘meticulous preparation’. Loyal mediapersons were honoured, just like those fallen Naxalite comrades,for hatchet-services rendered. Others were encouraged to emulatethem, and did so with suitably truth-immune pieces. They gushedpraise about the attendees, who can hardly be accused of doing aday’s honest work amongst the lot of them, while haughtilydismissing a Bay area trauma surgeon, who saves more lives inan average day than most of us will do in a lifetime, as a ‘memberof Hindu right-wing groups’ – because he gave his honest opinion.5. A Nasty Surprise for the American LashkarBut just as this august gathering was getting underway, USfederal prosecutors announced, with a heartless lack of timing,the grand jury indictment of certain worthies on the East Coast.As members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba. ‘Army of The Pure’. Soundsfamiliar? Like ‘Khalistan’ and ‘Pakistan’ are both ‘Lands of ThePure’? Headquarters: Muridke, near Lahore. Bank account fordonations (advertised on a US website for years): Habib Bank,Lahore. Recent website owner address: inside a Pakistan Armycompound in Karachi. Example of the charges: ‘Masoud Khan, aMaryland man who was indicted, had a document titled “TheTerrorist’s Handbook”, with instructions on how to manufactureand use explosives and chemicals as weapons, as well as aphotograph of F.B.I. headquarters in Washington.’We don’t have to use any imagination at all to see what thoseindictments say. There is a website where you can read it all inwords simple and pure: http://www.findlaw.com: ‘It was furtherpart of the conspiracy that the defendants and their conspiratorsgathered in private homes and in the Dar al Arqam Islamic Centerin Falls Church, Virginia, to hear lectures on the righteousness ofviolent jihad in Kashmir, Chechnya, and other places around theworld, and to watch videotapes of Mujaheddin engaged in jihadin such locations.’Let us take a moment to remind ourselves about the Lashkare-Toiba.They are as much against America as against India. Sickokillers and sex-offenders, who kill babies for fun, and play soccerwith the severed heads of Indian schoolgirls – Indian Muslim

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 109schoolgirls. They machinegun laborers and pilgrims and babiesin their mothers’ arms, and they set fire to a tortured Indian Muslimwoman, then extinguished the flames so that she would take thelongest time dying in pain. They bragged about massacring theentire male population of the Sikh village of Chittisinghpura –incidentally, deflating that other Star of the Indian Media, PankajMishra, who had already earned his pieces of silver for slanderingthe Indian police and army units in the area as murderers – withnary a piece of evidence, of course. Akhila Raman of the ‘Friendsof South Asia’ (more on this later) staked her claim for the PankajMishra Booby Prize for 2003, hyperventilating in the Lahore DailyTimes with similarly baseless slander against ‘Indian Renegades’(translation: those who are not on the side of those Muridke gents)for massacring Hindus at Nadimarg – only to be deflated by thedying declaration of the L-e-T terrorist who headed the massacregang.Praveen Swamy gave some chilling statistics in 2000: For everythree Pakistani terrorists killed in Jammu and Kashmir, one Indiansoldier or policeman also dies. Plus two Indian civilians.‘Indigenous insurgency’, if any ever occurred in Jammu andKashmir, died decades ago when the Jammu-Kashmir LiberationFront sought refuge in India against Pakistani perfidy. The Pakistanipractice of ‘conscripting’ (kidnapping) Kashmiri boys into PoKand sending them at L-e-T gunpoint into India drove part ofthe Hizb-ul-Mujaheddin to also quit in the late 90s - but the L-e-T just kept on killing. The point is that most of the victims of the L-e-T are Indian Muslims—with Sikhs and Hindus added for good‘secular’ measure. In 1989, ‘indigenous Kashmiris’ might havebought the Pakistani con as they posted notes taunting their Hinduneighbours to ‘run away for your lives, but leave your young daughtersbehind’, but those days are long over – the primary victims ofPakistani terrorism have been Indian Muslims. Tens of thousands.6. The IMC and the LashkarTo put it mildly, this is serious. I don’t think people whofund and train the L-e-T or Khalistan terrorists should be toleratedin society. They have the blood of tens of thousands of mycompatriots on their hands. I tried to see how the IMC was

110 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsconnected to the L-e-T. And let me write here, clearly, that I donot find any direct connection between the IMC and those whotrained or funded the L-e-T. I find no evidence, you see. Shouldthis be surprising – why would the Indian Muslim Council in theUS, composed of literate, educated people, be stupid enough tofund and train the #1 killer of Indian Muslims?But it is surprising, given the abysmal record of the IMC.Havildar Abdul Hamid was my childhood hero of the 1965 war,awarded the Param Vir Chakra (posthumous) – India’s highestaward for heroism in battle – destroying at least two (I prefer tobelieve the seven reported then) of Pakistan’s Patton tanks in thebattle of Khemkaran. That battle turned Ayub Khan’s ‘Dilli Chalo’Surprise Strike Corps into portoilets for Indian city parks.Havildar Abdul Hamid sacrificed his life to defend the rightof the Chief Spokesman of the IMC, among others, to get a worldclassengineering education, subsidised by the impoverished Indiantaxpayer at a time when my parents and grandparents often wenthungry. He was one of a privileged 1000 out of maybe a hundredthousand qualified applicants to the IITs. An opportunity whichhe, according to an admirer, dismisses with ‘even before he startedcollege, (he) said he instinctively knew he had to leave India’ justas his organisation dismisses India’s record of electing Presidentsbased on individual merit, and just as he cited his admiration forthe Taliban and for Pakistani dictator Musharraf over our electedPrime Minister Vajpayee.As for the report of the L-e-T recruiting Indian expatriatesin the Middle East – others can decide if it is connected to IMC’sblatant solicitation of Arab help to attack India.Other links give no reason to be sanguine. This IMC leadershipinvited a Khalistani speaker to their First Annual Convention. Aclear, blatant link to a declared foreign terrorist organisation thathas murdered at least 44 American citizens, including the babieson AI 182.The Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has beentied to terror, with several national-level officials of CAIR arrested,deported or stopped at ports of entry, based on alleged terroristties. One is a Saudi alleged to be a paymaster for the 9/11 terrorists.The CIIE which runs the Dar-al-Arqam center, located not far from

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 111the IMC’s Maryland leaders, has of course denied that any terroristtraining or indoctrination occurred, but certain ‘distinguishedlecturers on Islamic philosophy’ have since had mysterious fallingsoutwith the CIIE. The SIMI, banned as a terrorist group in India,has been linked to bombings in Mumbai – and to the L-e-T. Wefind at least one self-proclaimed SIMI founder, Dr MohammadAhmadullah Siddiqi, 2 sponsored by senior IMC leadership—andmaybe some among that ‘South Asian Faculty’ group which‘endorses’ FOIL’s lies.When this was first written, 11 of the arrested worthies inVirginia and Maryland had already pleaded guilty to training withautomatic weapons and explosives in Pakistan with the Lashkar-e-Toiba. To kill you and me and our loved ones and our friends. SeePrem Panicker’s article for more details of who was behind them. 3Wait! Isn’t that proof that FOIL and IMC are tied to theLashkar-e-Toiba terrorists? By the IMC’s own standards of honestyand logic, and by those of the FOIL’s ‘faculty’, we could say, “sure!”But hey, adults are supposed to have better standards.7. Blame-shifting: IMC StyleThe IMC made some token attempts to re-enter civilisedsociety. Following the Dar-al-Arqam arrests and the convictionof a ‘charitable’ Islamic AK-47 supplier, they published an ‘apology’for declaring on a web page (for over a year) that all Hindu templesshould be closed down as terrorist-training and fundraising sites.Sort-of like their ‘condemnation’ of the Godhra atrocity, but witha Musharraf-type gesture of ‘400%’ credibility. They also posteda webpage soliciting donations to help the Indian student whowas hospitalised after a hate attack.And Mr Kaleem Kawaja of the IMC does his trademarksuperficial soul-searching in ‘India Abroad’, blaming thecommunity he represents for their perceived image problems: ‘TheIndian Muslim intelligentsia…should be more vocal in condemningthe terrible happenings, in confronting and isolating the fewextremists in their community’. Toba! Toba! Brave words indeed!Perhaps someone should kindly provide a mirror to help him searchfor the real problem—the abysmal standards of IMC leadership.Apparently someone did, figuratively speaking. 4

112 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds8. Ethics – U.Chicago StyleFOIL’s latest clue-challenged recruit takes pains to informus that an article full of gratuitous hardcore pornography waswritten by herself as a ‘professor’ of ethics at the University ofChicago (not to be confused with the more reputable Universityof Illinois). This worthy comes out with this new twist on the IMCversion of the Godhra terrorist attack: ‘At least one Muslim vendorwas beaten up when he refused to say “Jai Sri Ram” [“Hail Ram”],and a young Muslim girl narrowly escaped forcible abduction.As the train left the station, stones were thrown at it, apparentlyby Muslims. Fifteen minutes later, one car of the train erupted inflames.’Pankaj Mishra contributed his own investigative deductionto this. According to him, ‘forensic investigations by a Mumbailab have concluded that the fire started from inside the train’ –and that’s an amazing discovery! In other words, if someone locksyou inside a steel cage and throws stones to break the glasswindows, pours petrol inside and tosses in the odd burning rag,it’s really your fault for ‘starting the fire inside’ and burning yourselfto death.So, the IMC/FOIL/University of Chicago contention is thatin the 3 minutes that the Sabarmati Express halts at Godhra stationat 7 am on a winter morning – the innocent, chivalrous terroriststhere, in righteous indignation at the passenger-fascists beatingup a tea-vendor for bravely refusing to say ‘Hail Ram!’ (yeah! at7 am!), threw stones at the train—purely to save an imaginarydamsel in distress from the clutches (or near-clutches, per aboveUniversity Chicago Ethics Professor) of the sleeping women andchildren fascists on the sleeper coach, got the fascist train stoppeda mile from the station by pulling on the fascist chain three times—where they had already assembled 1,500 buddies armed with filledpetrol cans and petrol-soaked rags and matches.And, 15 minutes later, on that peaceful winter morning, boom!Spontaneous combustion! The fascist women and children justburned themselves to death when the hot non-Ram-blessed teaspilled on the gasoline they had been carrying back from theirpilgrimage, even as the chivalrous terrorists looked on and bravelyensured that the fire did not spread, by keeping the burning fascist

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 113women and fascist babies locked safely inside the fascist steelcarriage. Wow! It does take a Star of the Indian Media, or aUniversity of Chicago Ethics Professor or an IMC leader to comeup with these doozies, doesn’t it?FOIL should consider recruiting some of these Godhraterrorists, who could manage all that inside of 3 minutes. At leastthey are a lot smarter than FOIL’s faculty—and hey, there’s notmuch to choose about ethics, honesty or level of civilisation amongstany of them.9. What the Well-Dressed Terrorist WearsThe twisted version of the Godhra atrocity parroted by FOIL,the Chicago Ethics Expert and Pankaj Mishra, is another clearpointer to FOIL and IMC reading off the same script composedin unmistakable style. Vintage Rashid Quereshi/Musharraf/HafeezSaeed. As Prem Panicker implies, it will look you in the eye andtell you that the sun rises in the West, that Pakistan won the 1971and Kargil wars and only provides ‘moral support’ to the Lashkare-Toiba—whichof course doesn’t exist - but can be closed down‘next day’ anytime India ‘negotiates’ with the Terrorist Slum ofPakistan.The latest L-e-T campaign in the US is a series of ‘KashmirForum’ events with a slide show prepared by Ms Raman of FOSA.Raman’s name appeared as the website owner for the Sabrang/FOIL/FOSA ‘Stop Funding’ Hate Campaign, including their illadvisedattempt to con voters. 5From an attendee at the first Forum:The audience appeared to be mixed—Kashmiri Pandits,Indians, Indian Muslims and Pakistanis. There were manyAmericans and some non-Indian Asians... Couple of Panditsdid object to the make up of the panel and asked for sometime to speak. They were given two minutes each...She (AkhilaRaman) had a slide that depicted a dead body of a Kashmirithat was being pulled away by India on one side and Pakistanon the other (thus portraying that the cause of Kashmiris wasbeing hijacked by both India and Pakistan). What wasdisturbing on that slide was that India was portrayed by a

114 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsHindu Sadhu while Pakistan was portrayed by a well-dressedgentleman (in pant, shirt and tie).I do not presume to dispute Ms Raman’s knowledge of nattilydressedISI agents, but I seem to remember reading that it wasPandit Jawaharlal Nehru (a ‘saffrontva’, no doubt?) who orderedIndian troops airlifted in to defend Jammu-Kashmir and kill thePakistani sex-offenders invading it in 1948. Ms Raman’s selfdescriptionappears to have morphed from ‘Software Consultant’in Dec. 2002 to the vastly more impressive ‘Researcher On theKashmir Conflict’ (‘Hateware Consultant’?) today, indicating thefunding trends, one supposes…10. Dollars and BlessingsHere’s what Raman’s favourite newspaper, the Lahore DailyTimes had to say about their ‘Kashmir—Beyond the Blame Game’conference in Washington, DC:The only thing international about the conference was that itwas held in Washington, but its principal audience appearedto be the establishment in Pakistan, which obviously hadaccorded its full blessings to the event..… no word wasavailable as to the costs of the exercise and which agency,organisation or individual had defrayed them…Thepatronising hand of the lone state agency which in recent yearshas taken almost sole responsibility for Kashmir, was muchin evidence. A member of the Pakistani national legislaturesaid that a certain outfit in Islamabad had cleared the list ofthose invited to speak. The list of invitees from Pakistanremained confined to those who were expected to representthe official line or the line of the day.The attendees included Dr Ayub Thakur, London-based‘Kashmiri activist’ about whom one might find much more in theIndian media related to terrorist funding. From the India Tribunecomes this different view of continued ISI sponsorship.Summarising ISI directives to the ‘All-Party Hurriyat Conference’,a secessionist outfit in Kashmir:

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 115Set up APHC offices abroad to give high profile to the APHCand internationalise the Kashmir issue in a more effectivemanner. The ISI even identified the prospective foreign officesof APHC and offered its financial and logistic support for thepurpose. It suggested Ghulam Nabi Fai’s office of KashmirAmerican Council in the USA and Ayub Thakur’s office ofhis NGO Mercy International in UK as some of the foreignaddresses.Here’s what the ISI themselves have to say about the ‘Kashmir’gang in the US. The South Asia Tribune, quoting Colonel ShujaKhanzada, self-declared ISI operative posted to the PakistanEmbassy in Washington, talking about a visit by Opposition LeaderBenazir Bhutto in 1993-94: ‘Then she came to Washington, metpeople. She met the CIA people. Khalid Hasan (journalist) wasthere, Zaidi (journalist) was there. Dr Fai (Kashmiri lobbyist) wasthere … I told Dr Fai to step up his campaign so that they don’tget the impression that you are involved in the same issue….’ Thesereports indicate that Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai takes his orders directlyfrom the Pakistani ISI. The South Asia Tribune is considered theclosest thing to a free Pakistani-American media outlet.11. The Lansing CircleNow let’s see a curious circle of events and facts. In November2002, Dan Pero of the Lansing, Michigan-based SterlingInternational Consulting announced that Musharraf’s dictatorshipwas giving his firm $55,000/month to ‘cleanse the news aboutPakistan’. A web link on this story says: ‘The PR firm is to findPakistani-Americans willing to speak out on behalf of Pakistan.Those “message surrogates” will be given talking points and mediatraining by SICC.’ Well, they certainly seem to have done so. Wecan all see a huge increase in the wealth available to the anti-Indiacampaign, with all the ‘Kashmir Conference’ and ‘Beyond the BlameGame’ ISI propaganda, plus all the free access to the Pakistanimedia for FOIL/FOSA luminaries. Ms Nirmala Deshpande thenvisited the US for the first time—and was painted as THE leadingexpert on Gandhiji—who died when she was barely eighteen. Shehas apparently made a couple of visits to Pakistan in the recent

116 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundspast. The chief sponsor of her tour is the Lansing, Michigan-based“Non-Resident Indians for a Secular and Harmonious India—(NRI-SAHI)”.NRI-SAHI shares web space with the (surprise!) AkhilaRaman/Shalini Gera - sponsored ‘Ektaonline’. Ms Gera is a coauthorof the infantile “91-page Report Produced from 5 years ofMeticulous Research” where they tried to destroy the Indian-American charitable organisation through baseless slander. NRI-SAHI is also an avatar of Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment,which happens to be based in—you guessed it—East Lansing,Michigan. The Center is in the forefront of many activities/mailinglists that are circulated by Raman, Angana Chatterji of theOrwellian-named California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS),and Kawaja. For example, they protested visits to the US by (elected)Indian leaders, but of course remained speechless during Gen.Musharraf’s visit to Camp David. Sterling International providesa wide array of speakers for all occasions. Among its featuredspeakers is Arun Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma and a closeassociate of Ms Nirmala Deshpande. Mr Kaleem Kawaja of theblatantly sectarian IMC, an ardent defender of the Taliban andGeneral Musharraf in articles and letters to the media, who wantsus to believe that he is a ‘secular and harmonious Indian’ andtough critic of the Indian Muslim community, was the chiefcoordinator of a Deshpande tour.Why is geographic proximity of these organisations and theirfunding sources relevant in the age of the Internet, Al Qaeda andthe Patriot Act? I’ll leave that one to the reader. And where’s Dr. BijuMathew, the chief spokesman of FOIL? Last heard, he was sendingout a ‘sample letter’ to the President of Columbia Universityprotesting the invitation to Prime Minister Vajpayee, initiator ofthe peace process with Pakistan—the man who has tried time andtime again to put insaniyat over insanity in dealing with the massmurderers in Pakistan. I don’t think Mathew sent any such letterprotesting the visit of dictator Musharraf. Understandable, sincethe Pakistan Embassy or CPI (Marxist) People’s Democracy websitesprobably did not have a sample letter for that.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 11712. The Matrix of LosersSo, to summarise the obvious: FOIL, FOSA, IMC andFIACONA have joined hands with the Pakistani junta to attackIndia. Having proved their ‘credentials’ with their tears forNaxalite-terrorist corpses, but perhaps smarting from their Kargillikeblunder in trying to attack Indian orphans, leprosy patientsand tribal kids, they appear to have graduated to the more lucrativeoccupation of ‘Kashmir researchers’.Even Terence Hill’s ‘Wild Bunch’, as small in number as theywere, needed a good deal of funding to make a noise—and we’retalking about distinguished ‘Kashmir researchers’ and Stars of theIndian Media, spending their high-priced hate-time here. There’smassive funding behind their efforts—it’s obvious from the budgets forthe IMC Annual Convention, the ‘Kashmir-Beyond the BlameGame’ event, and the more recent road shows and seminars runby FOIL, FOSA and IMC/NRI-SAHI.Is the Lashkar-e-Pinocchio sponsored by the Pakistani terroristenterprise, the murderers of Daniel Pearl and tens of thousandsof our fellow citizens, and probable organisers of the 9/11 terroristatrocity? In their ‘meticulously-researched report’, which the wholeFOIL, FOSA and IMC/NRI-SAHI gang endorsed, they condemnedIndian-Americans for helping the New York firefighters’ families bereavedin the 9/11 attack. They cited that as ‘evidence’ of anti-Muslimsentiment! Does this blighted gang deserve to be judged on THEIRstandards of ‘evidence’, or of ours?Buried in the news on Sep. 28, 2003 was the end of anotherIndian family’s dreams and lives:A group of four militants came to the house of one SainHussain around 10.30 pm (IST) yesterday. One of the militantsforced his entry inside and opened indiscriminate fire on thefamily killing four people on the spot and injuring another.The dead have been identified as three brothers—KhadimHussain, Munir Hussain, Mohammad Hussain—and a twoyear-oldchild Saddam Hussain. In the past too, terroristshave killed infants when they believe they were targeting policeinformers.

118 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsIn other words, these brave Indian Muslims died because theydared to do their duty as citizens of India. And two-year-oldSaddam died—why did he die, O ‘Kashmir researchers’? How many‘bullet points’ on that ISI-approved powerpoint presentation didhis little life buy?13. Reason for HopePerhaps, the IMC netas, being old enough, will understandwithout further explanation why many Indians view their activitieswith utter disgust. It has nothing to do with ‘Indian Muslims’ vs‘Indian Hindus’—I wish I could begin to imagine half the braveryof people like Abdul Hamid and Sain Hussain. Perhaps the officialspotlight on the Lashkar-e-Toiba, CAIR, CIIE, SIMI, the AmericanMuslim Council (AMC) and the Khalistan airline terrorism trialin Canada, may induce some introspection. On the wisdom, if notthe morality, of being sycophantic mouthpieces for the primemurderers of Indian Muslims—the Pakistani terrorist groups, theirdictator and his army. A good start would be to cleanse theleadership ranks of the Pinocchios who blame the community fortheir own well-deserved notoriety, and the would-be Attas playingwith paintball guns—and consider if an outfit called ‘IMC-USA’as opposed to just ‘IC-USA’ is relevant to 21 st century America.At least get spokespersons possessed of better standards—get theorganisation out of their sewer dalliances with habitual liars andterrorists. In the interests of Truth in Advertising, they couldconsider changing their name to PMC-USA—though my sense isthat the namak-haraam won’t find much respect there either. Ihope the FBI does not prove me wrong about the absence of IMC/L-e-T links—but don’t take my word for it. Do monitor http://www.findlaw.com.As for FOIL, FOSA, their South Asia and Religion and EthicsFaculty, the Khalistanis and such other losers, they are easy tounderstand as a ‘Hateware Consultants for Hire’ service. As CharlesBronson said in ‘Telefon’: ‘Everyone should do what they do best.’Notes1. Stars in a state of decay. Respectively, one whose gravity andsubstance is too low to hold itself together, and hence gets bloated,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 119and one which is collapsing under its own excessive (but spent)weight as its nuclear fires go out, but is too small to re-ignite.2. http://bocs.hu/index.php?&1=fdk/minden.php?d=1823. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/26prem.htm4. Majid Farida, “A Deception Named ‘The Need for Introspection’ ”,http://bangladesh-web.com/news/ sep/24/d24092003.htm#A1.5. “Anonymous Einsteins try to mislead LetIndiaDevelop petitionsigners”, http://www.geocities.com/ charcha_2000/ essays/cyber_flimflam.html.

6THE OXYMORON CALLED AIDArvind KumarAmong the Indian organizations in the US that further theirpolitical agenda despite calling themselves charity groups, thebiggest, the richest, the most widespread, and the most dangerousis an organization that calls itself Association for India’sDevelopment (AID). It is this group that has spread its tentaclesfar and wide, and has entangled itself with many anti-Indian forces,some of which are connected to Pakistan and to terrorist groupslike the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). AID’s façadestarted crumbling after the website http://www.aidindia.info madeits appearance and started exposing it on the internet, a websitethat is startling for its content as well as the meticulous mannerin which it has documented AID’s shenanigans.1. Mode of operationAID began in 1991 and has infested several American campusessince then. It recruits its members from the crop of new studentswho arrive from India every year. The modus operandi, accordingto those who initially fell for its claims, is to pick up newly-arrivedstudents from the airport and help them settle down during thefirst week in the new country. Then, the AID volunteers talk ofpoverty in India and induce guilt in the minds of the students asthough they are somehow responsible for eradicating poverty inIndia. Faced with the pressure to join AID, along with such guilttrips induced by AID volunteers (who helped them out in theirfirst week in the country), the students end up volunteering for

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 121AID and contributing large sums of money.AID does not inform these students about its political activities,or its connections to violent Communist and nefarious groups suchas the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), anorganization that has been linked to the jihadi outfit Hezbollah.By the time they discover this angle and, shell-shocked, leave AID,it is too late for them to get back their donations. That its membersdesert AID in large numbers on discovering the truth never mattersmuch to AID because there are hundreds of new students arrivingevery year on whom the cycle can be repeated. AID brazenlycontinues to work with dubious groups.2. AID: Allah for India’s Destruction. Is it connected to ISI?Apart from CAIR, a few of the groups that AID associatesitself with are Asha for Education (ASHA), Democratic YouthFederation of India (DYFI, the youth wing of the Communist Partyof India - Marxist), and Friends of South Asia (FOSA). Each ofthese organizations has dubious credentials and many of thevolunteers of organizations like ASHA and FOSA are also volunteersfor AID. In many cases, the same group of people is behind multipleorganizations with pompous-sounding names, and uses them asmoney-generating schemes. Thus it comes as no surprise to knowthat Anu Mandavilli, a spokesperson for FOSA, is also an editorof AID’s monthly newsletter.FOSA, an organization that AID closely works with, wasstarted by a fanatic Muslim Pakistani named Ali Hasan Cemendtaur.The website of the organization is still owned and controlled byCemendtaur. In May 2005, FOSA organized a so-called ‘peace march’in San Francisco. It was attended by the same handful of volunteerswho work for many of the organizations listed above, and one ofthe banners at the event read, ‘ALLAH WILL DESTROY THETERRORIST STATE OF INDIA’. A photograph from the websiteof Pakistan American Alliance, reputedly run by rabid Muslimfundamentalists, shows that every banner at the event is an anti-India statement. Thus, FOSA fits in with the classic mould of theorganizations created by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)Recently, FOSA also roped in a group called the Federationof Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA) to act against Indians

122 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsin the California Textbook Controversy. In July 2003, The Timesof India reported that FeTNA was a front organization for theterrorist group LTTE. 1 In August 2006, Nachimuthu Socrates, aformer director of FeTNA, was arrested by the American authoritiesfor supporting LTTE. He was charged with plotting to buy surfaceto-airmissiles and bribe US officials to get LTTE removed fromthe list of terrorist groups. According to CNN:Eight men have been charged with plotting to buy surfaceto-airmissiles for Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels, U.S. federalprosecutors have announced. The men also are accused ofplotting to bribe U.S. State Department officials into removingthe Tamil Tiger group from a list of terrorist organizationsand of trying to obtain classified information. 2Another link that AID maintains is with Islamicfundamentalists in USA. It has co-sponsored events with CAIR,and works very closely with an Indian Muslim fundamentalist inUSA named Kaleem Kawaja, who is the author of an article titled‘Brother, can you spare a tear for Taliban’.3. Project Red Terror – The AID Money TrailIt is not merely the list of allies of AID, but also the mannerin which AID uses the money it collects that is a cause for concern.A careful look at the money trail of AID illustrates the functioningof the organization, and throws light on other organizations thatare used to funnel money collected by AID. These organizationscoordinate their fundraising activities and shadow their proceedsby passing money through multiple accounts all controlled by likemindedgroups. One such organization that has been funded byAID is called Tamil Nadu Science Forum (TNSF). TNSF—whichactively works with DYFI—listed Balaji Sampath, who is also afounder of AID, as its primary contact. 3 Thus, while Balaji Sampath’sAID collects money in America, Balaji Sampath receives moneyin India, ostensibly on behalf of TNSF!One project that TNSF worked on involved libraries in TamilNadu. A document from TNSF revealed that it would ‘as a policy’impose a pre-condition on the libraries that they support DYFI

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 123before receiving any funds. While this document disappeared fromAID’s website, it surfaced on http://www.aidindia.info, a websitethat closely monitors AID and exposes its activities.AID has also directly worked with DYFI. In early 2005, adocument on AID’s website pointed out that they were workingwith DYFI and had sent funds to them. After this document resultedin a furor, AID surreptitiously removed the references to DYFI.However, http://www.aidindia.info has archived the originalwebpage. 4AID is very secretive about its accounts and, despite tall claimsof being open about its funds, many pages that contain descriptionsof its projects are off-limits to its donors and the general public.Attempts to look at the details of funds on the organization’s websitelead to a message that says, ‘You are not authorized to read thispage !’ However, from what is still available to the public on AID’swebsite, it is clear that the largest sums of money are for Communistorganizations. A single ‘project’ sanctioned $33,000 to BalajiSampath’s TNSF! 5AID has also contributed money for a political trip of Naxalitesympathizer and ASHA founder Sandeep Pandey. Sandeep Pandey,who openly supports Naxalites, went on a trip to Pakistan. Tounderstand how groups like AID use the money collected fromsincere donors, one just has to look at the budget for that trip. 6Budget for the India leg of the Peace MarchPoster and Publicity Material (in 4 languages - Hindi, Punjabi,Urdu and English) Rs.2,00,000Fuel for 2 vehicles Rs.1,00,000Travel (Indian leg of the march) Rs.2,50,000T l phone/Fax/E-mail Rs.50,000Inaugural Programme Rs.1,00,000Material with yatra (microphone,solar light) Rs.30,000Miscellaneous Rs.1,00,000TOTAL Rs.8,30,000In addition, two multi-utility vehicles and one laptop+printer,value not stated and asked for in kind.

124 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds4. The Self-Welfare OrganizationDonating money to themselves in the guise of donating tocharity groups is not the only way that donors’ money is misusedby AID. AID’s honchos have appointed themselves Saathis and JeevanSaathis, posts in AID that make them eligible to receive thousandsof dollars every year for their personal expenses. Thus, sinceredonors who believe that they are helping poor people in India makea terrible mistake, as money that is raised is used for the welfareof AID’s leaders.AID’s leaders have not missed any opportunity to availthemselves of material gains. Aravinda Pillalamarri, wife of AID’sfounder Ravi Kuchimanchi, has been declared an AID Jeevan Saathimaking her eligible to receive hefty amounts of money from AID.Aravinda also flew at AID’s expense to the US and had her babythere. The baby is eligible for American citizenship and will get alot of American taxpayer-funded benefits from the government.Recently, Ravi Kuchimanchi was involved in protesting thesetting up of a Japanese car company in West Bengal. That AID’sposition benefits China while harming common Indians has notgone unnoticed.AID’s ability to use tragedies to collect money was illustratedduring the tsunami of Dec. 2004 that devastated a number of familiesliving on the coastline of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Manyvolunteers openly salivated at using the disaster to collect fundsin the name of relief for those affected by the tsunami. Later thatyear, Biswanath Gouda, an important AID leader, echoed this greedwhen he wrote in an email:Seems a wonderful year to be busy with community serviceand lot of opportunities to help people in need. We had anearly start with Tsunami, then the rains in Mumbai and floodsin AP, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita which kept everyone inUS busy and now the present earthquakes in Northern partsof India. How blessed are we to have hands filled with suchgreat opportunities.5. Lobbying for International AwardsThose who work with AID and its sister organizations alsoseem to be experts in getting prizes from international groups. Onesuch group that has awarded its prize to several anti-Indian

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 125Communists in the recent past is the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation.It is well-known that many of those running various NGOs lobbyfor such prizes and it is impossible to be awarded such prizeswithout applying or lobbying for them.A case that illustrates this point is a prize that was awardedby the Aga Khan Foundation to one Sanjit ‘Bunker’ Roy, whoclaimed to have built rainwater harvesting structures with the helpof nonliterates. However, after investigations by The Week revealedthat he had hired a professional architect named Neehar Raina todo the job, the Aga Khan Foundation changed its citation and ashamefaced Roy ended up returning his prize. ‘Bunker’ Roy’s wife,Aruna Roy, is a Maoist and has worked with AID. Like many ofthose closely connected with AID, she too has been awarded aprize by the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation.6. ConclusionIndulging in political activism in the garb of charity violatesthe laws in both USA and India. American laws explicitly forbidtax-exemptions on donations to Communist organizations. 7 AIDcan be booked by the American authorities for siphoning moneyto Communist groups like TNSF while claiming tax-exempt status.Indian laws clearly forbid foreign funding of political activities.Thus, AID can be booked by Indian authorities for violating thislaw. Hobnobbing with fronts of terrorist groups also makes itdangerous for donors of AID. Those who are approached by AIDfor donations should be careful about getting into trouble withthe law by donating to a group that misuses its funds.Notes1. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/55880.cms2. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/21/srilanka.terror/index.html3. http://www.aidprojects.org/ngos-edit.aspx?cmd=0&login=guest&id=734. http://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/filedoc.html5. http://www.aidprojects.org/projects.asp?login=guest&pg=0&stxt=&id=128&rcmd=&all=0&sgrp=&col=8&ssort=ASC6. http://www.geocities.com/aid_india_info/IndoPakPeaceMarch_FundingRequest.pdf7. Publication 526, Internal Revenue Service, http://www.irs.gov/publications/p526/ar02.html#d0e1255

7SCORING AGAINST PAGANISM:Untangling the ManderwebKrishen Kak“O what a tangled web we weave when first we practise todeceive” – Walter Scott (Marmion, 6.532-533)“But my how we improve the score, as we practise more andmore”– John Henderson (billmon.org/archives/ 000172.html)1. On representative characterisationOn March 20, 2002, The Times of India published on its centrepagea piece titled ‘Hindustan Hamara’ that at once propelled itsauthor Harsh Mander into the very front rank of our country’sconscience-keepers. Mr Mander’s claims about the communalviolence that earlier that year had rocked Gujarat (after a Muslimmob incinerated 58 Hindu children, women and men in a trainleaving Godhra station) acquired unimpeachable authority becausehe made them as a senior member of the elite Indian AdministrativeService (IAS), and ‘Hindustan Hamara’ was rapidly broadcast overthe USA, the UK and the Darul Islam as an eye-witness accountof the post-Godhra violence in Gujarat.Mr Mander then himself personally followed his account tothe West (expenses paid mainly by Islamic and Christianorganisations) and waxed in choking eloquence—he imitates themanner of the late MK Gandhi - his ‘anguish’ for the Muslims(and Muslims only) who’d died. Subsequently, and more than once,he declared he’d resigned from the IAS on moral grounds, becauseof his ‘anguish’ at the communal violence, and to separate himself

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 127from an administration that he declared had sponsored the violenceagainst Muslims. The national English-language Nehruvian-secularmedia made a hero of him, he was lionised especially on Muslimwebsites, Muslim organisations hosted and sponsored him allover the USA, and he publicly declared - over the BBC—his Muslimselectivebias.Figures in the thousands of Muslims killed were bandied about(even from a United Nations office in Delhi), together with theunrestrained use of words such as ‘pogrom’, ‘genocide’ and‘communal fascism’, and the mainstream English-language mediain India promoted Mr Mander as a man of conscience, principles,and secularism.This polemical essay 1 establishes that Mr Mander was andis none of the three. Mr Mander is a cynical, coldly calculating,amoral, self-aggrandizing careerist, consciously using and allowinghimself to be used by anti-India and anti-Hindu forces. Hiscountry – the ‘Hindustan Hamara’ that he publicly declared nolonger for him is pride of place – is merely an expedience tobadmouth as he strives to seek further recognition from those partsof the world for which his heart beats and his pocket stretches –the USA, the UK, and the Darul Islam.***********For one, his anguished conscience at the post-Godhra Gujaratviolence and his moral outrage that led him to proclaim hisresignation from the IAS is a deliberate self-serving lie.For another, the politico-communal agenda of the British NGOhe furthered in India was revealed. Weeks, months and years afterthe reality of Mr Mander was made public, not one fact againsthim has been publicly repudiated by anyone. Instead, significantconnections have been uncovered amongst Mander, the BritishNGO, the British government, Indian governments, Indian NGOs,1This polemic is based on a number of my articles, together with thecitations in them, published on the web from 2002 onwards. Its mainsources are the “ ‘Hindustan Hamara’: Big People and Double Standards”four-part series together with “ActionAid discovers Kashmir in Delhi!”on http://esamskriti.com and “Proselytisation in India: A pagan’sperspective” and Vicharamala on http://www.vigilonline.com. See alsothe Notes at the end here.

128 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsand the Indian Administrative Service, so much so that ActionAid found it necessary to hire one of the world’s largest brandbuildingfirms, the British PR giant Ogilvy and Mather, towhitewash itself with a huge advertising campaign.Mr Mander is what in sociology is called a ‘representativecharacter’, ‘a kind of symbol… a point of reference and focus, thatgives living expression to a way of life’. The way of life that MrMander represents, of which he is a living expression, is Nehruviansecularism and, of course, there is a powerful supporting cast ofcharacters and web of interests, all of which I call a Manderweb.Let us take a closer look now at this web at the centre of whichis its representative character.2. Harsh ManderMr Mander is a Sikh but finds it expedient to discard theidentifying Sikh name of ‘Singh’ so as to be ‘secular’. He has neverspoken up for Indian Sikhs victimised in the1984 killings and stillun-served by justice, but has no qualms serving the interests ofAmerican Sikhs determinedly dogmatising their faith.As an IAS officer, he was no different from most others, exceptthat he found favour with upper-class jholawalas and jholawalis,a constituency whose agenda he promoted and that in turnpromoted him. Within the IAS, however, there were stories of thereal reason for his frequent transfers, and the misuse of his officialposition and facilities, especially in the country’s LBS NationalAcademy of Administration where he was posted for a few years.These included awkward questions about who paid his bills whenhe travelled to and in Rajasthan, and for what mode of travel (railor road) the accounts had to show payment. Likewise, for whenhis wife accompanied him, and the source of payment for her bills.These stories gained credence because my formal queries tothe Government of India about some of them were met with totalsilence. Likewise, there was total silence to a similar formal letterto the Government of Chhattisgarh (to the IAS cadre of whichMander belonged).Mr Mander (while still in the IAS) arranged his deputationto ActionAid, the giant British multinational with a ‘subsidiary’in India, that calls itself a charity but is actually in a global children-

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 129exploitation industry. Mr Mander secured for himself exceptionallyfavourable terms, even to getting ActionAid to shift—to suit him—its national headquarters from Bangalore to New Delhi, and togiving him a salary that was partly in pounds sterling and thatwas at least 50 times the salary of its lowest-paid employee inthis country. In return, Mr Mander used his official connectionsto drop a government enquiry into ActionAid implementing acommunal agenda in India.A move to revert Mr Mander from British employ to Indiangovernment employ was strongly resisted by Mr Mander, and againhe used his IAS connections to have it dropped. Meanwhile, stillin the IAS, he declared in writing his primary loyalty not to theIndian government but to his British employer. Two years beforehe actually put in his papers from the IAS, he’d announced hewas prepared to leave his own country’s administrative serviceto serve as an agent in India the agenda of our former colonialmasters.However, the sword of reversion continued to hang overMr Mander’s head so, when he completed pensionable service inthe IAS, he put in his papers for early and voluntary retirement,claiming from the Indian government upto a million rupees inretirement benefits. The Indian government agreed, with thestipulation (well within the rules) that Mr Mander cease workingfor ActionAid. Secure in British employ, Mr Mander mooned theIndian government. He stayed on with ActionAid – on a fat Britishsalary – and continued to demand his Indian retirement benefits.His attachment to his country is clearly only to what he can mulctfrom it.***********Around this time the violence erupted in Gujarat, andMr. Mander promptly and publicly declared that in protest againstthe alleged government complicity in the violence, he was resigningfrom the IAS (implicitly thereby renouncing in the public eye hisretirement benefits, while from the government he continued todemand them).For months Mr Mander was sanctified by the English-languagemedia for his courage, his conscience, his convictions – and allthe while he LIED. He knew he was lying, ActionAid knew he

130 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundswas lying, the IAS knew he was lying, the Governments ofChhattisgarh and of India knew he was lying, but all played alongtill I exposed the lie.Then, abruptly, Mr Mander (and his supporters) stoppedtalking about his ‘resignation’ and began to use words like ‘quittingthe IAS’ - as if there is only a technical difference between aresignation and a retirement (a million rupees is a technicaldifference?). Mr Mander is now not as much in the limelight ashe became accustomed to, but his need to lie appears so pathologicalthat he declared ‘resignation’ again in The Hindu, May 14, 2005.Along the way, Mr Mander collected acclaim and awards –and what appears to be a fake PhD. Acquiring a larger-than-lifehalo, he became visiting fellow at the Nehruvian-secular JawaharlalNehru University, a visiting professor at the Nehruvian-secularJamia Millia Islamia and an advisor to JMI’s Centre for Peace andConflict Resolution. As ‘Harsh Mander, Ph.D.’, he became adjunctfaculty at the notoriously anti-Hindu California Institute of IntegralStudies—but, when asked, neither the institute nor ‘Dr’ Manderwere prepared to reveal the source and subject of his doctorate.And he had the National Terrorist Rights Commission (officiallyknown as the NHRC) as well as the Supreme Court of India trustinghim in their work.The incontrovertible fact is that Mr Mander’s public personais built on a monumental fraud. A former ActionAid seniorexecutive in an email titled ‘Look Ma! The Emperor has no clothes!’circulated in Jan. 2003 to Mander and to ActionAid offices andindividual staff all over the world, began it ‘AAI Country DirectorHarsh Mander is a liar...’Ah, and some of the supporting cast of this liar…...3. The Indian Administrative ServiceFirst, of course, is the government or, more appropriately inMr Mander’s case, the Indian Administrative Service. To lessermortals, ‘government’ or ‘IAS’ is much the same. The IAS isnotorious for sheltering its manipulators and shysters, as it didMr Mander and, even though it could have thrown the rulebookat him for repeated violation of the IAS conduct and disciplinerules, it preferred not to do so. Indeed, my formal protest to the

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 131Government of India over its officers working for foreigngovernments (and answerable to that foreign government ratherthan to the Indian) was not even acknowledged. But that’s theIAS for you – why should it close to itself lucrative career optionseven though such options are inimical to the national interest?Consider typical IAS support to Mander:“He is an extraordinary person with a very high commitmentto his principles,” says N.C. Saxena, former Director of theIAS Academy in Mussoorie and Secretary in the PlanningCommission. “He would risk his job for his principles. Thedecision to resign is a personal one but it is a big loss to theservice. He was the right role model for all future IAS officersas he led by example. I would have loved to have seen moreHarsh Manders in the academy.”“Harsh has been very straight and honest,” says Rajiv Talwar,a senior IAS officer in the Delhi Government and a batchmateof Harsh. “If people like him leave the service, there is needfor introspection.”‘Decision to resign’? ‘Right role model for all future IASofficers’? ‘More Harsh Manders’? ‘Honest’? Really?There is a word for ‘people like him’ – quislings.4. ActionAidThen there is ActionAid, a global ‘child-sponsorship’ businessthat is supported by the British government as a charity but isreally a tool of its foreign policy. That ActionAid CHEATS bothits donors and its beneficiaries was revealed in 1999 by independentinvestigators and is now a matter of public record. In a welldocumentedpiece, ‘The Ugly Side of Child Sponsorship’, Mr BinuThomas exposed the seamy underbelly of this prestigious ‘charity’in India – as well as Mr Mander’s initiative and complicity inexpanding in India its foreign agenda of deceit.That ActionAid has a communal agenda for our country –evidenced by its complete silence over the liquidation of Hindusin the Islamic States of Pakistan and Bangladesh (in Bangladesh,

132 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsHindus by law and in practice are ‘enemy’) – is also a matter ofpublic record. That ActionAid’s resources supported Mr Mander’snotoriously communal piece in the Times of India occasioned onlya flat denial by ActionAid – and Mr Mander himself, an open letterto him notwithstanding, never publicly denied the use of theseresources.(A complaint against ActionAid was made by me to the UKCharity Commission but, given the close inter-linkages betweenthe British government and this so-called NGO, the Commission,after a closed enquiry, giving no opportunity to the complainantto rebut ActionAid’s rejoinder, unsurprisingly parroted the samedenial.)This British NGO through its leader Mander used its enormousfinancial resources with ‘will you walk into my parlour?’temptations to connect over 300 voluntary agencies, at least oneprivate limited company and, in the Punjlish phrase, their nearsand dears. Among Mander’s nears and dears who benefited fromActionAid’s patronage are his fellow-adventurers Aruna Roy ofthe Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and the National Campaignof People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), and Shekhar Singh ofthe NCPRI, as well as Dimple and Suroor Mander, scheduled totravel to and from and for hospitality in Karachi in Sept. 2003 forattending as ‘family members’ an official ActionAid ‘culturalworkshop’ there. They were the only ‘family members’ of anyparticipant to be so privileged by ActionAid.It is not just that ActionAid is communal, with one standardfor Islam against Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India andanother for Hindus fighting back in India. It also intervenes inour country’s national politics, and its country head Manderpublicly asserted its right to do so. Note that ActionAid does thisonly in Hindu-majority India; it claims no such right in IslamicStates. Thus, ActionAid in India initiated ‘a study to examine thesocial, economic and educational conditions of Muslims…..as ameans to mobilise and encourage the general public, civil societyactivists and organisations working on issues related to the Muslimcommunity, to become more sensitised to the dismal economic,educational and social conditions of the Muslim masses.’ It feltno such urge to make a similar study of the few surviving Hindus

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 133in Pakistan and Bangladesh.Moreover, Mander declared himself under no obligation toobey the law to which ActionAid is subject regarding criticism ofa government or its policies, and he publicly affirmed the politicsof his Gujarat enterprise.Then, ActionAid cosied up to the Congress Party, nevercriticizing communal violence in which the Congress Party isimplicated—for example, the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom, with itsNewtonian defence by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi; themassive Bangladeshi Muslim illegal immigration under Congressaegis into Assam and the consequent Nellie communal carnage;and, of course, Godhra, ignored by Mander because relieving Hinduvictims is not within ActionAid’s anti-Hindu agenda for India.Yes, ActionAid was forced to briefly acknowledge the ongoing‘ethnic cleansing’ by Islam of Hindus in Kashmir. It did this notin Kashmir but in Delhi, in insulting tokenism, with its differentpolitico-communal standards for Pakistan/Bangladesh and forIndia, and witness its Rs 10,00,00,000 donor budget advertised forthe ‘5,000 families and over 2,000 children’ it announced are affectedin Gujarat as against nothing for over 10 times that numberthat fled Kashmir.ActionAid preferred not to respond to the charge that it wassanctioned about Rs 3 crores by the Congress government ofChhattisgarh while Mr Mander was still of that cadre. Nor to thecharge of Britain’s special interest in the Chhattisgarh area, aninterest revealed as far back as 1956 in the Niyogi Committee Reportabout conversions there. Barbara Harriss, a British trustee ofActionAid, in a trip arranged by ActionAid, wrote ‘A Note onDestitution’, focusing on Chhattisgarh, as a Paper for theDissemination Workshop of the NCAER/QEH/DFID Project onPoverty: Alternative Realities, 2002. Dissemination to whom andwhere? Queen Elizabeth House and the Department forInternational Development are British. Ms Harriss and ActionAidremained silent to the charge that the British government, throughDFID, had given about Rs 1.5 crores to ActionAid. You can nowunderstand why the British High Commission in New Delhi chosenot to respond to a formal representation made to it aboutActionAid’s function in India.

134 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsMr Mander, as country head of ActionAid, in an internationalforum in the USA, publicly supported Ms Sonia Gandhi’s eligibilityto ‘rule India’.For all this and more, ActionAid was rewarded with Indiantaxpayer largesse from ‘secular’ Congress governments ofRajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, and Mander was (with Teesta‘Best Fakery’ Setalvad) rewarded with the ‘secular’ Rajiv GandhiSadbhavana Award by Ms Sonia Gandhi’s Nehruvian-secular RajivGandhi Foundation.So you have a foreign agency in India, promoting a communalagenda, managed by a serving Indian government officer, openlypromoting the Congress party and its suprema Ms Sonia Gandhi,and the return to it included an award and a financial nexusbetween the foreigner and at least three Congress governmentsin our country.5. The British governmentThe British government has been supporting ActionAid sincethe early 80s and is a substantial donor to it and, indeed, to manyNGOs in other countries. ActionAid staff have been members ofofficial British delegations, and have been on deputation to DFID.ActionAid and DFID work ‘particularly closely to influence policychanges’ in key sectors in other countries through ‘strategic levelagreements…linked to strategic funding’, and in 1999 DFID donatedGBP 3 million to ActionAid. In 2000, DFID entered into a‘Partnership Programme Agreement’ with ActionAid, committingGBP 4.5 million to it during 2001-04 with an unspecified amountfor a further two years, in addition to its other grants to it.Policy changes? Strategic agreements? Strategic funding? Andmillions of pounds! Do you seriously believe all this is for charity?Does the leopard change its spots? What has been the paganexperience of British missionary-colonial rule? Tested by time, itwas one of divide-and-rule. Where is the evidence that the Britishhave had a change of heart?So, Mr Mander, for a munificent British salary in India, assistedby two other IAS officers in ActionAid, used his IAS connectionsto further that policy, till it was financially expedient for him toretire from IAS employ. Working for the British government in

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 135India, again on lucrative salaries far in excess of their IASentitlement, are other IAS officers. Understand again that the annualprofessional assessments of these officers are being written by –and, therefore, their career prospects are dependent on – their Britishemployers. Their competence is judged by how effectively theyimplement British policy for India.Mander set the Britain-supported ActionAid on a massiveexpansion spree in India, not just directly but also through link/sponsored/satellite agencies/companies, some of which areconnected to Indian state governments. In 2001-02, its officiallydeclared foreign money donated here was Rs 71.2 crores, and thereis reason for inquiry that, by creating projects under the name ofits own staff, it funneled money to favoured but non-FCRArecipients.You scratch my back, said ActionAid’s Mander to his IAScolleagues in the British government, and I’ll see that yours arescratched too. So, the British government’s IAS officers only burpedhospitably at Mander’s shenanigans – and were duly rewardedby their British employer. One went almost straight from her BritishDFID assignment here to the Commonwealth Office in the mothercountry, again on a lucrative foreign salary.Consider that DFID in January 2004 ‘supported’ aDevelopment Alternatives – PricewaterhouseCoopers ‘NationalSeminar on ‘Advocacy for Realising Rights and Removing Poverty’,focusing on ‘what can be done by the civil society to improve policyformulation and design by Government’ as part of the Britishgovernment’s ‘Poorest Areas Civil Society’, PACS, Programme forIndia that presently webs together 350 ‘civil society organisations’through ‘a large resource base’ to cover 7,000 villages.Actively involved in the seminar were the earlier quotedMander-patron NC Saxena (ex-IAS), Parivartan and ActionAid(that noted too this programme’s ‘huge resource base’). The entiretenor of the seminar was critical of the Indian government, andActionAid stated significantly that ‘Only you and I can changethe country, bring about a silent revolution in the country. PACScan initiate that so that all of us can say, we did it.’Now, ask yourself why the British government with its large/huge resource base should support and encourage criticism of our

136 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsgovernment policy and action? Why should ActionAid want tochange our country? Why should the British government agreeto match whatever resources ActionAid raises from the corporatesector in India? For example, ICICI Bank gave ActionAid Rs 3.5crores which became Rs 7 crores when the British governmentmatched it. Why should ActionAid and PricewaterhouseCooperswant a British government-supported ‘silent revolution’ in ourcountry? Why are they focusing on States most of which have astrong Christian missionary presence? Where is ‘charity’ in all this?Why are you forgetting that the last time the British involvedthemselves in ‘changing’ our country, ‘India’s share of worldincome collapsed from 22.6 per cent in 1700, almost equal toEurope’s share of 23.3 per cent at that time, to as low as 3.8 per centin 1952’?6. The English-language mainstream ‘secular’ mediaThen there is the English-language mainstream media, typifiedby The Times of India that published Mander’s bleeding-heartreport, and Karan Thapar who defended Mander.The independent and statutory Press Council ofIndia determined that Mander’s ‘Hindustan Hamara’ report ‘atseveral points reiterated rumours that were being circulated atthe relevant time. The truthfulness of the facts mentioned thereinhad not been established at any point of time till then but ShriMander had chosen to base his views and sentiments on them,and put pen to the opinion thus formed by him.’ The Councilruled that ‘it was expected of the author as a responsible servingofficer as well as of the respondent paper of repute like the Timesof India, to be more restrained and circumspect in pronouncing adenouncement of the whole system in a communally surchargedatmosphere.’ The Council admonished the Times of India for its‘indifferent and irresponsible attitude...in a matter of great publicimportance’” and felt ‘that a greater responsibility devolved onthe editor of the paper in exercising his discretion to select articlesfor publication in such a situation’.In other words, Mander LIED. He published worldwide anti-Hindu claims for which he had no basis when he made them. Hewilfully spread anti-Hindu rumours, made sweeping anti-Hindu

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 137statements that were fanciful and provocative and, notwithstandinghis subsequent claims and that of ActionAid to be working in theinterests of communal harmony, contributed only to furthercommunalise and polarise views through this and later statements.In fact, Mander and The Times of India violated almostevery instruction of the Press Council’s guidelines on the reportingof communal violence. His anti-Hindu lies gained authoritybecause he made them as an IAS officer, and their Goebbelsianrepetition and promotion by the English-language mainstream socalled‘secular’ media converted them to ‘secular’ truth.Karan Thapar, who models himself on the BBC’s TimSebastian, in the Hindustan Times lauded Mander as a nationalhero, omitting to note that Mander himself, to Sebastian inHardTalk, admitted that, when he made the Hindustan Hamaraclaim of government complicity, he had no evidence of it at all.Mander himself declared his interest was only in the Muslim victimsof communal violence.Karan Thapar also chose to remain silent to an open letteraddressed to him and circulated to the Hindustan Times and allover the web. That open letter clearly noted Mander’s prevaricationsand outright lies. But this is typical of the shrill-and-run tacticsof the Manderians. They defend him with sweeping generalisationsand vicious ad hominem attacks of the questioners, but when askedto rebut the facts brought out by these questioners, they beat asilent retreat.Indeed, not a single major paper or TV channel reported thePress Council’s exposure of Mander. Not surprisingly, in additionto The Times of India, publications like the Hindustan Times, TheTelegraph, Asian Age, Mainstream, Deccan Chronicle and RashtriyaSahara were found by the Press Council to carry reports ‘tendingto inflame communal passions’ and, let be it noted, these werepro-Muslim anti-Hindu passions.7. Aruna RoyMagsaysay awardee and ex-IAS officer Aruna Roy, selfproclaimeddefender of democracy in Gujarat (but not in Bihar)and self-proclaimed defender of ‘secular’ rights for Muslims inGujarat (but not Sikhs in Delhi, Reangs in the northeast, or Pandits

138 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsin Kashmir), with Jean Dreze and others, publicly derided ascommunalists and worse those who dared question Mander’s‘unquestioned integrity’. However, she is still silent about hisunquestionable ‘resignation’ and other lies.She herself had been caught in her lie that her Mazdoor KisanShakti Sangathan never took foreign help, being obliged to revealthat while it did not accept help in cash, it never hesitated acceptinghelp in kind—so she could travel to and all over that mecca ofour ‘secularists’, the United States, hitlerising Hindus but neverChristians or Muslims (not even the one called the Butcher ofAnantnag) since that would be biting the hands that feed her.Aruna Roy is a great one for integrity and public accountabilitybut herself cunningly evades it through a legal loophole. Sheadmitted that foreign institutional support in kind has been herpractice since the inception of her NGO. This includes supportfrom ActionAid. Its website editorially lauded her, she in turndeclared Mr Mander’s ‘integrity cannot be questioned’, and Manderresponded that her group is ‘distinguishable from other NGOs inthat it had no funding whatsoever and who chose to follow thelifestyle and standards of living of the rural folk with whom theyintended to stay’. Such mutual admiration!Mander certifies that the MKSS has ‘no funding’! He certifiesRoy’s lifestyle and standard of living as Gandhian. Yet he – andRoy – draw a most un-Gandhian distinction between acceptingforeign institutional support in kind but not in cash. For example,they won’t accept the money for their international air tickets,but they’ll accept the tickets, thank you. This is thegrossest hypocrisy. Not only does she accept unlimited foreignfunds in kind but, contrary to the public image she generates forherself in our country, she has been doing so for a long time andfrom a wide range of foreign donors. And, of course, she andMander know quite well that foreign help in kind escapesgovernment monitoring, whereas foreign help in cash requiresreporting and accounting to the Government.But funneling of FCRA donations is possible, and she closesher eyes to its illegality. Consider her MKSS-approved Lok ShikshanSansthan. It openly suggests that FCRA ‘money can be sent to’its founder-NGO Prayas or to the Roy-connected SWRC Tilonia

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 139‘and it would be transferred to our organisation’s account’.**********Roy is signatory to the ‘Decisions and Action Plan’ of the‘People’s Conference against Globalisation, 21st-23rd March 2001,New Delhi’. The convenor of this conference was one SP Shukla(also ex-IAS) and its full report appeared as a ‘special feature’ inthe April 2001 issue of ‘Liberation, the central organ of theCommunist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)’.Now, both SP Shukla and Shekhar Singh of the NCPRI aremembers of the unregistered ‘unstructured’ Right to Information:Citizens’ Forum Against Corruption, CFAC, which itself is acreation of something called Parivartan. So this Forum, the NCPRIand Parivartan were all asked for information of the people whosponsored that ‘people’s conference’ and whether the CPI (M-L)was one of the sponsors. Are you surprised that not one of themwould give the information? And yet on the CFAC are a retirednaval chief, eight retired very senior civil servants, a retired highcourt chief justice, and a serving civil servant who is also inParivartan. And they’re all concerned about ‘public accountability’.The CPI (M-L) is an avowed advocate of selective violenceand has an established record of anti-nationalism and anti-Hinduism. Associated in the work of Parivartan are Harsh Mander,Aruna Roy and Shekhar Singh. The inference is obvious.Such hypocrisy is characteristic of Nehruvian secularists.Mander, himself a Gandhi poseur, played at being Gandhi-poorfrom the security of a lavish monthly income of Rs 2 lakhs and acomfortable upscale apartment. Aruna Roy is like him and hernamesake, the more notorious Arundhati Roy who, even as shepublicly sympathised with tribal people, privately grabbed theirland for her personal use. Aruna Roy protests that a certain Stategovernment initiative was a ‘move [that] amounts to attempts atgiving away public land to private entrepreneurs at throwawayprices’ – but she never found it necessary to protest her namesake’sland-grab. Aruna Roy enjoys the security of an affluent family,affluent and influential connections, a large government-giftedproperty in Rajasthan available to her for her use and that of herfamily and friends, and a valuable apartment available to her inthe national capital. She then plays – in the manner of a Versailles

140 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsshepherdess – at being poor.Let’s have it from Ms Roy herself: ‘it is the educated and literateclass that are deeply involved in corruption. Literacy cannot removecorruption, it can be removed through ethics, and poor and illiteratepeople are more ethical in their behaviour compared to an educatedperson. We have lost morality and it is our doublespeak that isharming the nation.’Now that’s a perspicacious self-description. Right on target,Ms Roy, right on target.************Let us look at one instance of Roy doublespeaking for herforeign supper. The America-based Association for India’sDevelopment, AID, hosted her and her colleague Shankar Singh asthe keynote speakers at a conference in that part of theworld, and reported that they ‘came to Ann Arbor to talk abouttheir Freedom to Information campaign as well as the communalviolence that has devastated Gujarat....Arunaji and Shankarji alsogave heartfelt testimonials about the communal violence inGujarat....Ann Arbor was only one stop on their tour of America.They stopped in countless cities.....’Ask yourself why these two committed activists, who as aprinciple will not accept American cash for their campaign in India,need to go to ‘countless cities’ all over America at American costseeking American approbation for their domestic political cause offreedom of information. Roy publicly claimed her NGO ‘has survivedon contributions from its constituents and supporters.’ Are rich anti-India Americans and their organisations the constituency of this socalledpeople’s movement in India? Unless, of course, we note that,during this extensive and expensive American tour, these Nehruviansecularstalwarts sang heart-feelingly about post-Godhra Gujarat butare not reported to have said a word about the Hindu victims atGodhra, or of the victims of the far worse and ongoing communalviolence in Kashmir, and that this foreign Association for IndiaDevelopment listed four relief projects (with their total donor budgetof USD 84,416) directly related to the rehabilitation of Muslim victimsof communal violence in Gujarat—but not a single project for Hinduvictims of communalism in Kashmir.Roy’s duplicity was exposed by a fellow-participant at the

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 141World Social Forum in Mumbai. There Roy said, ‘When we sayanother world is possible, we are saying that we want developmentand globalisation that is people centric, that puts people first ratherthan corporations and profits.’Surely she does! Just as in her NGO she’s put ‘people’ first,and so she tells the world. But her air tickets to the USA and allher travel costs and hospitality abroad are eventually paid for byher American sponsors’ earnings from ‘corporations and profits’.This she doesn’t tell the world; fellow-participant Beena Adhikdoes: ‘The NGOs, who are flocking to WSF, have no ideology andare themselves totally dependent on foreign funding which in turncomes from multi-nationals.’But then, as the Volcker report, the Mitrokhin and Benediktovpapers, and the Quattrocchi saga reveal, Roy and her kind arealigned to a political lineage that flatters itself on its ‘crystallinehonesty’ even as it grovels for and fattens itself on anti-nationalforeign largesse.****************Roy asserts that ‘we cannot stand by and watch the failureof government and civil society, the breakdown of law and order,of democratic human values. It is a question of whether Indiandemocracy will survive at all.’No, she’s not talking about Bihar:a State that has been riven with casteism and communalismby Nehruvian secularism;a State that more than once had its high court noting a collapseof law and order;a State where the most flourishing industry was kidnappingand extortion;a State over which a corrupt Union Minister foisted his wifeas Chief Minister and later gloried in an un-Constitutional‘rabripati shasan’ foisted by a Government that Roy herselfadvised;a State that in India Today’s ‘State of the States’ 2004 and 2005ranking came at the very bottom and was described as ‘veryeffective in distributing poverty than in generating prosperity’and India’s ‘worst State’ to live in;

142 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsa State from the hopelessness of which 2,00,00,000 havemigrated;a State that Transparency International India announced in2005 is our country’s most corrupt State;a State that, according to a senior minister of the samegovernment she advised, had seen 70,000 killings, yes, seventythousand, of which 69,000 are Hindus killed, in the last 15years;and a State that, according to Rahul Gandhi, hadn’t ‘a traceof governance…no functioning government…nogovernance….a total collapse of the administrative system’and that which, according to his mother Sonia Gandhi,constitutes ‘a great tradition of healthy politics’.All these were ‘giant strides’ according to the political party,the government of which Aruna Roy is a staunch supporter. ToAruna Roy, it is enough that Bihar practised Nehruvian secularismto be a well-administered and democratic State – even if parts ofit became a ‘Pakistani mohalla’. With Roy’s membership of theNational Advisory Council, she cannot escape credit for its stateof affairs – a state of affairs so emphatically and democraticallyrejected by the Biharis themselves once they were enabled in Nov.2005 to vote freely by an Election Commission that did its duty.No, Roy is not even talking about West Bengal where thecommunists systematically rig the elections so much so that‘democracy and Bengal are two mutually exclusive concepts’.She is talking about Gujarat that, very soon after the violence,underwent a general election that not even she could say wasundemocratic; the same India Today ranked seventh amongst theStates; the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation listed at the top of its economicfreedom index; according to her own UPA Government attractsthe highest industrial investment of all States; TransparencyInternational India ranks among the least corrupt States; and IndiaToday not only ranked highest in its 2005 ‘Freedom = Prosperity’list, but declared ‘safety of life is highest in Gujarat’.*************For Roy, ‘what is also at stake are the principles which [she]believe[s] are the basis of Hinduism itself—a wisdom born out of

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 143compassion, understanding and tolerance’.Sure, so the Pandit community in Kashmir did not live bythese principles? It was not tolerant, peace-loving, law-abiding?So, where was Roy when mullahs from masjids called for theelimination of the Hindu men and the abduction of Hindu women?Why didn’t she go preach compassion, understanding and toleranceto these mullahs? Why hasn’t she still done so? Did not her IASbatchmate Wajahat Habibullah boldly and publicly admitI had been appointed Special Commissioner, Anantnag.....Alarge crowd...came to inform me that the Kashmiri Panditswere leaving Anantnag. My reply was that if they had decidedto move, there was little the State Government could do tostop them. The Pandits had reason to be afraid. They were asmall minority. Every day tapes were being played from themosques saying, “Either you support us (militants) or elsewe kill you”.....I fully acknowledge our failure... (‘KashmirConundrum’, The Times of India, Mumbai, May 20, 2002).She can go all the way to America to cry to Americans ofHindus who are not compassionate, etc., etc., but she hasn’t theguts to go to the Jammu refugee camps that are described as hellon-earthand tell the Hindu refugees there of Muslims who arenot compassionate, etc., etc. She hasn’t the guts to go to Kashmirand take on that government that is as, if not more, culpable asthe Government of Gujarat, a government that is culpable ofgenocide of a Hindu community by Islam. Ask yourself why not.***********Meanwhile, the ‘secular’ government that Roy officiallyadvised and oversaw announced in Parliament that 254 Hindusand 790 Muslims were killed in Gujarat in the post-Godhra violence.These figures remain unquestioned (and note that ‘post-Godhra’reduces the count of Hindus killed). The enormous discrepancybetween the figures in the thousands propagandised by theNehruvian secularists and the figures officially declared now bytheir own government can be understood when we realise thatthe late MK Gandhi, the founding deity of Nehruvian secularism,equated one Muslim to three non-Muslims, so 790 × 3 = thousands.

144 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsGot it? And if this is perverse mathematics, so is Nehruviansecularism perverse.Aruna Roy goes all the way to America to complain about790 Muslim deaths, but doesn’t condole a single Hindu one. Sheis ‘secular’, but she had no difficulty standing by quietly when aCongress prime minister justified deaths of 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi,and she still stands quietly by in the Congress and State-enabledongoing ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the Pandits from Kashmir – 350,000Hindu refugees of a jihad in our own country, and presumablyRoy, like Gayatri Sinha, considers this Hindu holocaust an Islamicart form.**************Roy says she is ‘democratic’, yet she lauds that dictator andmass murderer Mao Tse-tung. She had no qualms at all being partof that extra-Constitutional coterie called a National AdvisoryCouncil that oh-so-democratically rules our country, dictates to aselected prime minister and exercises power without anyaccountability. She had no qualms at all that the former head ofthis coterie has committed foreign exchange and other economicoffences. She had no qualms at all that there was with her in thisCouncil a person who, for well over a decade, is on a foreignpayroll – a huge and steady monthly income disguised as anadvisorship. To whom is he accountable?As both a ‘secularist’ and a ‘democrat’, Roy advised andoversaw, with an easy conscience:• A government led by a party accused of internationalcorruption in a United Nations report, a party that Roysupports in power;• A government that retained, without work but on the publicpayroll, a minister having greasy palms named in the samereport and named as well by the concerned Indianambassador who is from the minister’s own political party,the party that Roy supports in power;• A government that appoints and conspires and a primeminister who lies with ‘political hatchet men’ to totallydisregard ‘fairness and adherence to constitutional values’;• A government with a minister who is accused (by a chiefminister from the prime minister’s own political and Roy-

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 145supported party) of links with terrorists;• A government whose ministers are accused of and accuseeach other of corruption, mayhem and murder;• Who call arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden a mahatma;• A minister who in Parliament once called both Rajiv Gandhiand Roy’s ex-boss Sonia Gandhi ‘communal’.**************Most despicable of all is Roy’s contempt for the implicationsof the Supreme Court judgment striking down the IMDT Act. TheSupreme Court noted the failure since 1950 of the protection ofAssam and our northeast from a steadily increasing ‘trespass offoreign nationals’ so that today there are ‘millions’ of them in ourcountry in what the Court declares is ‘external aggression’ withconsequent ‘internal disturbances’, and a change in the demographyof the region reducing the pagans to a minority in our ownhomeland. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Governor of West Bengal (andan IAS batchmate of Roy), declares Bengal “is sitting on aninfiltration ‘time bomb’”. Bengal has well over a millionBangladeshi invaders.But does all this matter to Roy, self-proclaimed ‘secularist’and ‘democrat’? No. What matters to her is that the governmentshe monitored soft-pedals the issue, continues to encourage thisaggression, and continues to put these invaders on our electoralrolls so that they continue to swell the vote bank of the ‘secular’political parties she supports. This is the ‘democracy’, this is the‘secularism’ that Roy projects and protects. Her primary loyaltyis clearly to the communal fascists that are her anti-pagan extraterritorialsponsors.And then this is the Roy who expresses much concern ‘atthe imbalance of power between the elite and the marginalisedcitizen…..For the people of India, the time to hold a Governmentaccountable to its promises is now’ (India Today, April 11, 2005).Yes, Roy – both as elite and as government – should know.Aruna Roy is emphatically against ‘the acceptance of aparadigm of solutions by policy-makers without obtaining thesanction of the people. In a democratic framework, this is simplynot acceptable’. True enough. Yet Roy herself, who has never fought

146 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsa legislature election, saw no duplicity in making the Constitutionalhierarchy of a Government responsible to her and people like her ratherthan to the people-at-large who elected them.To whom is she accountable?8. Some others of the Manderweb(a) Shabnam Hashmi:Like Aruna Roy, Shabnam Hashmi of the Nehruvian-secularSAHMAT lied about foreign help in cash but not in kind, nor aboutthe Islamic interests that, for the same purpose as Roy’s, paid forher travel to and in America. She was obliged to leave SAHMATand, with Mander, KN Panikkar and Shubha Mudgal, then setup ANHAD. ANHAD described itself as an unstructuredorganisation and solicited money from the public – but refusedto reveal whether it was legally registered (and, if not, in whoseaccount the money was banked).(b) Aman Ekta Manch:Likewise again, the ActionAid-supported Aman Ekta Manchwas not a registered body and had no stated office-bearers but ithad ‘volunteers’ collecting in its name funds from the public; itapparently has a bank account but, when asked, would not saywhere; and it did not see itself accountable to the public for themoney it collected.In fact, Mander/ActionAid initiated a slew of such ‘people’smovements’ – Aman Samudaya, Aman Jathas, Aman Pathiks –that solicited or received funds from the public. But to whom werethey accountable? Mander’s Aman Biradari is claimed to be a Trustand it solicits funds from the public but nowhere in its websitedoes it reveal anything of its accounts though the site flaunts namessuch as Swami Agnivesh, Shabnam Hashmi, Asghar Ali Engineer,Jean Dreze, KN Panikkar, Mallika Sarabhai, Nafisa Ali, NanditaDas, Nirmala Deshpande and Paul Diwakar.Consider too that ‘citizen’s initiative’ called Aashray AdhikarAbhiyan, AAA, funded by ActionAid, the citizen taking thisinitiative again being ActionAid’s own Harsh Mander. AAA, saysits website, ‘seeks to increase the accountability of public institutionsto ALL citizens’ (the emphasis is theirs). It is ‘run by a core teamof 11 professionals’ who, characteristically, are not named, nor

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 147does AAA tell us citizens about its accounts other than that it isaccountable to ActionAid (and not to “ALL citizens”). Such is itsidea of accountability.(c) St. Stephen’s College:Principal Anil Wilson who declares on the college websitethat St. Stephen’s College ‘is a religious foundation’ held upActionAid’s Mander as a role model for Indian youth. Whenchallenged by another Stephanian, Wilson responded with an adhominem attack. He was then confronted with a direct questionof a specific financial nexus between this Christian religiousfoundation and ActionAid. Trapped in his lie, he retreated behinda smokescreen of evasive bluster.This religious foundation’s chaplain is the Reverend ValsonThampu who is also a member of the Delhi State MinoritiesCommission. Thampu takes up cudgels on behalf of Muslims inGujarat, but never on behalf of the Hindu minority in Kashmiror, even though asked, of the pagan Reangs (persecuted by ChristianMizos) with well over 30,000 of them refugees in Tripura. PrincipalWilson publicly blackens Thampu as being among those ‘people[who] hide behind the façade of religious status to sugar-coat theoffensiveness of their conduct and to escape the arm of law.’(d) Shubha Mudgal:Noted vocalist, she wails over two allegedly-desecratedMuslim graves in Ahmedabad, but has not one note for the overone hundred Hindu temples documented as desecrated by Muslimsin independent and ‘secular’ India’s Kashmir.(e) NCPRI:The vocal movement in India called the National Campaignfor People’s Right to Information, whose founders include HarshMander, Aruna Roy and Shekhar Singh. These three are also onits working committee with Singh donning the mantle of convenor.Shekhar Singh (who taught at St. Stephen’s), when asked,would not say whether he or his own NGOs had received moneyfrom ActionAid. The NCPRI is an ‘unstructured’ organisation thatreceives funds from the public. It seeks to ensure that the institutionsand agencies in India, whether within or outside the Government,function transparently. It demands the government make itsinformation public but does not apply the same standard to itself,

148 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsdeclining to reveal the origin of its resources.(f) Amita Joseph:There are interconnecting webs. Consider the World Banksupportedand American-sponsored Global Alliance for Workersand Communities which justifies American-style capitalism andwhitewashed two American MNCs that earned notoriety for theirsweatshop procurement from the ‘Third World’. In the centre ofits India web sat Amita Joseph who’d earlier helped implementBritish and American Government policy in India. She categoricallydenied any connection with ActionAid, till confronted with therecord of one. Then, characteristically Manderian, she retreatedinto silence.9. The ManderwebThe whole Mander edifice is a fraud, protected by governmentpatronage, funded by foreign money and sponsored by anti-Hinduswith• The documented duplicity of Shekhar Singh and theNational Campaign for People’s Right to Information;• The double standards on record of such well-known activistsas Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze who certify the lying MrMander’s ‘unquestionable integrity’;• The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Vigil India Movementthat present Mander awards for promoting communalharmony and human rights, though they’re informed thathis integrity is suspect;• Protégées like Shabnam Hashmi and Shubha Mudgalwho, along with him and ActionAid, operate unregisteredorganisations that solicit money from the public;• Associates like Amita Joseph who pretend no association;and• The head of a Christian religious foundation, whopronounces this pseudologue 2 a role model for Indianyouth.2“The pseudologue spins tales that appear plausible on the surface butdo not hang together over time. Fact and fiction are woven together inan interesting matrix until the two are virtually indistinguishable. Unlike

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 149Which are some of the foreign-based agencies eager to involvethemselves with the Manderweb and the perpetuation of antimajorityand anti-pagan Indian democracy?Consider, for example, the foreign sponsors of Mander’s talksin May 2003 in California, Michigan and Chicago:• American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin,• Indian Muslim Relief Committee,• Coalition against Communalism,• Coalition for Secular Democratic India,• Indian Muslim Council,• International Christian Coalition for Human Rights,• American Federation of Muslims from India,• New Republic India,• Sikh American Heritage Organisation,• Federation of Indo-American Christians of North America,• Voice of Asian Minorities,• South Asian Group for Action and Reflection,• Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America,• Sikh Foundation.‘Harsh Mander is on a short-speaking tour of the US as thecountry-director of UK based NGO ActionAid – India’, they said,and the announced subject of all these talks - only Gujarat!Consider, for example, that Aruna Roy goes all the way toChicago to sup with the Indian Muslim Council-USA in October2004. There she (identified as Founder MKSS, and Member ofNational Advisory Council for the Central Government of India),at - please note – its iftar party, ‘inspires’ members of this umbrellaMuslim organisation in America with her thoughts on theimportance of social justice. No, these are not her thoughts aboutthe need for social justice in America or in any Islamic State butabout social justice in her own country with which Americansa delusional psychotic person, the pseudologue will abandon the storyor change it if confronted with contradictory evidence or sufficientdisbelief.”—Charles V Ford, http://www.corvinia.org/ignes/ignes11.html.

150 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsare so concerned. The same Council then co-sponsors a talk byher the same month in Stanford in California. Again, the talk isnot about whatever it is in America, but about issues relevantdomestically in her own country (and about which she is notreported to have ever travelled to and talked about in Bihar, Bengalor Kashmir). Now, who paid for all this expensive travel andhospitality, and why? Her NGO? Try asking her. Her Magsaysaycitation claims that ‘Roy and her colleagues practise thetransparency they preach, accounting scrupulously for their ownexpenditures to rural neighbors.’ Do they indeed? To ruralneighbours in America? Or to the terrorism-linked organisationsthat pay for her?*************Do you still wonder why the announced subject is never ournortheast, never what our Supreme Court itself has declared ‘anaggression’ on Assam (and, therefore, of India) by Bangladeshialiens, why the Manderweb does not want on its agenda therehabilitation of Hindu refugees in Jammu from Islamic violencein Kashmir?Have not, to borrow the NCPRI’s words for Gujarat, Islamicoutfits ‘aggressively usurped the use of all public spaces, suppressedconstitutional rights of free expression, and hounded’ Hindus outof Kashmir? Are Kashmiri Pandits not victims of Islamic communalviolence, and on a scale unheard of in the rest of the country?Do you still wonder why ActionAid in Pakistan andBangladesh does nothing about victims of communal violence inthose countries? When ActionAid’s country director for Indiahimself publicly confirms his and ActionAid’s pro-Muslim/anti-Hindu approach, including this British ‘charity’ involving itself indefending the Muslim criminal accused in the Godhra train-burning,for what kind of ‘communal harmony’ do the Manderians spin?According to some of Mander’s American sponsors, ‘Manderis prominent among those who are fighting to save the soul ofIndia in a changing world’. The America-based Indian MuslimRelief Committee, while falsely denouncing ‘the Gujarat Genocide[as] the Worst Violence Since the Partition’, equally falselyannounced Mander as an ‘eyewitness’ and ‘one of the top 40 IASofficer’s of India, he resigned in protest to Indian Govt.’s

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 151involvement in the Gujarat Riots’. Falsely because, for example,the Sikhs of Delhi, the pagan Reangs in the northeast, and the KPsin Kashmir have suffered far more and that too with theinvolvement of the Nehruvian-secular political party that theManderweb supports; Mander was not an eye-witness; there isno official IAS evaluation that listed Mander as anywhere amongits top officers; he never resigned at all; and even he does not claimthe Government of India’s involvement in the riots.Lies, lies, lies.10. The rise of the unstructured organisationNote the rise of the unregistered unstructured organisation.Promoted as ‘a citizens’ initiative’ or ‘a people’s movement’ byManderians (and led and controlled by them in an ‘association ofpersons’), it avoids the accountability required of a legally registeredNGO, it claims as a USP that it takes no foreign donations (andso it avoids official clearance for foreign support in cash), but ithas no difficulty at all accepting generous foreign support in kind,none of which need be reflected in the personal accounts of itsleaders or in any public account it presents. Former IAS and otherex-sarkari types (including judges) are closely involved to provideit with ‘respectability’ and their connections still in the sarkarprovide protection, in return from it of post-retirement sinecuresfor themselves.Consider the ActionAid/MKSS-associated Right to FoodCampaign, an unstructured organisation that ‘survives mainly fromindividual donations…..in rupees with no strings attached’. Pleasenote the cleverly suggestive use of ‘individuals’ and ‘rupees’ –yet individuals can be foreign, foreign support can be in Indianrupees, and an earlier listing in the site of support received inkind was removed.Between 12/2002 and 12/2004, this Campaign reporteddonations received ‘worth’ Rs 7,67,595/-. This included a personaldonation of Rs 3,00,000/- from Arundhati Roy, apart from Rs 1.5lakhs from her Zindabad Trust, but there is nothing to show thatall donations are receipted. The expenses during this period totalledRs 9,71,939 and appear to be overwhelmingly on salaries (Rs3,21,000), campaign materials (Rs 4,51,137, recovered through their

152 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundssale) and at least Rs 1,33,417 on what appears to be expenses onparticipation in programmes of others. Now, the Campaign has asmall ‘support group…all members of the support group participatein the Right to Food campaign in their personal capacity, withoutremuneration’. Excellent. But why are the members of this supportgroup not named; does ‘without remuneration’ mean they takecare of their expenses too, or does the Campaign meet those –and then how much are these expenses? There is a clue. TheCampaign has two Supreme Court-appointed ‘commissioners’ (oneof whom is NC Saxena) that it appears to have co-opted and theiraddress is c/o the Centre for Equity Studies. Guess whom thesecommissioners have as their ‘special advisor’? Harsh Mander. Guesswho heads this Equity Centre? Why, Mander’s old friend ShekharSingh, who won’t reveal whether Mander’s ActionAid funded it!Consider another entity called Parivartan that explicitly statesit is NOT an NGO. It is not registered under any Act as a societyor a trust or a company. It is a people’s movement. For incometax purposes, it is an Association of Persons. Note that, for incometax purposes, an AoP is a coming together of persons with a profitmotive,and the members of an AoP (co-adventurers, in legal jargon)can have a share in the income of the AoP – unlike the membersof a registered society who can have no such share. So who arethe Parivartan AoP? Surely not its five full-time workers – theyget salaries, and they include a serving government officer of theIndian Revenue Service.No, the names in the AoP are given nowhere in its website,not even on its ‘About Us’ page, except one Manish Sisodia, shownas ‘part-time volunteer’ and described as ‘a founder-member’ and‘treasurer’. And what are the terms of the agreement of association?Surely ‘the people’ are entitled to know the arrangement their selfappointedleaders have made amongst themselves for any facilities,whether in cash or kind, from the income of the AoP?And yet Parivartan demands transparency and accountabilityfrom others.Now, look at the Parivartan Receipt and Expenditure StatementFY 2002-03 (1/10 to 31/3) as displayed on its website. The receiptstotal Rs 2,02,489 of which Rs 2,01,889 are donations; the expendituretotals Rs 1,88,164. Of the latter, salaries total Rs 1,14,000. The only

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 153‘programme cost’ is Rs 35,945 on a jan sunwai. The rest is allstandard office/administrative expense. In other words, about 93per cent of donations to Parivartan go not to ‘the people’ but tomaintaining the AoP and its support infrastructure.At the same time, Parivartan claims ‘the fixed costs are aroundRs 6 lakhs per annum. This includes salaries of workers, rent, phoneand other office expenses’, and it solicits generous contributions.Programme costs are ‘partly funded through collections from thecommunity itself including poor people and the shortfall is madegood by raising funds from outside’ but the website is significantlysilent whether these are included in the receipts statement and,especially, whether receipts are issued for ‘the small amountsdonated by a host of very poor people.’This is transparency? This is accountability? Something wrongwith their maths? Or with their morals?A last example: Mr Mander published on March 23, 2004 ‘AManifesto For Democratic India’ (that demanded, among otherthings, ‘public accountability’ from ‘funded NGOs’) and namedfor ‘Contact Info’ something called ‘Resistance’. This Resistance‘brought together persons, organisations and other forumscommitted to democracy and pluralism from all across the countryfor a daylong conference on April 4th 2004. The conferenceemphasised the need and importance that every citizen needs totake sides in a unified civil-society action to prevent the fascistforces from gaining an upper hand in the country’.When Mander’s Resistance was asked whether it is registered,who are its members, the source of its funds, the participants ofthe conference, and who funded the conference, its Apoorva Anandresponded with the characteristic ad hominem attack of thequestioner and then he retreated into silence. Such is theManderweb’s ‘public accountability’.Such is Harsh Mander who yet can publicly state ‘While allpublic authorities should definitely come within the purview ofaccess legislation, some private bodies or persons whose activitiesaffect the public directly should also come within the purview ofthe law. NGOs should also necessarily be included in the law’,while privately he does his best to evade accountability.When organisations engaged in community service can

154 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundslegitimately enjoy a tax break provided they are registered (and,of course, the members have no share in the income), ask yourselfwhy self-proclaimed samaj sewaks should prefer an organisationalform that is unregistered and the income of which is taxable –but in which income they can claim shares.Unstructured organisations are accountable to no one, andwithin India the incestuous web of Manderians who promote themare accountable only to themselves. They are co-adventurers inthe business of selling out our pagan homeland.************And which is the most ‘unaccountable’ of all unstructuredorganisations? Here it is from TCA Srinivasa-Raghavan: ‘TheMother of all NGOs in India, of course, is the National AdvisoryCouncil. Its writ begins and ends in charity—but with a crucialdifference. Whereas the cost of real charity is private and thebeneficiary is the public, the cost of NAC charity is public andthe beneficiaries are private.’ He calls it a SONGO. Guess why.Do you wonder that Russia, learning its lesson from a stringof revolutions in the former Soviet republics ‘all inspired andorchestrated by Western-funded NGOs’, has legislated the shuttingdown of NGOs that ‘threaten the country’s “sovereignty,independence, territorial integrity, national unity and originality,cultural heritage and national interests.” ‘But our Nehruvian secularists, instead of shutting down suchNGOs, set one up to rule our country!11. The Repudiation of PatriotismThe arrogance is unbelievable of people like Mander, Roy andHashmi that it is, in Hashmi’s words, persons like them ‘who havebeen struggling to keep the country together’, and implicitly ourcountry will fall apart without these ulema to guard the faith. Whatis common to all these Nehruvian secularists and represented byMander himself?The essential common characteristics are anti-paganism, andthe acquisition of name, fame and pecuniary gain through theexercise of double standards, with no deshbhakti, no loyalty tothe country.Recall Arundhati Roy’s notorious ‘I’m no patriot’. To acquire

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 155the passport of our country, she lied in writing that she ‘owe[s]allegiance to the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India’. Then,having got the passport, she declared without a qualm that she isnot a patriot, in other words, that she has no loyalty to her country.This is the grossest hypocrisy and selfishness. If she does not havepatriotism for India, she has no business being its citizen.Patriotism may be an old-fashioned sentiment but, ironically,the freedom Roy uses to repudiate patriotism is possible onlybecause she is a citizen of a country in which deshbhakt jawanswith their own lives are prepared to defend her freedom to attacktheir values. The fact is undeniable that the Roys of this world –Nehruvian secularists—dare speak up, in her words, only in‘democratically elected regimes in the “free world” ‘; they don’tdare speak up in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or China againstthe ‘authoritarian regimes’ there.During an extended visit to Pakistan, Mander repeatedlymewled to Pak audiences that his ‘core of the idea of India is thatpeople of diverse faiths, castes, gender and classes live togetherwith peace, mutual respect, security and equal citizenship rights.’Certainly. But what about roaring to Pak audiences about asimilar core for Pakistan? Why didn’t he, as an Indian, dare askthem why they haven’t let Hindus in Pakistan live in peace, securityand equal citizenship? Why didn’t he dare ask them why theyhave all but liquidated the Hindus in Pakistan? Why didn’t hedare ask them why they send jihadis who strike at the very centresof Hindustan – Parliament, Raghunathji, Akshardham,Ramjanmabhoomi, Varanasi.‘Let a lamp be lit’, choruses Mander to an Indian audienceafter he returns. ‘Let’s write a poem for friendship’, says he.Well, why doesn’t he dare go to Kargil when the Pak jihadisattack and light lamps for and write poems to them?He daren’t. He eats jihadi salt. Manderians are not democrats;they are dulocrats, and the Manderweb symbolises our dulocracy. 3So, are you surprised that the dulocracy that rules our country3Nehruvian secularism is the primary theme of Vicharamala, and isdescribed and exemplified in some detail there. A dulocracy is “aGovernment where servants and slaves have so much license and privilegethat they domineer” (Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th edn), and Nehruviansecularists are servants and slaves of the Abrahamic monotheisms.

156 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsdoes not commemorate Kargil Day? It says jihadis and illegalimmigrants are ‘our brothers and sisters’. And our deshpremijawans who die keeping these invaders out are both expendableand forgettable.12. The hijacking of hamara HindustanA tree will not flourish unless it is firmly rooted in fertilesoil.There can be no paganism without a land in which paganculture and polity can freely flourish.There can be no Hindus without a Hindustan.The paganism that extended from Gandhara across Kashmirand Tibet right upto the East Asian coast, and down through SriLanka and Myanmar, has steadily shrunk till, in 1947, it lost majorchunks in the subcontinent itself. Post-1947, under the Nehruviansecularism and democracy of which the Manderweb is part andthat it propagates, we pagans have been eliminated from Pakistan,Bangladesh, Kashmir, and much of the northeast. We are seeingour elimination in Assam, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh andBihar under a ‘secular’ and ‘democratic’ dispensation that is quiteopenly anti-pagan, that extends to ravening world-conqueringreligions in India advantages over the Hindu majority that neitherChristians nor Muslims in the democracies where they are amajority, or where they rule (as in the Vatican State, or in any ofthe Islamic States), extend to Hindus within their domains.Why do we accept this double standard?Nehruvian secularists preach ‘compassion, understanding andtolerance’ to Hindus. But they dare not preach to Christianmissionaries and Muslim mullahs a compassion, understandingand tolerance for the pagans. That would be to negate the veryessence and history of these rapacious religious imperialisms.Hindustan is the last major bastion of paganism. In their 2000years, everywhere that the rapacious Abrahamic monotheisms haveconquered, they have erased pre-existing faiths.Nowhere, but nowhere, in the world where the exclusivismshave conquered have they allowed significant pagan populationsto survive. Nowhere in the territories of these monotheisms is

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 157there a meaningful survival of any pre-monotheism, anypaganism. There is not one significant exception to thisworldwide historical fact.We Hindus are the world’s last pagans and our time has comenow, as missionaries and mullahs daily remind us.Nehruvian secularists forget a fundamental principle of humanconduct called the golden rule of reciprocity. This rule goes backat least 5,000 years to our Mahabharat, it goes back to Confucianism,and it is divinely sanctioned for Judaism, Christianity and Islam,all of which acknowledge the Old Testament. Four times does theOld Testament sanctify as the lex talionis an application of thisprinciple: Exodus 21.23-25; Leviticus 24.17-21; Deuteronomy 19.19;indeed, practised by their god himself – Judges 1.7, and by hisfollowers in, for example, the Koranic kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Most Manderians are educated in elite English-mediuminstitutions. They read Shakespeare. They should rememberShylock’s speech in The Merchant of Venice, III.1If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we notlaugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrongus, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, wewill resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what ishis humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what shouldhis sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge? Thevillainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard butI will better the instruction.For 1,000 or so years in our land our paganism has been atthe receiving end of preying monotheisms. What have they taughtus pagans except their villainy? And, after Independence, evenwith us pagans a numerical majority, Nehruvian secularism twistsus under minorityism, our democracy being used as an instrumentto appease these monotheisms, the numerical pagan majority beingheld hostage to a numerical minority.BR Ambedkar himself ‘did not believe our Constitution wassecular because it allowed different treatment to variouscommunities and the legislatures could frame separate laws for

158 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsdifferent communities.’ A half-century later we see the result: agrowing class of ‘minority’ super citizens, and one of them a superprime minister. What are these monotheisms still teaching us ifnot their villainy? They have taken every advantage of the pagan‘compassion, understanding and tolerance’ to undermine it. Theyare as Duryodhana to the Pandavas – not as much land as willcover the tip of a needle do they want to leave us.So why should we not better their instruction?Remember that the Pandavas regained their kingdom, theirhomeland, their honour, only after they remembered the goldenrule of reciprocity.When these monotheisms, our so-called ‘minorities’, identifythemselves as part of world-dominating movements, prevalentand spreading in lands across the globe, then it is the paganismin India that needs to be protected as a ‘minority’, because nowpaganism survives nowhere else in the world, being destroyedeverywhere else by our so-called ‘minority’ religions. Wheneradicated from India, where will we pagans find a homeland? Itis the paganism that is the real ‘religious’ minority in India.Why have we pagans forgotten the lesson Krishna taught ourancestors?It is clear that shrewd anti-Hindu foreign sponsors recognizein Mander a heartless and highly-skilled manipulator ready to usea web of contacts for his own self-promotion and monetary gain.He is their willing stooge to deny the numerical majority our paganrights in India, to dismember our pagan polity, and to enable ourconquest – and consequent extinction – by the aggrandisingAbrahamic monotheisms. Manderians are Judases. For today’sequivalent of 30 pieces of silver, they sell us to those whose avowedaim is to destroy us.‘I am the LORD thy God …Thou shalt have no other godsbefore me…for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God….’ (Exodus20.2,3,5)‘La ilaha il Allah, Muhammad-ur-Rasool-Allah’ (‘None hasthe right to be worshipped but Allah, and Muhammad is theMessenger of Allah’—Al-Shahada)These beliefs are the very foundations of their respective faiths.They are commandments. True believers must subscribe, are

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 159required to accept the one that is the very basis of their religion.There can be no compromise, and historically the religion ultimatelyhas shown none.Three quotations are relevant to the exclusivisms. Marx hadsaid, ‘We are ruthless and ask for no quarter from you. When ourturn comes, we shall not disguise our terrorism’. Churchill said,‘An appeaser is one who keeps feeding a crocodile in the hope itwill eat him last’. And George Santayana said, ‘Those who cannotremember the past are condemned to repeat it’.Nehruvian secularists are appeasers. The exclusivisms areterrorists, are crocodiles. They practise neither compassion for norunderstanding nor tolerance of pagans. They have never done so.They terrorize, they gobble up pagans. This is the lesson of thepast.The homeland of my progenitors has already been cannibalisedby Islam.The homeland of my dharma is under terror from amissionary-mullah-marxist nexus.‘Hindustan hamara,’ claims the anti-pagan Harsh Manderfor these his webmasters.Let those, like Mander, who are ashamed of being Hindustani,emigrate to the lands of the monotheisms. To those lands of‘compassion, understanding and tolerance’ let them freely go. LikePakistan. Bangladesh. Or even America.Hindustan hamara hai.We pagans want our homeland back.NotesThe ‘representative character’ quote is from Robert Bellah, RichardMadsen, William Sullivan, Ann Swidler and Steven Tipton, ‘Habits ofthe Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life’ (NY: Harper& Row, 1985).Mr Mander himself was emailed an open letter (see http://www.india.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=6169&group=webcast)as was his champion Mr Karan Thapar (see no.30 in Vicharamala).‘National Terrorist Rights Commission’ for the National Human Rights

160 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsCommission is from http://dailypioneer.com/archives1/default12.asp?main_variable= front%5Fpage&file_name=story5%2Etxt& counter_img=5&phy_path_it=D%3A%5Cdailypioneer%5Carchives1%5Cnov802. The IASquotes are on http://www.drishtipat.org/activists/harsh.html (Drishtipatis a US-based Bangladeshi organisation whose ‘active core members’are almost all Muslim) . The private limited company is Agni MediaPvt. Ltd. that owns Tehelka to which ActionAid donated a lakh. Tehelkahas been a promoter of Harsh Mander, including the notorious ‘rippedfoetus’ rumour that he propagated - http://www.hvk.org/specialrepo/guild/anaguild.html. ActionAid’s Binu S Thomas has the riposte – ‘TheIAS, for all its faults, is better off without such false and self-seekingprophets’ (letter, Deccan Herald, Aug. 7, 2002). The reference toActionAid’s ‘Muslim’ study is from http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-sikand090206.htm. Hindus-as-enemy in Bangladesh is from http://dailypioneer.com/archives2/default12.asp?main_variable=OPED&file_name=opd4% 2Etxt&counter_img=4&phy_path_it=D%3A%5Cda ilypioneer%5Carchives2%5Caug405. FCRA is the ForeignContribution (Regulation) Act. As an example of British governmentsupport to NGOs in other countries, see http://dailypioneer.com/foray1.asp?main_variable=SUNDAYPIONEER% 2FGLOBE&file_name=globe4% 2Etxt&counter_img=4. DFID’s PPA with ActionAid is on http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/actionaid-ppa.pdf and http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/actionaid-ppa-anex3.pdf. The PACSseminar report is on empowerpoor.org/downloads/DA-Eng.pdf. Theshare-of-world-income quote is from Manmohan Singh on http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/10/stories/2005071002301000.htm. ThePioneer published one piece (its original conclusion brutally excised)exposing ActionAid (see http://www.hvk.org/articles/0103/211.html)but, thereafter, succumbing to pressure from ActionAid, dropped thesubject. The Binu Thomas piece can be seen on http://www.hvk.org/articles/0603/169.html. Also by him, ‘Uncovering The Truth Behind AModern Day Hero’ on vigilonline.com/news/whats_new/news_view.asp?plainSpeakId=35. Mander’s salary was revealed by Thomasin his protest to the Vigil India Movement against its MA Thomas Awardfor Human Rights, reported by the Deccan Herald, Feb. 13, 2003. ThePress Council of India adjudications are of 30/6/2003. The Mao referenceis on http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/jul/26award1.htm. ArunaRoy’s ‘self-description’ is from http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/26/

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 161stories/2005082612500400.htm. Her quote on the state governmentinitiative is from http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/25/stories/2005112507260500.htm. The Beena Adhik reference is from V’mala 42,the Gayatri Sinha and Arundhati Roy references from V’mala 9, andthe Valson Thampu one from V’mala 37. On Volcker, see http://dailypioneer.com/archives2/default12.asp?main_variable=EDITS&file_name=edit1%2Etxt&counter_ img=1&phy_path_it=D%3A%5Cdailypioneer%5Carchives2%5Cnov1405 and http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=EDITS&file_name=edit1%2Etxt&counter_img=1. The Mitrokhin and Benediktovreference is from The Pioneer, Sept. 20, 2005 and V’mala 91. On theQuattrocchi corruption see, for example, http://dailypioneer.com/archives2/default12.asp?main_variable=front%5Fpage&file_name=story2%2Et xt&counter_img=2&phy_path_it=D%3A%5Cdailypioneer%5Carchives2%5Cjan1906 and http://dailypioneer.com/archives2/default12.asp?main_variable=EDITS&file_name=edit1%2Etxt&counter_img=1&phy_path_it=D%3A%5Cdailypioneer%5Carchives2%5Cjan1906.‘Rabripati shasan’ is from http://dailypioneer.com/archives2/default12.asp?main_variable=STATES&file_name=state4%2Etxt&counter_img=4&phy_path_it=D%3A%5Cdailypioneer%5Carchives2%5Coct705. The2,00,00,000 figure is from http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=EDITS&file_name=edit1%2Etxt&counter_img=1. Thereference of 70,000 killed in Bihar is from V’mala 80, 82. The Rahul Gandhiquote is from http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/16/stories/2005091616341400.htm. His mother’s ‘great tradition’ quote is from http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/16/stories/2005101610930100.htm. The“giant strides” reference is on http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=STATES&file_name=state5%2Etxt&counter_img=5.‘Pakistani mohalla’ is from http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=332987. For election-rigging in West Bengal, see http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=84196, and thequote is from http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=front%5Fpage&file_name=story6%2Etxt&counter_img=6.The UPA statement of industrial investment in Gujarat is on http://dailypioneer.com/archives2/default12.asp?main_variable=front%5Fpage&file_name=story2%2Etxt&counter_img=2&phy_path_it=D%3A%5Cdailypioneer%5Carchives2%5Caug405. The report of officialfigures of the post-Godhra dead is on http://www.expressindia.com/

162 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsfullstory.php?newsid=46538. The MK Gandhi 1M = 3non-M is fromKoenraad Elst, “Decolonising the Hindu Mind” (New Delhi: Rupa, 2005:87). The chief minister-union minister terrorist-link report is from ThePioneer, Sept. 21, 2005. On ‘political hatchet men’, see http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/25/stories/2006012504651200.htm; and onthe lying prime minister, http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=EDITS&file_name=edit1%2Etxt&counter_img=1. TheSupreme Court on the IMDT Act and the (Muslim) invasion of thenortheast is on http://dailypioneer.com/archives2/default12.asp?main_variab le=front%5Fpage&file_name=story1%2Etxt&counter_img=1&phy_path_it=D%3A%5Cdailypioneer%5Carchives2%5Cjul1505. The GK Gandhi reference is from The Pioneer, July 21, 2005.Roy’s ‘paradigm of solutions’ reference is from http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/25/stories/2005112513280400.htm. The Aman Biradari websiteis www.amanbiradari.org and its data is as on 23/8/05. The Wilsondescription of Thampu is from http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/07/stories/2005090721670300.htm. The Right to Food Campaign website ishttp://www.righttofoodindia.org/ and its data is as on 11/7/05. TheParivartan website is www.parivartan.com/ and its data is as on5/7/05. Mander on accountability of NGOs and on the MKSS is on http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/international/workshops/value_of_rti.htm#30. The SONGO reference is from http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/sept./27guest1.htm. The Russia reference isfrom http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/26/stories/2005122605171300.htm .Mander in Pakistan is from a piece by him (identified as ‘Director,ActionAid India’) in the Hindustan Times, March 23, 2004. On theliquidation of Hindus in Pakistan (and Bangladesh), see http://news.indiainfo.com/columns/guru/112405population-religion.html. ForKargil Day, see http://dailypioneer.com/archives2/default12.asp?main_variable=EDITS&file_name=edit1%2Etxt&counter_img=1&phy_path_it=D%3A%5Cdailypioneer%5Carchives2%5Cjul2805. Forthe lex talionis in Saudi Arabia, see http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/06/stories/2005120604471300.htm. The Ambedkar reference is from SCKashyap, ‘Reforming the Constitution’ (Delhi: UBS, 1992:16). See alsoAmbedkar’s ‘Thoughts on Pakistan’ (1941) reproduced on http://www.esamskriti.com/. The Marx quote is from http://www.dailypioneer.com/agenda1.asp?main_variable=sundaypioneer%

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 1632Fdialogue&file_name=dial3%2Etxt&counter_img=3. The Churchill quoteis from http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/2005/06/006664print.html.I use ‘pagan’ loosely and interchangeably with ‘Hindu’, the latter as‘being derived from the name of the South-Asian land mass, the term“Hindu” simply happens to connote India and all religions native toIndia’, and since all these ‘native religions’ are not Abrahamic, they arepagan (Koenraad Elst, “Who is a Hindu?”, Voice of India, 2/18 AnsariRoad, New Delhi 110002, 2002: 37, 321). I am aware of the argumentthat distinguishes a faith from its followers, and have discussed this in‘Proselytisation in India: A pagan’s perspective’. A propos is the DalaiLama’s view: “Any genuine Christian should show genuine love andcompassion towards his fellow human beings. That is the real meaningof the love of God. If someone doesn’t bother to practise love andcompassion towards his fellows, but at the same time says, ‘God is great,’I think that is hypocritical. In order to be a good Christian, you shouldpractice compassion, love and forgiveness…”(‘Transforming the Mind’,London: Thorsons, 2000:161)—though, astonishingly, the Dalai Lamanow claims Islam is a religion of compassion, http: // dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=EDITS&file_name=edit3%2Etxt&counter_img=3. What is the historical record of the ‘love and compassion’ thatChristianity and Islam have extended to paganism? ‘From a zero Muslimpopulation in 711 AD, the subcontinent will have a 41% Muslimpopulation. Yet, not a week passes when tears are not shed by Hindusecularists for the plight of ‘oppressed’ Muslims in Hindustan even afterPartition’ (KR Phanda/ P Goradia, http://dailypioneer.com/archives2/default12.asp? main_variable=BOOKS&file_name=book1%2Etxt&counter_img= 1&phy_path_it=D%3A%5Cdailypioneer%5Carchives2%5Cjul2405 ).That the pagans are the real minority is discussedin V’mala 43. And if we are to emerge as a modern democracy, threemeasures are essential – the implementation of the Constitutional directiveof a uniform civil code, a total ban on proselytisation, and the repeal ofArticles 30 and 370. Much of the rest may take care of itself, includingthe security of us pagans and our homeland.

8NGOs AND ACTIVISTS:Singing for their SupperRadha RajanThis chapter elaborates the core issues raised in theIntroduction. The introduction to the book had stated that theprimary objective of some of the foreign-funded NGOs and otheractivists in India is to keep the Hindus in a continuing state ofdisempowerment, to de-Hinduise and de-nationalise the Indianstate.De-Hinduising the Indian state entails rendering the Hinduidentity to any aspect of the nation’s being illegitimate in publiclife and public discourse, with the singular objective of erodingthe ‘Hindu’ consciousness in the Hindus and finally erasing theHindu face of this nation. Thus the demand for a ban on cowslaughter,the demand of Hindu bhaktas that Governmentwithdraw from temple administration and stop usurping templemoney and temple revenue, the demand for the right to administertheir temples and utilize temple money in the interest of Hindudharma, the demand that governments take cognizance ofgrowing religious demographic imbalance, the demand thatgovernments acknowledge the consequences of foreign, statepoweredand funded religious conversion, demands for anaccurate and honest writing of history and the stubborn ‘secularist’refusal to admit that all terrorism leading to secession is eitherChristian or Islamic terrorism, only attests to Hindu powerlessnessin the face of political conduct which derives from a twisteddefinition of ‘secularism’.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 165De-nationalising and de-Hinduising Indian polity is the stuffof which Nehruvian Secularism is made. De-nationalising is devaluingboth nation and nationality. De-nationalising the Indianstate has resulted in deadening our consciousness to the ignominyof the rise of a foreigner in Indian polity who aspires to becomeour prime minister. This simply begs the question – had Sonia Gandhibeen the Italian White Christian son-in-law of Indira Gandhi’shypothetical daughter, would the nation have permitted the rise of aWhite European man to the position that Sonia Gandhi holds today?If not, then it begs another question – whether our nationalincapacity to critique Annie Besant, Margaret Noble, MadelineSlade and Mirra Alfassa has led the nation to the point wherewe have uncritically accepted persons like Gladys Staines, thewidow of the evangelist Graham Staines (Gladys Staines,incidentally, was conferred the Padma Shri award by theNehruvian-secular UPA government), ‘Mother’ Teresa and SoniaGandhi in the nation’s public life. Hindus suffer from a civilisationalhandicap which will not generally permit them to suspect themotives of persons doing ‘charity work’, even if they are foreigners,and will also not subject women to critical appraisal particularlyif these women have ingratiated themselves into the inner circlesof the life and work of influential men.In this chapter we will describe in brief the anti-Hinducoalition of Marxists, Muslims, Missionaries and NehruvianSecularists (with a dash of Hindu pretenders, and Tamil andSikh separatists), list the organisations that belong to this coalition,and also reproduce word for word what these activists havewritten and said about nationalism, Hinduism, the RSS, Partition,Indo-Pak relations, the Gujarat riots, India’s nuclear programmeand, of course, Jammu and Kashmir. This chapter will feature,among others, Martin Macwan and his White Christian patronsaint Kathy Sreedhar, Arundhati Roy, Sandeep Pandey, AkhilaRaman, Praful Bidwai and his tweedledee Achin Vanaik, andNirmala Deshpande and her tweedledee Admiral Ramdas. Muchas I would have liked to have similarly profiled Shabnam Hashmi(sister of Safdar Hashmi) and her two organisations, first SAHMATand now ANHAD, Ram Puniyani and Teesta Setalvad and herCommunalism Combat, I have chosen to focus attention on those

166 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundswho have been bestowed foreign awards and why I think theywere thus rewarded.To begin with, the above-mentioned activists have been feted,wined, dined and awarded with various ‘Peace’ prizes or theMagsaysay in the years 1998-2004 when the BJP-led coalitionwas ruling the country. It is difficult not to draw the conclusionthat they were being rewarded for the virulent anti-Hindu andanti-BJP/RSS campaign that they had jointly mounted. This wasthe period when the ‘Hindutva fascist-forces’ (as these awardeescall the RSS and the parivar) captured political power and retainedit for six years. And the first thing that the Vajpayee Governmentdid after assuming power in 1998 was to conduct nuclear testsin May 1998. This was followed by a clear signal from the HomeMinistry that terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir would be dealtwith ruthlessly, be the terrorists domestic or imported. ExoneratingPakistan for exporting Pakistani-Punjabi jihadis into India wehad several of these peacenik awardees visiting Pakistan andthe United States on speech and lecture tours and on ‘peace’missions. The content of their coffee-shop talk shows was todenounce India’s nuclear weapons programme, denounce India’sdetermination to thwart the secessionist movement in Jammuand Kashmir, abuse the RSS and the BJP, speak ill about ourarmed forces and our police, accusing them on foreign soil of‘human rights violations’ in ‘Kashmir’; and some of them evenadvocating secession of ‘Kashmir’ from India ‘if that is what theKashmiris wanted’.The Gujarat riots of 2002 provided these awardees, and theforeign churches and human rights organisations egging themon, with yet another cause for Hindu and RSS bashing. Thecampaign that these peace awardees and human rights activistscarried out against our armed forces and our police in Delhi,Maharashtra and Gujarat, every time they arrested Indian Muslimsor killed Pakistani Islamic jihadis, by questioning the very factthat they were terrorists and imputing the basest of communalbias to our men in uniform, was intended only to weaken theresolve of the Indian State to tackle terrorism ruthlessly. By orderinga headcount of Muslims in the armed forces, the UPA Government(read Sonia Gandhi) set a dangerous precedent of communalising

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 167our armed forces – a move which can only lead to emphasisingthe religious consciousness of the ‘minorities’ over the nationalconsciousness. Praful Bidwai and Kuldip Nayyar even approachedthe NHRC in the immediate aftermath of the Delhi Police killingtwo Lashkar terrorists in the parking lot of Ansal Plaza in NewDelhi in November 2002 to demand of Justice JS Verma, the thenChairman of the NHRC, to enquire into the shooting. Playing tothe international gallery of human rights proponents anddefenders, Justice Verma promptly issued notice to the DelhiPolice.Bidwai and Nayyar pre-judged the issue and termed theshooting a ‘fake encounter’ without a shred of evidence to backtheir preposterous claim. Till date neither these bleeding heartactivists nor subsequent police investigations have substantiatedtheir wild allegations that these terrorists were not terrorists northat they were killed in a ‘fake encounter’, nor has the NHRC seenfit to issue a report which would have thrown light on the shootingand restored people’s confidence in the NHRC as an impartialoutfit committed to protecting the human rights of all citizens.In yet another selective perception of human rights, theNHRC, while intervening in the issue of bodies of tribal peoplekilled in police firing on January 2, 2006, in Kalinga Nagar, Orissa,allegedly mutilated during post-mortem, has remained studiouslysilent about the horrific violation of the human rights of thepoliceman, a havildar in Kalinga Nagar, who was hacked todeath by the agitating tribal people. The NHRC’s studied silenceabout the grossest violation of the human rights of our policemenand our army routinely killed day after day by terrorists of allpersuasions, its utter indifference to the plight of displaced KashmiriHindus who are languishing in refugee camps in our own countryand about the Hindu victims of Godhra and the Hindu victimsof Mumbai riots of 1992, specifically the Hindu victims of theRadhabai Chawl carnage 1 are just some instances of NHRCselectivity which do little to sustain the faith of Hindus in thisstatutory body.1. Grist for the NGO millNations and nation-states, even if these NGOs and other

168 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsactivists do not like it, have well-defined national borders.European colonial rule broke up nations and, in colonial selfinterest,re-drew national borders in Asia and Africa which dividedpeoples of the same tribe, religion, locality and region acrossnewly created often hostile states. The vivisection of Bengal andPunjab, the vivisection of India into Pakistan and subsequentlyBangladesh, the creation and the continuing existence of anartificial entity called PoK, with the full connivance of theinternational community, suffice to make the point. Similarexamples of broken nations and divided peoples abound in therest of Asia and Africa. Not that alone, the White colonizerscontinue to insist that the territories that they invaded, occupiedand plundered as colonizers, is theirs by White colonial right.The history of these territories prior to colonisation and the nationto which they belonged and were a part of, is flippantly andcontemptuously dismissed. The following extract from an articleby J Edgar Williams, a retired American diplomat, on Jammuand Kashmir is an eye-opener to the predatory and wilfullyperverted opinions yet prevailing in mainstream American foreignpolicy establishments:The main problem is Kashmir, and India is the principal culprit.I dislike having to take the side of Pakistan, a volatile,undemocratic country.However, until India permits the settlement of the Kashmirdispute, Kashmiris will continue to resist the imposition ofIndian rule over their homeland, whether they are called‘terrorists’ (which some certainly are) or ‘freedom fighters.’In 1947, when the British pulled out of India and the partitionof the subcontinent into India and Pakistan took place, the rulerof Kashmir was a Hindu despite the fact that most of his subjectswere Muslims. He fled to India and ceded his state to India.India then seized two-thirds of the territory, notwithstandingfierce popular resistance and, of course, opposition fromPakistan, which managed to take one-third of Kashmir. Thesituation was the reverse in Hyderabad, where the ruler wasMuslim but the vast majority of his subjects were Hindus. Herefused to cede his state to India, whereupon in 1948, Indian

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 169forces invaded and took Hyderabad. So, New Delhi had it bothways, by military force.Other examples of this point include seizure in 1952-54, underthreat of military action, of France’s five small territories alongthe coast, the best known being Pondicherry. Threats were notenough for the Portuguese, and in 1961, Indian forces invadedand seized three Portuguese territories on the coast, the largestof which was Goa. 2The activists profiled in this chapter share Edgar Williams’colonial contempt for the sanctity of the concept of nation andnational borders and his pathetic ignorance about pre-colonialhistory and geography of nations, and so they treat the territorialintegrity and inviolability of nations and states with the samecontempt. Edgar Williams’ opinions in his article are self-illustrativeof American arrogance and the country’s relentless pursuit tofulfill its White Christian neo-colonial and neo-imperialist delusions.The anti-Nation, anti-Hindu ‘peace’ and human rightsactivists have the same contempt for all Hindu organic andtraditional social structures and group identities as they havefor the nation and national borders; so they denounce family,varna, jaati and kula, religion and nation as ‘upper-caste’ andpatriarchal constructs. These are the only two epithets whichNGO activism uses in its work which are a dead giveaway oftheir intentions—to prise apart important segments of Hindusociety—women, tribal communities and the so-called dalits fromtheir family, community, cultural, religious and national moorings.The ultimate intent of their activism is to damage the Hindusocial fibre and weaken social cohesion by de-Hinduising largesegments of Hindu society.It is precisely because these NGOs and activists are eithernon-Hindus or have been completely de-Hinduised that they adoptantagonistic postures against Hindu society. Rather than workamong the victims and perpetrators of social injustice patientlyand with understanding to bring about a lasting change in socialattitudes, they advocate confrontation leading to irreversiblealienation. Arundhati Roy has, on more than one occasion,justified violent and armed confrontation and terrorism against

170 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsthe state. It may be pertinent to point out that none of the activistsprofiled have ever dared to confront Muslim society or theChristian clergy for inequities and discrimination within theircommunities. All these NGOs and activists are, without exception,only anti-Hindu.The RSS has been the focus of their hatred and the viciousvenom that permeates their language is, as I see it, because theBJP was conceived in the womb of the RSS and the BJP’s presencein Indian polity has achieved for the Hindus what had beenintentionally denied them since 1947 – a political party givingvoice to Hindu political aspirations. That the Vishwa HinduParishad (VHP) too was conceived in the womb of the RSS andrepresents Hindu dharmic aspirations is cause for sleepless nightsfor the entrenched Nehruvian secularists and their other anti-Hindu allies.2. Coalition Against GenocideA group of anti-Hindu Yankee Indian Leftists earning theirbread, butter, jam and caviar in American universities in theworld’s ultimate capitalist paradise, organised themselves,American Indian Muslims, Indian Christian missionaries, andfour once-born ‘Hindus’, three from the same Poddar familyoperating between themselves five ‘organisations’, into a groupcalled ‘Coalition Against Genocide’ to lobby the American StateDepartment to deny Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi adiplomatic visa to visit that country in May 2005. They didn’thave to campaign very hard. The US establishment was just dyingfor an opportunity to teach Indian Hindus a lesson for daring torespond proactively to Islamic jihadi terrorism against Hindupilgrims returning from Ayodhya; the visa was denied with greatalacrity.What all Hindus know but do not dare to articulate is thatcommunal riots (a euphemism for Hindu retaliation to Muslimprovocation) were not unique to Gujarat 2002. India’s ‘secular’intellectual elite continues to insist on the fiction that all waswell between Hindus and Muslims until the advent of the British.This ‘anti-Hindu’ elite has also perpetuated the intellectual traditionin public discourse that communal harmony is the responsibility

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 171only of the Hindus. This means no matter what the provocationfrom Muslims and Christians, as long as Hindus maintain selfdestructivetolerance and patience in the face of repeated assaultsagainst our dharma and our society, India will always remainthe garden of ‘communal harmony’; but if the Hindus retaliatewith equal force then the ‘minorities’ are the victims of majoritarianfundamentalism, Hindu fascism.As stated by me in the introduction to the book, the NGOsand activists under the scanner in this book share a cosy partnershipwith the US establishment – it is they who depose before the USState Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights andLabor and also before the American bi-partisan commission forinternational religious freedom, the USCIRF. Nirmala Deshpande,Kamal Mitra Chenoy (Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru Universitythat is communism’s last intellectual bastion), Sumit Ganguly(expat ‘journalist’), the ubiquitous John Dayal, and Teesta Setalvadhave been among the other regular Marxist, Muslim and Christianusual suspects who have run sniffing to the US with theircomplaints. By running to a third country for intervention inIndia’s domestic affairs, these ‘civil society leaders’ have signaledthat they have no social charisma or moral stature of their ownand also that they lack faith in India’s democratic institutions.B Raman, one of India’s leading experts on counter-terrorism,puts it bluntly. ‘Who were the people who ganged up againstModi to humiliate him and teach him a lesson?’ The answer:‘Sections of the so-called secularists in India and the US, manyof them Hindus, who cannot stand the sight of any party whichseeks to articulate the feelings of Hindus and give them a senseof pride in their identity as Hindus’. 3 Now Raman is neither RSSnor BJP. He, in fact, retired as Additional Secretary, CabinetSecretariat and is perhaps a remnant of a dying or an alreadyextinct species—the quintessential faceless, colorless and odorlessbureaucrat – scrupulously honest and objective to a fault. Yeteven he thinks that it is only the anti-Hindu bias of these NGOswhich powered this anti-Modi campaign.Commendably, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rose abovepetty politicking on this issue and, in the Rajya Sabha, expresseddisapproval of the US State Department’s decision to cancel Modi’s

172 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsvisa. The Prime Minister’s nationalist stand enraged this networkof anti-national activists who promptly wrote to him condemninghis ‘defense’ of Modi. 4This anti-Hindu group, which called itself Coalition AgainstGenocide (CAG) included the following organisations:• Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia (ASDSA)• American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI)• Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIM)• Association of South Asian Progressives (ASAP)• Center for Study and Research in South Asia (CERAS,Montreal)• Dharma Megha• Federation of Indian American Christian Organisations ofNorth America (FIACONA)• Forum Of Inquilabi Leftists (FOIL)• Friends Of South Asia (FOSA)• Hindu Vaishnava Center for Enlightment• Indian Christian Forum (ICF)• Indian Muslim Educational Foundation of North America(IMEFNA)• Indian Muslim Council-USA (IMC-USA)• Indian Muslim Relief and Charities (IMRC)• International South Asia Forum (INSAF)• Muslim Youth Awareness Alliance (MYAA)• NRI’s for Secular And Harmonious India (NRI-SAHI)• Policy Institute For Religion And State (PIFRAS)• Sikh American Heritage Organisation (SAHO)• Sneha (A network for women of South Asian origin)• Vedanta Society of East Lansing• World Tamil Organisation (WTO)Supporting organisations included:• Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)• DC Collective for South Asians (DCCSA)• Institute on Religion and Public Policy (IRPP)• Interfaith Freedom Foundation (IFF)

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 173To be noted: The description ‘South Asian’ which seeks todissolve Hindu India into the Muslim Pakistan and Bangladesh.Also that there is one Sikh and one Tamil group which, for theonly reason that they are based in the US and in partnershipwith this motley gang, are probably separatist Sikh and Tamilgroups. And the two ‘so-called’ Hindu groups – the VaishnavaCenter for Enlightenment sometimes calling itself Hindu VaishnavaCenter for Enlightenment (as though Vaishnavam can be anythingelse other than Hindu) and the Vedanta Society are both onemanshows. Or shall I say two-men shows both of them officiatingfor both organisations as and when required? Dr KS SripadaRaju and the self-styled ‘Acharya’ Shrikumar Poddar are bothfrom East Lansing, Michigan and, to the best of my knowledgethese groups have no websites of their own describing themselvesor their work.There are three Poddars, all from the same family, with sixorganisations between them – Shrikumar Poddar, President, IndiaFoundation, USA (this is besides his avatars in the Vedanta Societyand Hindu Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment), who is alsoco-founder of the pompous-sounding NRI SAHI or Non-ResidentIndians for a Secular and Harmonious India (whatever that maymean); Mayurika Poddar, Vice-President, Seva International, USA;and Devesh Poddar, Treasurer, Coalition for India, UndergraduateStudents, USA. There is no other information about Shrikumarexcept that he happily signs any letter drafted by the anti-HinduMarxist, Muslim and Missionary gang in the USA to lend theirvarious causes a Hindu touch. He is the ‘Hindu’ drop that flavoursthe pretentious and blatantly false ‘multi-religious’ claim of thisNGO coalition against the RSS. The three members of the familybesides Sripada Raju can ensure four signatures amongstthemselves citing four organisations, or four names citing sixorganisations, to all letters and petitions drafted by this group.Similarly, while these two so-called ‘Hindu’ organisations haveat least the two names, Poddar and Raju as signatories, the DharmaMegha, which is also a part of the Coalition Against Genocidehas neither a website nor a person’s name. We also do not knowif it is another pretentious ‘Hindu’ or even a pseudo ‘Buddhist’drop.

174 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds3. One gang – different namesThe introduction to this book demonstrated that anti-Hinduand anti-India activism of certain NGOs and individual activiststhrives in the context of Hindu powerlessness. The introductionalso suggested that Hindu powerlessness resulted from the lackof a common ‘Hindu’ consciousness and that vested interestshave always thwarted all attempts to organise Hindu society onthe basis of a shared Hindu consciousness. An instance ofattempting to neutralise such a coming together was the Promiseof India appeal.Promise of India is secular evangelist Raju Rajagopal’s secondpair of new clothes, the first being Indians for Collective Action(ICA). Raju Rajagopal’s ICA played the guardian/patron saintto Sandeep Pandey in the formative years of Pandey’s foray intoanti-Hindu activism. Promise of India was put together withthe same components, and more, that went into the deadly brothcalled Coalition against Genocide which was set up to counterNon-Resident Hindu and Nationalist Indians who were organisingthemselves and acquiring considerable social status in the US.The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was organised by the NDAGovernment encouraging NRIs to visit India in December/Januaryof every year as a major celebratory annual event. It was to counterthe nationalist appeal of this event that the Promise of Indiapeople moved to organise their own conference in India everyJanuary. Promise of India issued an essentially anti-Hindu appeal,cleverly loaded with the rhetoric of pluralism, democracy andsecularism and campaigned extensively to get important individualsand groups to endorse it.We are deeply concerned that social, especially communal,violence can seriously threaten India’s social and economicdevelopment. For the sake of future generations, we stand readyto join hands with our fellow Indians in urgent efforts to bringabout real changes for communal harmony and prosperity forall Indians, and pledge to work towards the Promise of India.We welcome like-minded individuals and organisations ofIndian origin from all over the world to endorse this appealand pledge to show their support for a Democratic, Secular,

Pluralistic and United India.NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 175Now people do understand the politics behind suchformations and appeals and the signatories to the appeal areIndian society’s embodiments of anti-Hindu pluralism andsecularism. 5 I must confess, however, that I was surprised to seeSri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living, Delhi as one of the signatoriesand am convinced that he was probably conned into endorsingthe appeal. Promise of India organised a conference ‘LinkingPeace and Development’ in January 2004. The objective of theconference can be gauged from its own statement—Approach: Presentations by distinguished speakersrepresenting grass root NGOs, business, justice and lawenforcement, the media, and activists working for communalharmony. Speakers were asked to share their views on recentevents in India—including the violence in Gujarat—and exploreconcrete ideas for promoting communal harmony, and suggestways in which NRI/PIOs can help.The conference was structured with themes to facilitateparticipation of the usual suspects as main speakers – RajuRajagopal, Nirmala Deshpande, Admiral Ramdas, Aruna Roy,Harsh Mander, Tarun Tejpal, Prof. Imtiaz Ahmed, SwamiAgnivesh and Father Cedric Prakash among others. The secondconference scheduled for January 2005 had the theme ‘MakingPeace with Diversity and Development’. As I remarked before,you cannot accuse these worthies of originality. They recyclethe same words, same ideas and same issues in new permutationsand combinations.The speakers at the second conference were supposed tohave been Shashi Tharoor, Rev.Valson Thampu, Mallika Sarabhai,and Javed Akhtar among others. But the devastating tsunamithat ravaged parts of India forced the group to cancel theconference and there are reports that in January 2006, less thanhalf the number of NRIs compared to last year’s number visitedIndia for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas probably because it is theCongress-led anti-Hindu UPA Government which is at the centre.

176 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsAnd since I see no reports on the net about any POI conferencein January 2006, we may safely conclude that the emperor losthis second pair of clothes.4. Anyone can give or receive an awardOne unique method by which these stalwarts conduct theirself-promotional campaigns is to get one component of the coalitionto confer awards on another component. This tactic is similar tothat which is employed by the ‘eminent historians’ club whereRomila Thapar will make adulatory references to Irfan Habiband Irfan Habib will extol the works of S Gopal and so on. Hinduswho lived through the trauma of Jayalalithaa unleashing demoniacforces which arrested and incarcerated the two venerableAcharyas of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham remember how barelya few months before she embarked on this asuric invasion, shehad been awarded the title of ‘Golden Star’ by some unknownand insignificant human rights organisation with roots in theUkraine. Jayalalithaa celebrated the obscure (Christian?) anddubious award with a self-congratulatory orgy. There were streetslogans on house walls, huge life-sized and larger-than-life postersof the lady, eulogizing her for receiving the human rights award.As I said, just about anyone can give or take an award; but whensuch awards are given to politicians it is usually given eitherexpecting a favour involving use of political power or as anexpression of gratitude for favours already bestowed.5. The Indian Muslim Council (IMC) – USAThe IMC-USA, one of the member organisations of theCoalition against Genocide, since its birth in 2002, has beengenerous in this regard and very purposeful in the innumerableawards that it has given precisely with this objective – expectingor returning favours. The IMC-USA crowned Shrikumar Poddarwith the (not surprising at all) Bahadur Shah Zafar award ‘forpromoting pluralism and community harmony in India’. 6Now this is weird; Shrikumar Poddar and other NRIs arebeing conferred awards by the IMC-USA for their work inIndia – ‘promoting pluralism and community harmony in India,for selfless service towards the uplift of the poor and the oppressed

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 177classes in India, for selfless service towards the uplift of Muslimsin India and for courageously serving India and India’s interests.’One would have thought that such a gigantic task would involvea life-time’s dedication if even one small pocket in India has toyield expected results. And yet the IMC-USA is bestowing theseawards to non-resident Indians residing in the US! As I said,just anyone can give and receive awards.In October 2005, the IMC-USA, at its third annual conventionin Detroit, conferred upon American Congressman John Conyersthe Malik Al-Shabbazz award for ‘his leadership in the field ofhuman rights.’ Originality, it would seem, is not the forte of theIMC-USA too. Accepting the award, the American Congressman,living up to my generally poor opinion of the intelligence of theaverage American politician and completely in keeping with thenew American policy of courting and wooing Muslims as a sopto soften them over what is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan andnow Iran, made gratifying noises about the persecuted religiousminorities in India. He is also reported to have congratulatedthe Muslims in India for fighting religious persecution ‘adoptingnon-violence as the way to do so just as Gandhi and King haddone.’ Conyers obviously hadn’t heard about the bloody vivisectionof 1947 or about the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus by the KashmiriMuslims in Jammu and Kashmir. Talk about ignorance beingbliss or was the Congressman too singing for his supper? 7The award was bestowed upon the Congressman as arewarding carrot for having moved a resolution in Congress inMarch of the same year to prevail upon the US State Departmentto deny Narendra Modi a visa to visit the USA.6. The mind-boggling ‘peace’ and ‘human rights’ industryThe ‘peace’ and ‘conflict resolution’ industry is as big asthe ‘for-profit’ arms industry that creates the conditions forconflict resolution in the first place. There is a plethora of ‘peaceand conflict studies’ think-tanks, which have mushroomedaround the world to match the ‘peace and conflict resolution’NGO industry – both often funded by the same governments,international organisations, foundations and trusts. ‘Peace’,human rights and conflict studies and resolution have acquired

178 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundstheir current high profile status consequent to theirtransformation into political and strategic tools of containmentin world affairs.Martin Macwan, a Christian from Gujarat, was awardedthe Magsaysay in 2000. The same year, he was also awardedthe 17th Annual Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award. ‘Inmy view, the most significant factor in selecting Martin for theaward was the potential impact given the size of the Indianpopulation—160 million—whose rights are being violated becausethey are Dalits,’ said RFK Human Rights award judge, SergioAguayo Quezada, former President of the Mexican Academyfor Human Rights. ‘The Indian Government has been able toevade its responsibility to uphold the human rights of the dalitbecause of the indifference of the international community’ (http://www.uua.org/international/holdeen/macwankennedy.html).Surely, by the same token, considering the pervasive andsystemic racist discrimination/abuse in the US and other WhiteEuropean countries, particularly in the police and academia (Iam not even going into the abuses perpetrated by state agencieson non-White, non-Christian peoples in the guise of ‘war onterror’) American and European governments can also be saidto be ‘evading their responsibility to uphold human rights’ ofthe non-White, non-Christian peoples in their countries becauseof the craven cowardice and complicity of the ‘internationalcommunity’ (whatever that may mean).But the shameless double standards on human rightsnotwithstanding, Brown and White Christian missionaries, withthe overt backing of White Christian Governments and theirhuman rights organisations, promote and campaign for ‘dalithuman rights’ abroad because, along with ‘women’s human rights’,this is the biggest money and award-spinning global racket withpolitical objectives.It is claimed that Martin Macwan’s work was brought tothe attention of the judges by William Schulz of AmnestyInternational, Smita Narula of Human Rights Watch, and KathySreedhar of the Holdeen India Fund. Voila!! The same year HumanRights Watch, the all-US competitor in the human rights industryto Amnesty International, ‘honoured’ Macwan at the 2000 Human

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 179Rights Watch Annual Dinners, in New York and Los Angeles.7. Awardees Gallery• Mahasweta Devi, champion of tribal rights was awardedthe Magsaysay in 1997.• Aruna Roy was awarded the Magsaysay in 2000.• Martin Macwan was also awarded the Magsaysay in 2000.• Praful Bidwai and Achin Vanaik were awarded the SeanMacbride Peace Prize in 2000.• Sandeep Pandey was awarded the Magsaysay in 2002.• Bharat Koirala the Nepalese journalist and founder NepalPress Institute was awarded the Magsaysay in 2002 forunleashing the anti-Hindu process in Nepal.• Arundhati Roy was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize for2004• Nirmala Deshpande and Admiral Ramdas were jointlyawarded the Magsaysay in 2005.• Both Nirmala Deshpande and Mahasweta Devi have beenconferred the Padma Vibhushan award in January 2006 bythe UPA Government .The popular misconception about the Magsaysay award isthat it is an ‘Asian’ award. It is not. It is an American award forAsians. These annual awards, given to Asians under differentcategories, were constituted in the late 1950s by the RockefellerBrothers Foundation in memory of Ramon Magsaysay, the formerPresident of the Philippines. A significant portion of the moneycomponent of this award is donated by the Ford Foundation.The political objective of the Magsaysay award is obvious fromthe choice of awardees.The Sean Macbride Peace Prize was constituted by theInternational Peace Bureau in 1992 in memory of Sean Macbride,a fierce Irish nationalist himself and son of Irish nationalist parents.Member of Fianna Fail and later Chief of Staff of the dreadedIRA, Sean Macbride parted ways with the violent IRA, becamea member of the Bar and was also the foreign minister in theIrish Government. Co-founder of Amnesty International, Sean

180 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsMacbride was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974. Readersmust keep this very brief history of Sean Macbride in mind withregard to what follows later in this chapter about Akhila Ramanand her views on Jammu and Kashmir.Digging into the profiles of these ‘peace’ awardees, I stumbledupon an amazing and mind-boggling connectivity of powerfulforeign agents and their domestic stooges. Somehow there is alwaysa White Christian/ Western Government hand behind efforts toweaken the forces of Hindu nationalism. As pointed out earlier,Martin Macwan, a Christian from Gujarat, was awarded theMagsaysay in 2000. The same year he was also ‘honoured’ byHuman Rights Watch for being a ‘human rights defender’. Thesame year he was given the Robert F Kennedy Human RightsAward. Macwan’s work, as also pointed out earlier, was broughtto the attention of the RFK Human Rights award judges by WilliamSchulz of Amnesty International, Smita Narula of Human RightsWatch, and Kathy Sreedhar of the Holdeen India Fund. Now letus take this step by step.William Schulz is actually Reverend William Schulz andhe is the current President of Amnesty International and he isa White Christian. Amnesty International, let us understand,will never be headed by a Hindu, a Native American, not evenby a white-skinned American ex-Christian who is now Buddhistor worse, a Hindu. Amnesty International will never be headedby an Asian or an African. And neither will Human Rights Watchor the White House or 10 Downing Street or any of the ultimateseats of power in Europe and America. I dare the New YorkTimes to write an editorial on these racist/fascist tendencies ofWhite/Christian polity of Western nations which adamantlyrefuse to share power with their non-White, non-Christiancitizens with the same ferocity that it wrote the editorial whennationalist Indians refused to allow Sonia Gandhi to become primeminister—all their pious protestations about human rights,democracy and religious freedom notwithstanding!William Schulz is also the past President of UUA – UnitarianUniversalist Association, an American denominational church.It is a self-proclaimed ‘liberal religious group’ and says it has afew Buddhists in its congregation just as the Coalition against

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 181Genocide claims it is multi-religious in character. But we shouldknow it is a Rev. Olivia Holmes who is Director of the UUAOffice of International Relations and a Rev. Meg Riley who isthe Director of the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy andit is a Rev. Burton Carley who is on its Board of Advisers.Jonathan Holdeen, a UUA member, bequeathed a generousfund for Christian charity and missionary work in India – andthe Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Programme (UUHIP)came into being. ‘The Unitarian Universalist Holdeen IndiaProgram (UUHIP) was established thanks to a generous bequestto the UUA from Jonathan Holdeen, a businessman and attorneywith an interest in assisting the most impoverished people ofIndia’ is how their website puts it.This dear White Christian compassion for the poor brownpeople of India is overwhelming. Poverty, like peace-keeping andhuman rights, is thriving business for the rich and the enterprisingamong the White Christians. It is almost as if they have no avenuesfor Christian compassion and charity closer to home.Kathy Sreedhar, a White Christian (what else!) is theExecutive Director (she is also described as Title Director) ofUUHIP and she is Martin Macwan’s patron saint. Let us pausea moment here with Kathy Sreedhar. Kathy Sreedhar writes thefollowing on the Gujarat riots dated 22 August, 2002. I thinkher writing comes competitively close to George W Bush’s juvenilesimplicity, ‘Al Qaeeda is bad, Al Qaeeda hates us’.The riots are an expression of a long-standing campaign byfundamentalists to change India from a secular to a Hindureligious state. At the time of independence in 1947, Gandhi’svision of a secular state that embraced all Indians triumphed,yet a minority view persisted in favor of an overtly Hindubasednation.In 1992, fundamentalist mobs burned down the Babri Mosque,a Muslim holy place, and declared they would replace it witha Hindu temple to Ram.You can imagine how difficult it is for our Indian partners,committed as they are to the secular ideal of Gandhi and hissuccessors, to deal constantly with deeply prejudiced

182 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsgovernment officials. (http://www.uua.org/news/2002/020822.html).I didn’t know that the Babri ‘Mosque’ was burned. I didn’tknow you could burn stone for that matter unless Kathy Sreedharknows something about stones that Indians don’t know. It isalso news to Indians that Gandhiji had a ‘secular ideal’, withhis intuition bordering on the genius and with his passionateespousal of Ramrajya, or that he ever believed in the Fool’s Paradisecalled secular India. But this kind of writing serves two purposes– it hides the right to evangelise and convert Hindus by foreignChristian missionaries under the cloak of ‘secularism’ and alsohelps raise Christian conscience money in small coins and bignotes in the churches back home in the US for NGO activismand proselytising missions in India. Read this:Then SEWA [Self-Employed Women’s Association, UUHIP’s‘partner’ in India] began marketing the goods outside the camps,including the United States, where a delegation of SEWAcraftswomen exhibited and sold their wares at theSmithsonian’s annual Folk Festival on the Mall in Washington.Possibly some of you visiting Washington during late June andearly July had the opportunity to speak with the craftswomenat their stalls and buy their beautiful scarves, table and bedlinens, bags, and other items. Members of the Cedar Lane UUChurch in Bethesda, Maryland, bought more than $1500 worthof SEWA’s textiles after I spoke with them about the riots. (samesource as cited above)Kathy Sreedhar was also Member of the Council on ForeignRelations’ (CFR) Task Force on India and Pakistan, which releasedits two-year report. This Task Force is different from the CFRTask Force which included Frank G Wisner II, former USAmbassador to India and which presented a report in October2003 on US Policy towards India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.Council on Foreign Relations is an independent American thinktankwith international political and strategic intentions, with adefinite agenda on India, on Jammu and Kashmir in particular.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 183It is also the publisher of Foreign Affairs, a reputed bi-monthlyjournal on international affairs. And if Kathy Sreedhar has beena member of CFR then her intentions in India are neither socialnor charitable. And that is why Kathy Sreedhar is in Gujarat, asensitive border-state and SEWA which has a significant presencealso in Gujarat is being funded by UUHIP. Kathy Sreedhar hasalso declared her intention to shift her focus to Uttar Pradesh.After the close of the World Social Forum, Kathy will travelwith FGHR (Fund for Global Human Rights) to Uttar Pradesh,one of the poorest and most violent states in India, with apopulation so large it would rank as the eighth largest countryin the world. Kathy and Mona Khan of the FGHR will meetwomen and dalit human rights leaders and activists to identifythe most pressing human rights issues in UP, as well as themost critical support required to ‘grow’ human rightsorganisations and movements in UP (Unitarian UniversalistHoldeen India Program Report to the UUA Board of Trustees,December 2003).As stated earlier in this chapter, NGO activism in India centersaround just four or five issues – anti-nation and anti-nationalborders, anti-police and armed forces, anti-RSS and BJP, andanti-Hindu society (among Hindu women, so-called dalits andtribal peoples) The UUHIP has fraternal relations with AmnestyInternational and Human Rights Watch (HRW). One of the majordonors of HRW is George Soros and Soros does not put his moneyinto things from which there are no returns. He is typical of theculture, which says ‘There are no free lunches’. George Soros,his publisher Peter Osmos and William D Zabel, his legal adviser,and a few more of his dependants are all important functionariesin HRW. In the advisory committee of HRW are also servingand past members and Fellows of Council on Foreign Relations.George Soros, besides being a major donor to HRW, is also onthe Board of Directors of the CFR. Oxfam too is a major donorto HRW.This is just one thread of the global network operating inthe border states of India. There is another thread, equally mind-

184 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsboggling, of powerful international agencies which come togetheras ‘partners’ to fund NGOs working among dalits and women.Let us look at this mind-boggling network of foreign donor agenciesin the racket to work in ‘health and women’s welfare’.Friends of Women’s World Banking India, FWWB is a nonprofitorganisation and was established as an affiliate of Women’sWorld Banking (WWB) in 1982. It was created to extend as wellas expand informal credit support and networks within India.FWWB has built a network of nearly 80 NGOs in different statesacross India. To carry out its various activities, FWWB is supportedby partners from within the country and outside. Ford Foundationhas been one of the earliest donor agencies to recognize FWWB,and has been supporting FWWB since 1991. Other long-standingpartners include USAID, DFID, PATH, UU Holdeen India Fund,NABARD and SIDBI.USAID is an extended arm of the US Government as is DFID,Department for International Development, an extended armof the British Government. PATH is ‘involved’ with health and,what is most surprising, or should I say, what doesn’t surpriseme at all is the composition of its Board of Directors – personsfrom CFR, HRW and US Government officials (http://www.path.org/about/board_directors.htm). Please note thatwhile NABARD and SIDBI partner UUHIP which is an Americanchurch group along with USAID and DFID, none of them hasentered into partnerships with IDRF, with the RSS, theRamakrishna Mission or the Chinmaya Mission, perhaps becausethese are Hindu organisations.Two other big donors for NGO activism among women arethe Ashoka Innovators for the Public (AIP) and Women’s FundingNetwork. Lest readers are deceived into believing that the AIPis Indian, Ashoka Innovators for the Public is an American fundingagency which also offers Ashoka Fellowships. This is how theirwebsite describes the organisation and its objective:Ashoka was founded by Bill Drayton, a former McKinsey &Co. consultant and assistant administrator at the EnvironmentalProtection Agency. Drayton piloted Ashoka in India with abudget of less than $50,000. Today, Ashoka spends more than

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 185$17 million a year financing its fellows around the world andsome of the projects supported by AIP and Women’s FundingNetwork include – Recovery for victims of sexual abuse, Projectto prevent incest/child sexual abuse, Rural, dalit womenorganise violence prevention, health education for dalit womenand girls, and Sewing co-operative for isolated Muslim women.8. ‘Dalits’, Bleeding heart evangelical Christians, and WhiteChristian States – shameless double standardsChristian missionaries, Brown and White, stage-managedthe Indian performance in Durban 2001 when they got MartinMacwan to equate caste with racism. Caste derives from Latin‘casta’ which means ‘race’ or ‘breed’. Sixteenth century Portuguesetraders first used the word ‘casta’ to denote jaati, varna andkula – all of which Hindu concepts have specific meanings andpurpose, and none of these Hindu social ordering/organisingprinciples mention an ‘untouchable’ sect. But this historical truthis of no consequence to this anti-Hindu coterie which has maderepeat-the-lie-until-it-seems-true the leitmotif of all their activism.Equating the practice of untouchability, a later-day evil and ossifiedsocial practice with caste or with jaati, kula and varna was adeliberate and calculated White/colonial/Christian ploy todefame, tarnish and eventually fragment traditional Hindu socialstructures.Without going into details of how enlightened Hindus havedealt with the unconscionable practice of untouchability, let usaudit the record of the Church in India with regard to the dalits.The dalits, or ‘harijans’ as Gandhiji called them, constitute15 percent of the total Indian population and 20 percent of theHindu population. As per the 2001 census, there are 24.20 millionChristians in India of which the Christians of South India constitute12.5 million, more than half the total Christian population ofIndia, and those of the North-East, 5.4 million. The total populationof Tamil Nadu Christians is 3.8 million, Karnataka one million,Kerala 6 million, Andhra Pradesh 1.2 million and Goa 0.4 million.Dalits constitute 65 percent of the total South Indian Christianpopulation. Some Christian groups even claim that dalitsconstitute 70 percent of the Christians of Tamil Nadu. But the

186 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundssecular intellectuals of this country and the US State Department,who screech that religious freedom includes the right of Christianmissionaries to convert Hindus, have not cared to answer thepertinent question, ‘What is the attitude of the Church and itshierarchy to social empowerment of dalit Christians within thecommunity given the high percentage of the dalits and tribalpeoples in the total Christian population and the power-sharingequation in the Christian hierarchy between the priests belongingto the upper castes and the dalits?’As per the data currently available on the Catholic BishopsConference of India website,The CBCI has over 200 members-bishops from the Latin, Syro-Malabar and the Syro-Malankara ecclesial traditions in thecountry among whom are 155 heads of the dioceses, of whomthere are 3 cardinals, 29 archbishops and 123 bishops. Thereare 2 co-adjutor bishops (one of whom is a co-adjutorarchbishop), 12 auxiliary bishops and 36 retired bishops.A squeamish media and dishonest activists taking up thecause of dalits in Durban, in the US State Department and inthe European Parliament have never summoned the courage toask the Catholic Church to make public the number of dalit andtribal bishops, archbishops and cardinals in their fold. Exceptfor Goa and Kerala, in the rest of India, dalits and tribal peopleconstitute the major percentage of Christians and yet the Christianswho claim that the dalits are voluntarily converting to the Christianfaith to end discrimination and to empower themselves, havenot told us how many dalits and tribal people have been elevatedto the highest positions of bishops, vicars-general, priests, directors,professors in seminaries, and surgeons and heads of departmentsin their hospitals and medical colleges. The Christian communityhas not told us if their premier educational institutions reserve30% of their seats for dalit Christian students, if at least 30%reservation is maintained in the recruitment of dalit teachersand professors in St. Stephen’s in New Delhi, in Loyola Collegein Chennai and in Christian Medical College, Vellore. What isthe power-sharing equation of the positions held by upper-caste

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 187and dalit Christians in the schools, colleges and hospitals run bythe Christian missionaries in this country? How many dalit ortribal Christians have risen to the highest positions in theseChristian social, educational and religious organisations? Unaskedand unanswered questions, these.Anti-Hindu activists working for the ‘dalit cause’ have notdared to address themselves to this question just as the US hasnot dared to address itself to the issue of its flawed democracy.In the US, which prides itself on being the world’s oldestdemocracy, even after centuries of democracy, no woman andno African-American, Jew, Hindu or Muslim has ever beenconsidered to even participate in the race for the White House.And the US State Department and the USCIRF lecture to theIndian Government on human rights of dalits and women!Notwithstanding American double-standards on equal rights andreligious freedom, Nirmala Deshpande, Teesta Setalvad, JohnDayal, John Prabhudoss, Cedric Prakash, Kamal Mitra Chenoyand others routinely depose against the Hindu community beforethe United States Commission on International Religious Freedomand the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, HumanRights and Labor!!Let us see what one of the highest-ranking members of theVatican hierarchy has to say in this regard. Archbishop GeorgeZus, apostolic pro-nuncio to India, addressed the Catholic Bishops’Council in December 1991, in Pune. In his inaugural address tothe Catholic Bishops, he stated, ‘The dalit Christians make 65percent of the ten million Christians in the South, but less than 4percent of the parishes are entrusted to dalit priests. There areno dalits among the 13 Catholic Bishops’ Council of Tamil Naduor among the Vicars-general and the Rectors of seminaries andDirectors of social assistance centres’ (‘Dalits in India’ by JohnMassey, Manohar Publications, New Delhi, 1995: 82). John Masseyis a Punjabi ‘dalit Christian’. The secular intellectual establishmentand the Christian community it seems is ignorant about thissimmering discontent among the dalits who converted to theChristian faith hoping to be empowered. And yet, the dalits stillwithin the Hindu fold have risen to the highest positions in allwalks of life including to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sadly, little haschanged in 2006 for the dalits within the Christian fold.

188 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsMuch noise is also made about the despicable practice ofuntouchability which is placed at the door of Hindu dharmaeven though there is no religious sanction for it in the religiouscontent of our traditions. Be that as it may but untouchability isnot the only form of discrimination faced by the dalits. Thereare other forms of discrimination too and, as shown above, theseconcern their positions in the Christian institutions and theirmarriage practices. What is the percentage of inter-caste marriagesamong the Christians belonging to the upper-castes and howmany of the upper-caste converts to Christianity have marriedinto families of the dalit Christians? How many upper-casteChristians will accept the holy water from a dalit Christian priest,if any, and in how many churches and cemeteries have wallsbeen erected to separate the upper-caste laity from the dalits, indeath as in life? If dalits are indeed converting to Christianity,not because of force, allurement or coercion, but voluntarily toempower themselves, to end discrimination and to improve thequality of their lives, then it is relevant to ask our editorialistsand human rights activists, how many have indeed been so‘empowered’ in Christian institutions and organisations and ifsocial discrimination of the dalits within Christianity has indeedended.9. What they say and write ?As stated earlier, all NGO and individual activism in peaceand human rights can be encompassed under four or five heads.The defining characteristics of their activism, their talks andwritings are:• Contemptuous, vicious language with regard to theRSS, Hinduism and nationalism;• Shallow and often puerile intellectual argumentswhich do not withstand critical scrutiny. Thereforethese activists never come face to face with Hindunationalists but prefer to hit and run with theirwritings and talks from forums which cater to acaptive, uncritical audience;• Brazen double standards on what constitutesterrorism and what merits intellectual defense and

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 189advocacy;• Their hitherto unexposed but consistent support forNaxal terrorism, for Maoism, their advocacy missionfor Christian and Islamic terrorists in the North-Eastand in Jammu & Kashmir;• Their virulent anti-police and anti-armed forcesposture even on foreign soil;• Their contempt for democracy, democratic processand democratic institutions.As I proceed with quoting all of these activists verbatimfrom their talks and writings, readers will see that their positionon issues and their methodology in activism fit into the patternsdescribed above.10. Pet obsessions and posturingThe bedrock of Hindu society is its stability, which derivesfrom the high place accorded to the institutions of marriage andfamily and the disciplines called for from all members to keepboth institutions enduring and lasting. One of the disciplinesexhorted upon members is physical and sexual discipline, whichcan be achieved only with the mandatory mental discipline.Terming such disciplines ‘repressive’ and ‘oppressive’, NGOactivism among our women and the public posturing of these‘liberal’ activists on marriage and family aims at weakening ourvalue systems which in turn is intended to weaken these basicinstitutions that keep Hindu society stable and contented.But for all their ‘liberal’ and anarchic posturing on anti-Nation and anti-Hindu issues most of these NGOs and individualactivists suffer from an obsession with sex. Several of the foreigndonor agencies support advocacy projects dealing with victimsof rape, sexual violence, child sexual abuse, incest, lesbianismand homosexuality. Praful Bidwai is obsessed about the sexualdeprivation ‘suffered’ by RSS pracharaks while Arundhati Royuses sexual metaphors to describe the things she abhors.While all premier 24-hour English and Hindi news channelschurn out sob stuff of homosexual and lesbian predilections amongthe young and not so young in Hindu society, our award-winningactivists and their support staff in the media, film and academic

190 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundscircles campaign against the injustices of Hindu society againstHindu women. Deepa Mehta’s presentation of Hindu womenin her films ‘Fire’ and ‘Water’ are cases in point. (Even Mehta’s‘creative’ and ‘imaginative’ films do not present Muslim or Christianwomen as suffering gross injustices within their families andcommunities). In an era of media and celebrity-promoted sexuallibertarianism and ‘alternate sexuality’ experimentation, thestability and the pervasive sense of well-being and prosperityaccruing to Hindu society from its religious and cultural valuesrooted in the sense of sanctity vested in marriage and familyand the ‘brahmacharya and sanyasa’ vrata of the RSS pracharaksfrightens these activists into frenzy.11. Arundhati Roy’s double standards on marriage and familyArundhati Roy writes and speaks for effect. She suffers froma delinquent propensity to shock people and her extremelyderogatory references to aspects of Hindu culture, nation, nationalsymbols and nationalism are intended for a foreign audiencewho have next to no knowledge about India or Hindus. Herundoubted felicity to play clever tricks with words which earnsher undeserved media space and attention is a calculated selfpromotionalexercise which gives her an illusory authority topronounce judgments on traditional articles of faith. WhiteChristian societies, which are going through a critical phase ofidentity crisis and a general erosion of faith in all social andreligious institutions, find fascinating her articulate but patentlycontrived irreverence.Given the way things have turned out, it’s easy for me to saythat I thank God that I had none of the conditioning that anormal, middle class Indian girl would have. I had no father,no presence of this man telling us that he would look after usand beat us occasionally in exchange. I didn’t have a caste,and I didn’t have a class, and I had no religion, no traditionalblinkers, no traditional lenses on my spectacles, which are veryhard to shrug off. I sometimes think I was perhaps the onlygirl in India whose mother said, “Whatever you do, don’t getmarried” [laughs]. For me, when I see a bride, it gives me a

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 191rash. I find them ghoulish, almost. I find it so frightening tosee this totally decorated, bejeweled creature who, as I wrotein The God of Small Things, is polishing firewood (http://www.the-south-asian.com/Sept2001/Arundhati_Roy-Interview2.htm).Consistent with this worldview, Roy’s mother Mary Roydragged her brother to court over what she considered wereunfair inheritance rights for daughters among the wealthy SyrianChristian community. Mary Roy, in the Supreme Court in 1983,challenged the Travancore Christian Succession Act, ‘whichdecreed that when a man died intestate, his widow had a merelife estate over a portion of the family property and that thedaughter shall receive a quarter of the share of the son, orRs 5,000, whichever is less.’ 8 Arundhati Roy’s progressive mothertook recourse to litigation to demand equitable inheritance rightsincluding ‘real estate property’ but her ‘progressive’ and anarchicdaughter terms as ‘communal Hindu fascists’ Hindu nationalistswho are fighting to protect India’s territory, the timeless Hinduhomeland for their progeny, which is their rightful inheritance,from predatory Islamic and Christian secessionist politico-religioustheology. ‘My and mine’ for the Roy women obviously appliesonly to their family inheritance and their rights over it but not to‘my nation’.In yet another instance of shameless double standards, MaryRoy, notwithstanding her silly advice to her daughter not to getmarried, was married and had Arundhati for child whileArundhati herself, even if brides give her a rash and even if shefinds resplendent brides ‘ghoulish’, is also well and truly married.I do not know what kind of father Arundhati Roy had or whatkind of brides she and her mother made when they married butif she can generalise about fathers and brides on the basis of herpersonal experience then so can hundreds of millions of Indianswho still think marriage, family and fathers are sacred and goodthings to have in life. But then normalcy of any kind is abhorrentto this breed of activists which postures for effect.

192 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds12. Arundhati Roy on nation, nationalism and national symbolsIn India, those of us who have expressed views on nuclearbombs, big dams, corporate globalisation and the rising threatof communal Hindu fascism—views that are at variance withthe Indian Government’s—are branded ‘anti-national’. Whilethis accusation does not fill me with indignation, it’s not anaccurate description of what I do or how I think. An ‘antinational’is a person is who is against his/her own nationand, by inference, is pro some other one. But it isn’t necessaryto be ‘anti-national’ to be deeply suspicious of all nationalism,to be anti-nationalism. Nationalism of one kind or anotherwas the cause of most of the genocide of the 20th century. Flagsare bits of coloured cloth that Governments use first to shrinkwrappeople’s minds and then as ceremonial shrouds to burythe dead. When independent, thinking people (and here I donot include the corporate media) begin to rally under flags,when writers, painters, musicians, film-makers suspend theirjudgment and blindly yoke their art to the service of the ‘nation’,it’s time for all of us to sit up and worry. In India, we saw ithappen soon after the nuclear tests in 1998 and during theKargil war against Pakistan in 1999 (‘Not again’ on the firstanniversary of 9/11).Speaking for myself, I’m no flag-waver, no patriot, and amfully aware that venality, brutality, and hypocrisy are imprintedon the leaden soul of every state. But when a country ceasesto be merely a country and becomes an empire, then the scaleof operations changes dramatically. So may I clarify that tonightI speak as a subject of the American Empire? I speak as a slavewho presumes to criticize her king (Instant-Mix ImperialDemocracy-Buy One, Get One Free, presented in New York Cityat the Riverside Church on May 13, 2003. The talk wasorganised by the Centre for Economic and Social Rights).Now we know why Arundhati Roy was awarded the Sydneyprize and why she accepted it while, typically of her doublestandards and public posturing, this Resident Non-Indian (RNI)refused to accept the Sahitya Akademi award in January 2006.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 19313. Arundhati Roy and the Sydney Peace PrizeAlan Cameron AM, Chairman of the Sydney PeaceFoundation, announced on May 28 that the Sydney Peace Prizejury has chosen the Indian novelist and human rights campaignerArundhati Roy as the recipient of the 2004 Sydney Peace PrizeThe jury’s citation reads, ‘Arundhati Roy has been recognizedfor her courage in campaigns for human rights and for heradvocacy of non violence, as expressed in her demands for justicefor the poor, for the victims of communal violence, for the millionsdisplaced by the Narmada Dam projects and by her oppositionto nuclear weapons.’ This was Alan Cameron’s way of pattingArundhati approvingly on the head for accepting to be a slavein the American Empire. A 21st century slave may criticize theking as long as she accepts she is a slave.From New Delhi, Ms Roy comments, ‘I am honoured to acceptthe prize.’ On non-violence as a criterion for the award, ArundhatiRoy saysToday, in a world convulsed by violence and unbelievablebrutality the lines between ‘us’ and ‘the terrorists’ have beencompletely blurred. We don’t have to choose betweenImperialism and Terrorism, we have to choose what form ofresistance will rid us of both. What shall we choose? Violenceor non-violence? We have to choose knowing that when weare violent to our enemies, we do violence to ourselves. Whenwe brutalise others, we brutalise ourselves. And eventually werun the risk of becoming our oppressors.Now Ms. Roy had to mouth these patently insincere butclever-sounding phrases because she wanted to accept the Whiteman’s ‘Peace’ prize while the truth is she is a firm-believer inviolence as a legitimate method of dissent and protest.Finding himself in a similar predicament, Sandeep Pandeyon being charged with being a communist was compelled to denythe accusation because, he claimed, the Magsaysay would neverhave been awarded to him had he been a Marxist/communist.But we all know he is lying. The truth is either that the RockefellerBrothers Foundation did not know that Sandeep Pandey was a

194 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsLeftist when they chose him for the Magsaysay award in 2000or that they did not care and, similarly, when Arundhati Roywas awarded the Sydney Peace Prize the Committee probablydid not know that she publicly supports violence and terrorismor did not care.14. The truth about Sandeep Pandey’s Leftist leanings andthe MagsaysayLet me begin with a brief timeline on this issue:2002 – Ramon Magsaysay Award in Emerging LeadershipCategory.2002 – Sandeep Pandey refuses the US$ 50,000 purse, whichcomes with the award (Now why would he do that?).November 2002 – Sandeep Pandey participates in the SeventhCongress of the CPI (ML) in Bihar and his presence is attestedto by the website news report of the CPI (ML).October 2004 – Sandeep Pandey through an acolyte in Princetonissues several clarifications among which he denies any linkswith the Left, text of which letter is available on the net.Now it doesn’t matter a whit to me if Sandeep Pandey isMarxist/Stalinist and leans precariously to the Left or if he is acaviar-consuming capitalist. But what matters is that sharpquestions from ASHA donors about his Marxist connections andfears of having the Magsaysay revoked compelled him to lie.Sandeep Pandey, like Arundhati Roy, values the awards bestowedon him by the White race and so Sandeep Pandey, having posturedto the world about the US being a terrorist state, postures againto return the money component of the award but gladly acceptsthe citation which he believes gives his political NGO activism aprestigious lift.15. Arundhati Roy, awardee, the Sydney ‘Peace’ Prizeadvocating violenceWhen every avenue of non-violent dissent is closed down, andeveryone who protests against the violation of their humanrights is called a terrorist, should we really be surprised if vast

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 195parts of the country are overrun by those who believe in armedstruggle and are more or less beyond the control of the state:in Kashmir, the north-eastern provinces, large parts of MadhyaPradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh.Thus spake Arundhati Roy, the defender of ‘peace’.Then, from the ruins of Afghanistan, from the rubble of Iraqand Chechnya, from the streets of occupied Palestine and themountains of Kashmir, from the hills and plains of Colombiaand the forests of Andhra Pradesh and Assam comes thechilling reply: ‘There’s no alternative but terrorism.’ Terrorism.Armed struggle. Insurgency. Call it what you want.Terrorism is vicious, ugly, and dehumanising for itsperpetrators, as well as its victims. But so is war. You couldsay that terrorism is the privatisation of war. Terrorists arethe free marketers of war. They are people who don’t believethat the state has a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.(Democracy Now! 24 August, 2004)That the history of oppressed and vanquished people remainsfor the large part unchronicled is a truism that does not applyonly to Savarna Hindus. If the politics of avenging historicalwrong is our chosen path, then surely the Dalits and Adivasisof India have the right to murder, arson and wantondestruction?When victims refuse to be victims, they are called terroristsand are dealt with as such. POTA is the broad-spectrumantibiotic for the disease of dissent.So how can ordinary people counter the assault of anincreasingly violent state?The space for non-violent civil disobedience has atrophied. Afterstruggling for several years, several non-violent peoples’resistance movements have come up against a wall and feelquite rightly, they have to now change direction. Views aboutwhat that direction should be are deeply polarised. There aresome who believe that an armed struggle is the only avenueleft. Others increasingly are beginning to feel they mustparticipate in electoral politics — enter the system, negotiate

196 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsfrom within. [Similar is it not, to the choices people faced inKashmir?] (This is based on the first I.G. Khan Memorial Lecturedelivered at Aligarh Muslim University on April 6, 2004 titled‘Kashmir: How deep shall we dig’)I have stated earlier that the lady speaks for effect and onthis occasion she was addressing the students and the teachingfaculty of the Aligarh Muslim University (from now ‘AMU Talk’).She has chosen the topic, the language and the metaphorsappropriate for a predominantly Muslim audience.16. Arundhati Roy and DemocracyArundhati Roy invoking the name ‘democracy’ whenevershe advocates revolution, rebellion, resistance and dissent is asfunny as Communist regimes of the world using the word‘Democratic’ and ‘Republic’ to name their countries – GermanDemocratic Republic, Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea,Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Lao People’s Democratic Republicand, of course, People’s Republic of China and Republic of Cuba.Far from being democratic, communist regimes like theircousins the holier-than-thou Western democracies are inherentlyanti-democratic and even despotic. And Arundhati Roy, cleverlypicking up the thread of deception from the communists, advocatesviolence even as she pretends to advocate democracy and nonviolence.Her talk, aimed at the Muslim student community inAMU, actually incites them to opt out of the democratic process.Sample this –So then, should we do what our Prime Minister suggests wedo? Renounce dissent and enter the fray of electoral politics?Join the road show? Participate in the shrill exchange ofmeaningless insults which serve only to hide what is otherwisean almost absolute consensus? Let’s not forget that on everymajor issue — nuclear bombs, big dams, the Babri Masjidcontroversy, and privatisation — the Congress sowed the seedsand the BJP swept in to reap the hideous harvest.This running down of all democratic traditions, procedures

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 197and institutions is typical of this breed of activists who compulsivelydon the attire of professional dissenters for acceptability withinthe constituency where they instigate and fan discontent leadingto rebellion and armed revolt. In the communally chargedatmosphere of AMU, Arundhati mocks our electoral process togoad the Muslim students to reject the democratic path fortransformation. And to make sure that the Muslim students areincited by her inflammable talk, she makes the clever and clichédreference to the Babri so-called masjid.This does not mean that the Parliament is of no consequenceand elections should be ignored. Of course there is a differencebetween an overtly communal party with fascist leanings andan opportunistically communal party. Of course there is adifference between a politics that openly, proudly preacheshatred and a politics that slyly pits people against each other.And of course we know that the legacy of one has led us tothe horror of the other. Between them they have eroded anyreal choice that parliamentary democracy is supposed toprovide.Personally, I don’t believe that entering the electoral fray is apath to alternative politics. Not because of that middle-classsqueamishness — ‘politics is dirty’ or ‘all politicians arecorrupt’, but because I believe that strategically battles mustbe waged from positions of strength, not weakness.The targets of the dual assault of communal fascism and neoliberalismare the poor and the minority communities who,as time goes by, are gradually being impoverished.Now let’s complete the Arundhati’s speak-cycle and see whatemerges. In this country, all non-Hindus and all non-upper-casteHindus are ‘victims’. When victims refuse to be victims they taketo violence and armed struggle to resist and protest. Arundhatithinks war is a public sector, Government-controlled enterpriseand victims-who-refuse-to-be-victims believe that Governmentshould not hold the monopoly on war and therefore they privatisethe war enterprise and the privatisation of the war industry iscalled ‘terrorism, insurgency, armed struggle, call it what you

198 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundswill.’ She doesn’t believe that the participation of ‘victims’ inelectoral politics is advisable because that is a sign of weaknessand ending of dissent. This means then, like alternate historyand alternate sex which these activists actively advocate, alternatepolitics is justified and alternate politics is a pseudonym for armedstruggle and violence against the Indian state and select targetsin civil society. Naxal terrorists, jihadis and evangelical Christianscan now smile smugly. They have been legitimised by the Goddessof Small Things.Having inflamed the largely Muslim audience with herirresponsible talk, Arundhati the ‘revolution manager’ then goeson to set them on fire with her diatribe against the Hindus. I willcite yet another portion of her talk at the AMU where she letsloose on the RSS and the BJP with language intended to incitehatred and evoke intense violence against the Hindu community.17. Arundhati Roy at the Aligarh Muslim University preachinghatredThere is little to distinguish between Arundhati Roy andJinnah if one were to go by the substance and language of theirtalk. Jinnah incited the Muslims towards secession when he spokeof the Indian National Congress (INC) being Hindu and logicallytherefore anti-Muslim. Arundhati Roy is currently inciting theMuslim youth to violence and possibly secession when she speaksof the RSS and the BJP as being Hindutva-fascists and logicallytherefore anti-Muslim. Whether it is Jinnah’s depiction of theINC or Roy’s description of the RSS, their targets are, in reality,the Hindu people. Both Jinnah and Roy were pitting the Muslimsagainst the Hindus, they were inciting the Muslims to rise againsta ‘state’ whose majority population was and continues to remainHindu. But then these cowards will never dare to publicly accusethe Hindus of anything. They will imply and insinuate that theHindus are ‘majoritarian’ but they will peg all accusations – fromkilling Mahatma Gandhi, the two-nation theory, communal riots,to alienating the so-called minorities, on the INC of yore and theRSS and the BJP today.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 199When we vote in these elections we will be voting to choosewhich political party we would like to invest the coercive,repressive powers of the state in.Right now in India we have to negotiate the dangerous crosscurrentsof neo-liberal capitalism and communal neo-fascism.While the word capitalism hasn’t completely lost its sheen yet,using the word fascism often causes offence. So we must askourselves, are we using the word loosely? Are we exaggeratingour situation, does what we are experiencing on a daily basisqualify as fascism?When a Government more or less openly supports a pogromagainst members of a minority community in which up to 2,000people are brutally killed, is it fascism? When women of thatcommunity are publicly raped and burned alive, is it fascism?When authorities see to it that nobody is punished for thesecrimes, is it fascism? When a 150,000 people are driven fromtheir homes, ghettoised and economically and sociallyboycotted, is it fascism? When the cultural guild that runs hatecamps across the country commands the respect and admirationof the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, the Law Minister,the Disinvestment Minister, is it fascism? When painters,writers, scholars and film-makers who protest are abused,threatened and have their work burned, banned and destroyed,is it fascism? When a Government issues an edict requiringthe arbitrary alteration of school history textbooks, is it fascism?When mobs attack and burn archives of ancient historicaldocuments, when every minor politician masquerades as aprofessional medieval historian and archaeologist, whenpainstaking scholarship is rubbished using baseless populistassertion, is it fascism? When murder, rape, arson and mobjustice are condoned by the party in power and its stable ofstock intellectuals as an appropriate response to a real orperceived historical wrong committed centuries ago, is itfascism? When the middle-class and the well-heeled pause amoment, tut-tut and then go on with their lives, is it fascism?When the Prime Minister who presides over all of this is hailedas a statesman and visionary, are we not laying the foundationsfor full-blown fascism?

200 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsNow that’s a pretty flighty description of fascism laced witha heavy dose of unbridled imagination and poetic license, includingtaking liberties with the numbers of the truth killed during theriots. As Krishen Kak states about Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy’sfellow-pilgrim on the road to peddling Gujarat falsehoods, thetwo Ladies Roy and all bleeding-heart human rights and ‘peace’activists, made a killing out of peddling untruths about the Gujaratriots. For one, all of them, without exception, grossly exaggeratedthe numbers of Muslims killed in the riots.Meanwhile, the ‘secular’ Government that [Aruna] Royofficially advised and oversaw announced in Parliament that254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed in Gujarat in thepost-Godhra violence. These figures remain unquestioned (andnote that ‘post-Godhra’ reduces the count of Hindus killed).(Krishen Kak in the chapter titled ‘Scoring against Paganism:Untangling the Manderweb’. The reference here is to theCongress-led UPA Government currently at the Centre).Roy, speaking to this Muslim audience, predictably doesnot have the courage to raise the issue of the vivisection of thenation in 1947 and the bloodbath that followed it nor of KashmiriHindus who were terrorised into fleeing the valley, not byPakistani jihadis let us remember, but by Indian Kashmiri SunniMuslims. Ms Roy has not been known to use this kind of languageagainst the local Kashmiri Sunni Muslims of the Kashmir valleynor has Arundhati Roy ever made mention of the Kashmiri Hindusstill living as refugees in our own land for more than 17 years.No clever talks abroad about the plight of the Kashmiri Hindus,no cute tricks with the language about Islamic jihadi terrorismwhich was homegrown and domestic in the 1980s. Pakistani-Punjabi terrorists and the fiction about ‘Kashmiriyat’ emergedon the scene much later. The origins of jihadi terrorism againstthe Hindus and the Indian state in Jammu and Kashmir wasentirely local Kashmiri Islamic terrorism, a little fact which ‘secular’India does not want to remember.One of her own breed of ‘peace’ activists does not seem tooimpressed with Roy’s flights of ‘fascist’ fancy and gives Arundhati

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 201a well-deserved, contemporary variant of the Victorian set-down.Achin Vanaik has this to say about the flippant and simplisticuse of the word ‘fascist’:Influential voices on the Indian Left have pointed to theauthoritarian structure of the RSS, its exclusionary doctrine,its use of mass spectacle, and the shakas’ combination ofideological indoctrination with the cult of masculinity, todescribe the Sangh as a fascist formation. The attempt to portrayneo-liberal restructuring as such a crisis, and the Sangh as afascism ‘to fit our times’, ignores the obvious fact that Indiancapital can hardly be said to confront a revolutionary challengefrom below. Rather it faces, with the decline of Congress, aproblem of political stability. The BJP, if it can provide the basisfor a new political centre in India, may prove a usefulinstrument; it is not required as a solution of last resort. Today’sneo-liberal restructuring can be housed in a variety of politicalregimes: Centre-Left or Centre-Right in the West, more or lesspopulist or authoritarian elsewhere. Although, ‘fascist’ as aterm of abuse will doubtless endure, the real nature of the Sanghis better grasped outside that paradigm. To characterise theBJP as a fascist threat not only grossly underestimates the trueimport of historical fascism, it encourages in the name of antifascism—strategicalliances by the Left with bourgeois forcesno less committed to neo-liberalism. The ultimate defeat or retreatof fascism from state power signaled its dissolution. This isnot so for the Sangh (‘The New Indian Right’, Achin Vanaik,New Left Review, May/June, 2001).18. Arundhati Roy on Narendra Modi and Praveen TogadiyaAt the World Social Forum in Mumbai in January 2004,Arundhati Roy made tasteless remarks against Narendra Modi,Chief Minister of Gujarat and Pravin Togadiya of the VishwaHindu Parishad. Arundhati Roy was addressing, let us remember,an international gathering of NGOs from different countries andshe could pretend as though Hindu-Muslim riots were happeningfor the first time in India when they happened in Gujarat in2002 and she could insinuate, like her other NGO activist friends

202 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsand collaborators, that the riots happened only because Gujaratwas ruled by the BJP and the BJP-led NDA was ruling at thecentre.Most nations have adequately hideous family secrets. So it isn’toften necessary for the media to lie. It’s what’s emphasisedand what’s ignored. Say for example, India was chosen as thetarget for a righteous war. The fact that about 80,000 peoplehave been killed in Kashmir since 1989, most of them Muslim,most of them by Indian Security Forces (making the averagedeath toll about 6000 a year); the fact that less than a yearago, in March of 2003, more than two thousand Muslims weremurdered on the streets of Gujarat, that women were gangrapedand children were burned alive and a 150,000 peopledriven from their homes while the police and administrationwatched, and sometimes actively participated; the fact that noone has been punished for these crimes and the Governmentthat oversaw them was re-elected all of this would make perfectheadlines in international newspapers in the run-up to war.Next we know, our cities will be leveled by cruise missiles,our villages fenced in with razor wire, US soldiers will patrolour streets and Narendra Modi, Pravin Togadia or any of ourpopular bigots could, like Saddam Hussein, be in US custody,having their hair checked for lice and the fillings in their teethexamined on prime-time TV. But as long as our ‘markets’ areopen, as long as corporations like Enron, Bechtel, Halliburton,Arthur Andersen are given a free hand, our ‘democraticallyelected’ leaders can fearlessly blur the lines between democracy,majoritarianism and fascism. (‘Do turkeys enjoy Thanksgiving’,talk delivered by Roy at the World Social Forum in Mumbaiin January, 2004)Going by the last line it is almost as if Arundhati Roy regretsthat US economic interests in India did not permit it to invadeand occupy India to arrest Modi and Togadiya after the Gujaratriots.

19. Arundhati Roy on RamjanmabhumiNGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 203In Russia, they say the past is unpredictable. In India, fromour recent experience with school history textbooks, we knowhow true that is. Now all ‘pseudo-secularists’ have beenreduced to hoping that archaeologists digging under the BabriMasjid wouldn’t find the ruins of a Ram temple. But even if itwere true that there is a Hindu temple under every mosque inIndia, what was under the temple? Perhaps another Hindutemple to another god. Perhaps a Buddhist stupa. Most likelyan Adivasi shrine. History didn’t begin with SavarnaHinduism, did it? How deep shall we dig? How much shouldwe overturn? (AMU Talk)Oh, as deep shall we dig and as much will we overturn asthe collective memory of Hindus goes, of course! If, as Arundhatiis implying, there is Indian history prior to Hindu history or priorto ‘Savarna Hinduism” as she puts it with contrived originality,she must write to document it. Hindus who pulled down theBabri ‘masjid’ can prove that there is a Hindu shrine beneaththe mosque but can Arundhati Roy prove that there are othertemples and shrines beneath that? Then she certainly should dothat instead of letting fly trial balloons to a captive Muslim audience.Arundhati has been encouraged to fling mud, aspersions andfalsehoods unchallenged and with impunity because, afterAmartya Sen, she is the beneficiary of a mindless, panegyristmedia which wallows in her self-conscious pretensions.20. Roy on a speaking tour of Pakistan, regaling Pakistaniaudiences“The internationally acclaimed writer of ‘The God of SmallThings’ was the key speaker at the seminar and shared thepodium with former Foreign Minister Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali,Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Indian Express, N. Ram fromThe Hindu, and Najam Sethi, editor of The Daily Times” (http://www.dawn.com/2002/08/19/local2.htm)It’s only when you want to control somebody that you produce

204 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsa flag. While they talk about war, let’s focus on human evolutionand progress. These are the issues we should be thinking about,not these spurious theatrics of nation-states. Human societycannot exist when they are administered by nation-states andnation-states can’t survive with nuclear bombsWhen you are accused of being an anti-national, the unspokenthing is that you are anti this nation and pro some other nation.It’s not that I am an anti-national, but I am deeply, deeplysuspicious of nationalism, deeply suspicious of flags, thosefunny bits of cloth which shrink the human mind,” she saidamidst tumultuous applause.As thousands of people hung on Ms Roy’s every word, shesaid that following a military standoff between India andPakistan some months back, when foreigners had flown outand war correspondents had flown in, a lot of people had askedher whether or not she would leave the country. She said: “Iused to wonder where I would go. I used to think where I couldbuy a new life. I am certain that the reason why war talk startedin India was that the Government wanted to take world attentionaway from Gujarat.” She observed that the Indian Governmentshamelessly supported Narendra Modi “who oversaw thegenocide in Gujarat.”In a voice cracking with emotion, she said that if she receivedprior information that India was going to fire a nuclear missileat Pakistan, she would come here to receive it.Now that’s a real tempting notion!21. Double standards on terrorismThe hallmark of NGO and individual activism in peace andhuman rights is not only their double standards with regard toHindu and Muslim victims of riots and terrorism but also onwhat constitutes terrorism itself.After the Naxal bomb attack against Chief MinisterChandrababu Naidu near Tirupati on October 1, 2003,‘revolutionary balladeer Gadar’ had this to say, ‘As long as thereis hunger in the belly, the fire will continue to burn’, while Gautam

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 205Navlakha, human rights activist and associate editor of the Leftistjournal, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) remarked, ‘Theroot cause is India’s failure to bring any real transformation inthe countryside.’It is not just Gautam Navlakha, but all human rights and‘peace’ activists under the scanner in this book not only condonebut actively endorse Naxal terrorism.Anand Mohan Sahay writing from Patna, in his report titled,‘Faction to honour kin of 1000 Naxalites’, says:The Communist Party of India, Marxist Leninist Liberation,will honour the kin of about 1000 Naxalites, known as ‘comrademartyrs’, from Bihar who have been killed over the last threedecades of the peasant struggle. The ceremony will take placein Patna on November 30, the final day of the Seventh PartyCongress.About 800 delegates from across the country will attend theCongress, being held from November 25 to 30. Delegates fromcommunist parties of 13 countries will also join them.The public meeting to honour the family members will be heldat Gandhi Maidan, said Prabhat Kumar, office secretary of theparty’s state headquarters.This is the first time that the CPI-ML has compiled a list ofthe ‘heroes’ of the Naxalite movement in Bihar from 1970-2002.Prabhat Kumar said that in the last five years, at least 350 partycadres have been killed in Bihar alone.Several prominent social activists, environmentalists, andwriters-turned-activists like Mahashweta Devi, Arundhati Roy,Sandeep Pandey, Rajinder Sachar, Praful Bidwai, and AnandPatwardhan will attend the opening session of the Congress.I will make this point again – Mahashweta Devi and NirmalaDeshpande have both been conferred the Padma Vibhushan bythe current Nehruvian-secular UPA Government and one of thefirst things that this Government did after Government formationwas to confer the Padma Shri on Gladys Staines, the widow ofthe Australian evangelist Graham Staines. In keeping with theromantic notion that the Congress party was forced to entertain

206 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsabout Naxals and Naxal terrorism because of their co-habitationwith the communists at the centre in Delhi, the current Congresschief minister of Andhra Pradesh tried to romance the Naxalswith sweetly-worded offers of dialogue and ceasefire until groundreality of their terrorist intentions shattered his romantic delusions.The Congress was forced into this romance with the Naxals alsoas a quid pro quo gesture to the above-listed Marxist humanrights and peace activists who were in the forefront of the anti-RSS and anti-BJP campaign during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.As evident, Naxal terrorism has been condoned and supportedby these ‘peace’ and human rights activists on the ground thatthe root cause for Naxal terrorism is economic deprivation, andhas been in the forefront of castigating former chief minister ofAndhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu and the Andhra Pradeshpolice for their action against Naxal terrorists, and in the forefrontof waging a propaganda war against counter-insurgency measureswas the People’s Union for Civil Liberties or PUCL, generallybelieved to be the over-ground human rights face of theunderground Naxal terrorists. But fear of public opinion backlashagainst them has forced even these human rights activists, GautamNavlakha and KG Kannabiran, to pretend to distance themselvesfrom the brutality and venality of Naxal terrorism (Peace andIrresponsibility, EPW Commentary, March 26, 2005), just as thecommunist regimes in West Bengal and Kerala are compelled topretend to distance themselves from the brutality of Maoist terror.Marxism, Maoism, Naxalism, however, are all shades of the sameRed, and all human rights activists who condone their terrorismor campaign for their human rights also have the blood of thevictims on their hands.These activists offer the same explanation for terrorism inJammu and Kashmir too – that the Sunni Muslim population ofJ&K has taken to terrorism because they are poor, misguidedyouth in a state and region of poor economic development. Pooreconomic development and joblessness along with ‘sense ofalienation’ provide a one-size-fits-all fig leaf to cover the uglyface of all terrorism – Naxal terrorism, Islamic jihadi terrorismand North-East Christian terrorism.But when Governments apply themselves to addressing the

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 207question of economic development and progress in J&K, GautamNavlakha begins to sing another tune. Economic developmentis not enough, he maintains, only secession or the right to selfdeterminationwill fulfil the Kashmiri people’s aspirations andend Islamic terrorism. We can take it as understood that hisreasoning extends to Christian terrorism in the North-East too.In its maiden budget, the PDP-Congress Government in Jammuand Kashmir laid much stress on fiscal autonomy for the state.However, the counter-insurgency regime in the state remains inplace and the expenditure on this account will enormouslyincrease the financial burden in the coming years even as thereal sources to make J&K self-sufficient remain blocked. Whilefiscal autonomy can be read as an expression of the desire to befree, it cannot become a substitute for addressing thefundamental issue of the people’s right to decide their owndestiny. Consequently, while fiscal autonomy can be read as anexpression of a desire to be free, it cannot become a substitute foraddressing the fundamental quest of the people to decide theirown destiny (‘Kashmir: Political Economy of Fiscal Economy’,Gautam Navlakha, EPW Commentary, October 4, 2003).And again:But Governments tend to believe that either people’s resistancecan be blunted and/or acquiescence purchased by offering jobs,building roads and dams. The two-day visit, on November 17-18, 2004, by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was expectedto do just that. Valley-based newspapers next day carried detailsof briefing by unnamed sources who pointed out that the Rs.24,000 crore ‘plan’ only meant economic centralisation (‘Jammuand Kashmir: Autonomy via Control’, Gautam Navlakha, EPWCommentary, January 29, 2005)22. Praful Bidwai on the sexual deprivation of RSS pracharaksThat these NGOs and peace and human rights activists areanti-Hindu and anti-Nation in their intent has been demonstratedso far. They have striven hard to fragment Hindu society and

208 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsHindu consciousness but thanks to RSS work with Hindu societyin the remotest corners of this nation, the opposite is happening;Hindus are being welded together in a shared Hinduconsciousness. This is driving the NGO and peace and humanrights industry into frenzy. In sharp contrast to the awardsconferred by the IMC-USA on Indians residing in the US forlong-distance, short-duration advocacy-activism in India, the RSSworks overtime in villages and bastis, among the people,transforming their lives, keeping families and society togetherand revolutionising social attitudes without causing socialdisruption, with patience and with respect for the sanctity ofsocial structures. Arundhati Roy understands perfectly how theRSS works among the people and describes the angst of theseforeign-funded, anti-Hindu advocacy activists:However, being poor is not the same as being weak. Thestrength of the poor is not indoors in office buildings andcourtrooms. It’s outdoors, in the fields, the mountains, the rivervalleys, the city streets and university campuses of this country.That’s where negotiations must be held. That’s where the battlemust be waged.Right now those spaces have been ceded to the Hindu Right.Whatever anyone might think of their politics, it cannot bedenied that they’re out there, working extremely hard. As thestate abrogates its responsibilities and withdraws funds fromhealth, education and essential public services, the foot soldiersof the Sangh Parivar have moved in. Alongside their tens ofthousands of shakhas disseminating deadly propaganda, theyrun schools, hospitals, clinics, ambulance services, disastermanagement cells. They understand powerlessness. They alsounderstand that people, and particularly powerless people,have needs and desires that are not only practical humdrumday to day needs, but emotional, spiritual, recreational. Theyhave fashioned a hideous crucible into which the anger, thefrustration, the indignity of daily life, and dreams of a differentfuture can be decanted and directed to deadly purpose.(Arundhati Roy at the Aligarh Muslim University)

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 209As Arundhati Roy discovered, the RSS, with its uniqueformula for nation-building through social transformation, is theonly power which can neutralise and even render ineffectivethe NGOs and activists who destroy and fragment communitiesand families. The RSS has emerged as the only organised Hinduforce with the capacity to resist and even thwart efforts to fragmentHindu society and dismember this nation. The RSS, in short, isthe nation’s immune system and so frightening is the truth ofRSS power and resilience that Roy and her ilk employ the familiartactic of ridiculing that which they cannot confront in war. Thisis what Praful Bidwai has to say of the RSS:The Gujarat violence witnessed the highest level ofdevelopment of a peculiarly Indian variety of fascism or, if youprefer, neo-fascism, concentrated in a comprehensivelycommunalised state.Decoding Bidwai’s ‘comprehensively communalised state’–we must understand firstly that ‘communal’ in the lexicon ofthese activists means only Hindu consciousness. Muslimconsciousness is ‘secular’ if you are a non-Muslim and ‘sense ofalienation’ if you are a Muslim. And ‘comprehensivelycommunalised’ means Gujarati Hindus in all walks of life, stategovernment employees, professionals, police, judiciary and theordinary Hindu are all, without exception, conscious that theyare Hindus.The rampaging mobs in Gujarat were inspired by this veryidea — much in the way that the precursors to the Nazis weremotivated when ‘avenging’ Germany’s terrible ‘humiliation’in the First World War — a blow to the ‘honour’ and pride ofthe ‘German Race’ — through periodic pogroms against theJews and sensational acts of violence, as well as throughnurturing the cult of authority, which ultimately produced theGod-like image of the Fuehrer.Now this is very clever – Bidwai packs a lie in a historicaltruth so that his lie is also passed off as truth. The rampaging

210 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsmobs were not inspired by Hitler nor were they fighting for ‘honour’or ‘pride’. The enraged Hindus of Gujarat were retaliating,avenging, reacting (call it what you will) to the burning alive ofHindu pilgrims returning to Gujarat from Ayodhya. Bidwaideliberately does not mention either that killing or those whowere killed – the majority of whom were women and children.By hiding the truth of the killing in Godhra and by hiding thetruth that the majority of those killed were Hindu women andchildren, by equating the wounded Hindus of Gujarat to Hitler,Bidwai has unabashedly pursued not just an anti-BJP but ananti-Hindu agenda.It is relevant to ask why the authoritarian personality appealsto so many BJP supporters, why Narendra Modi became theparty’s principal crowd-puller during the election campaign.A tentative answer to the question might lie in the culture ofrepression that exists in society at so many levels — in thefamily, in social institutions such as schools, in personal andprofessional relationships, and especially in attitudes tosexuality.All Hindus and non-Hindus who support the BJP and votefor it in state and national elections, all those who assemble tohear Narendra Modi speak are sexually repressed. Conclusion:Only sexually repressed Hindus vote for the BJP.A number of surveys tell us that a majority of Indians aresexually inhibited and repressed. They do not know muchabout sex or eroticism, and talk even less about it in public.The subject of sex is taboo, just as kissing was for long in ourcommercial films. Often, sex is only discussed in hushed tonesand furtively in dark, shady clinics like ‘Hero Pharmacy’ whichpromise happy ‘married life’ — read, machismo overflowingwith testosterone — to frustrated, anguished young men whohave terrible insecurities about premature ejaculation andinsurmountable guilt about masturbation.There is a generalised climate of forced asceticism in manyparts of India. This is related to growing gendered violence,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 211harassment of women, bride-burning, and outright rape. Genderdiscrimination begins early. Different-sex teenagers do notinteract and play together except on pain of parentaldisapproval. They are taught to be chaste, ‘pure’ and celibate.Ascetism is practiced by Hindus, including within families,as a way of life. Observing several vratas, choosing to eat frugally,consciously choosing not to lead an ostentatious way of life, areall aspects of Hindu ascetism and practiced by all Hindus insome manner or other. Our Hindu gurus, acharyas and sanyasis,our mothers, our fathers and grandfathers and grandmothersare also the embodiment of ascetism. So, if Bidwai is right, ascetismand all Hindus who practice it are sexually repressed and arepotential perpetrators of ‘gendered violence, harassment of women,bride burning and outright rape’.Boys are told masturbation leads to loss of virility and mentaland spiritual power too. It is a sin. Girls are drilled intodisguising and suppressing their sensuality, and projectingfalse ‘modesty’. The family tightly controls women’s mobilityand sexuality. There can be little sexual freedom when thefamily’s objective is to turn women into baby-producing (andrearing)factories.Freud and Wilhelm Reich, and at another level, Michel Foucault,have extraordinary insights to offer on the relationship betweensexuality and society. For the Indian case, we must draw uponpsychologists such as Sudhir Kakar, author of numerous bookson sexuality, and now a fellow of Harvard. He argues thatthe transition did not happen suddenly. ‘Both the ascetic andthe erotic have always coexisted in our culture and in ourpeople’s psyche. The one or the other comes up in differentperiods. From the 4th to the 10th centuries, the eroticdominated. For the last 200 years, the ascetic has ruled.’This was itself the consequence of interplay between thepuritanical attitudes of the upper castes, especially Brahmins,and the Victorian morality of the conquering British. SaysKakar, ‘the two became powerful, if unconscious, allies of eachother in imposing stringent sexual mores and eroding people’s

212 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsfreedoms.’ The most fanatical representatives of these taboodrivenattitudes today are India’s arch-conservatives — theHindu Taliban.First it was Hitler, now it is the Taliban. A logical mindwould say the Brahmins of India are the Hindu Taliban. Theseare descriptions intended to evoke an image – truth of thecomparison be damned, and the image is intended to pit non-Brahmins against Brahmins. Like Arundhati Roy, Bidwai writesfor effect and writes to destroy the Hindu social fibre.Many Indian males have acute sexual anxieties, and are unableto relate to women as equals. “Psychoanalysts have anexplanation,” says Madhu Sarin, a philosopher who trainedas an analyst for 11 years in the US and India. “The Indianboy’s intimate relationship with the mother is abruptlyterminated at the age of five or six. This causes a traumaticloss. His instinctive reaction is to identify with the lost object.Unlike in the West, where the young boy fears the father’s envyand develops the ‘castration anxiety’ described by Freud, theIndian boy allies with the father against the mother, ratherthan as a competitive rival, in order to shore up his sense ofmasculinity. He sacrifices his libidinal urges towards women.”According to Sarin, this decisively affects many men’s longtermsexual attitudes, leaving them with deep-seated andenduring inhibitions towards women who are either idealisedor feared and, therefore, dominated. Many men cannot balancethe intimate and aggressive components of their sexuality.All this makes for terribly repressed personalities. It is tempingfor repressed men to gravitate towards an authority figure andvent their frustration through ritual violence — burning, killing,looting, of the kind witnessed in post-Godhra Gujarat. Suchaggressive traits tend to get especially concentrated andamplified in all-male groups such as the Hindu Taliban, whopursue shady agendas, and who mortally fear openness andaccountability. The Hindu Taliban pracharak, forced to beascetic, austere and celibate, is among the most repressed ofIndian males — and particularly prone to violence.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 213Now it is Bidwai’s turn to play clever tricks with wordsand their meanings, a la Arundhati Roy. Bidwai is equating‘authority figure’ with ‘authoritarianism’. Fathers, mothers,teachers, gurus, the boss at work, the editor, the President, judgesin a court, the temple deity are all ‘authority figures’. But if weread Bidwai without denuding his duplicitous intent, we willaccept his authority = authoritarianism formula and arrive atthe conclusion that all Hindus who accept the authority ofindividuals and institutions as necessary ‘ordering principles’are ‘terribly repressed personalities’ subjugated byauthoritarianism. By writing such puerile stuff Bidwai hopes topersuade the uncritical intellectual Hindu into doing the opposite.The opposite is to spit at all authority in order to proclaim we donot suffer from repressed personalities. Breaking laws and alibertarian attitude to sex proves we are not repressed, and anarchyis the most cherished objective of life. There are not many RSSpracharaks around. At best they may number in the severalhundreds. Not very difficult to check police records in that case.How many violence-prone ‘Taliban pracharaks’ does Bidwai knowof? If a pracharak is ‘violence prone’, he must be a repeatedoffender. If this is not an excellent case of libel and slander, Idon’t know what is. But then these anti-Hindu activists haveearned their bread, butter and caviar only by peddling such fastselling,anti-Hindu drivel.Such reactionary ideas are among the main inspirations of theHindu-fascist movement now unfolding before us. Central toit is a culture of authoritarianism — in society, in the family,in sexual relations. We cannot win the battle against Hindutvaunless we also fight repression and authoritarianism (http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1926/stories/20030103005211400.htm).And that is what Bidwai, Roy and Co. are doing. Whilethis group may still prefer normal, private lives (at least they arenot on record as having taken pride in being homosexuals orlesbians or that they sleep around as proof of fighting ‘repressionand authoritarianism’), they are instigating young boys and girls

214 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsin Hindu society to experiment with sexual libertarianism and‘alternate sexuality’ with the singular intent of shaking thefoundations of Hindu society – marriage and family.23. Nirmala Deshpande and Admiral Ramdas – perverting‘peace and democracy’Tweedledum Nirmala ‘Didi’ [‘Elder Sister’] Deshpande, theself-styled Gandhian, and Tweedledee Admiral Ramdas, the selfstyled‘peace warrior’, earned their Magsaysay for attempting‘peace’ with Pakistan and Nirmala Deshpande earned her PadmaVibhushan from a grateful UPA Government in 2006 forvoluntarily presenting an audit of her country in September 2003before the US State Department and before the US Commissionon International Religious Freedom. The UPA Government deeplyappreciated Nirmala Deshpande running whining to the USGovernment with complaints about the BJP and Narendra Modi.Didi is supposed to have shed agonised tears in the US StateDepartment over the fact that the US Government did not interferestrongly enough in the domestic affairs of India by failing tosend a ‘fact-finding’ team to Gujarat. I will come to DidiDeshpande’s other antics in just a while, but before that let uslook at the concept of ‘peace’ in geopolitics today and its role inAmerican foreign policy.The Indian state and India’s civil society are threatened bythree inimical international terrorist groups – Islamic jihad,evangelical Christian terrorism as in the North-East andcommunist/Marxist/Maoist/Naxalite terrorism. Organisedterrorist forces can be dealt with only by a determined state anda strong and well-organised society. In India, there are internalagents like the NGOs under the scanner in this book and the‘peace’ activists and their foreign masters who are determinedto weaken the political will of the state to deal with terrorismand also to ensure that Hindu society is never organised or strongenough to confront the threat posed by terrorism. A strong anddetermined Hindu society can deal with these disruptive internalforces and their instigators any time and render them irrelevantin public life if they continue to persist with their anti-Hinduobjectives and activities. But dealing with foreign forces calls for

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 215better understanding of geopolitics, much as I dislike using theword loosely. But geopolitics it is.NGO activism has centered on faulting state power andsocial initiative in dealing with the terrorists and this has beenamply demonstrated so far in this chapter. The weapons usedby this kind of activism are ‘peace’ and ‘human rights’ – conceptsnow transformed and sharpened as a foreign policy weapon bypowerful Western nations to keep some countries bleeding fromthe wounds caused by terrorism. The US government and theEuropean Union are two of the most powerful agencies promoting‘peace’ and human rights around the world today – as politicalobjectives serving their respective self-interests.The American establishment publicly acknowledges that ituses its diplomatic missions and its diplomatic corps to placethe governments of the world under surveillance to monitor theircommitment to human rights and religious freedom. Officialsfrom the US State Department and the United States Commissionon International Religious Freedom make periodic visits to thecountries of the world to collect information which is then usedin the annual reports that they issue on human rights and religiousfreedom. These reports are used as foreign policy weapons withthe threat of stopping American aid, American investments inthe country’s economy, and even sanctions if countries fail tocomply with American warning to ensure religious freedom andhuman rights. Needless to say, ‘religious freedom’ for the USState Department is the right of evangelical Christianity toproselytise and convert the gullible and the vulnerable.White Christian nations have also declared that they reservethe right to take recourse to military offensive against countriesthey think are persistently violating the human rights of its citizens,euphemistically called ‘humanitarian intervention’. This ispredicated on the arrogance that it is the White man’s burden toensure religious freedom and human rights around the worldand lesser countries must get used to ‘sharing sovereignty’ (aphrase I have used and explained in the introduction). Increasinglythose countries and leaders are coming under attack from theUS and its client Western nations where the US has political,strategic or economic interests and which are confronted by Islamic

216 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsjihad, evangelical Christianity or Maoist terror. Shrill cries ofpolice brutality, army high-handedness, draconian laws andhuman rights violations are orchestrated by foreign-funded humanrights organisations and anarchic, bleeding-heart ‘peace’ activists.When powerful White Christian nations back these campaignswith subtle and not-so-subtle threats of sanctions and internationalisolation, beleaguered governments rapidly lose their politicalwill to deal with the terrorists and these countries, their citizensand armed forces continue to bleed and pay with their lives.The Indian government’s meek compliance with theAmerican diktat not to cross the LoC at the time of the Kargilwar, the Indian government’s abject but clandestine surrenderto ‘international pressure’ not to conduct further nuclear tests,its compliance with US demands to separate our nuclear facilitiesand place the majority of them under international inspectionregime, and our quiet acceptance of US denial of a visa to NarendraModi is proof that the US policy of big sticks and small carrots isworking with the Indian ruling elite. India has chosen an unnatural‘peace’ process over a decisive war with Pakistan. I can actuallyimagine people shuddering with theatrical horror when I maintainthat sometimes an honest-to-goodness war may be the only meansto ‘peace’. And the Americans have sent the unmistakable signalthat the US has reserved to itself the right to decisive wars whilethe rest of the world that refuses to become American client stateshas the right only to contrived ‘peace’. Thus the King of Nepalmust talk ‘peace’ with the Maoist terrorists, the Sri LankanGovernment must talk ‘peace’ with the LTTE, and India musttalk ‘peace’ with Pakistan and our own Hurriyat.And yet, the White-Christian-Capitalist US has never beendeterred by the concepts of human rights or civil liberties fromdealing ruthlessly with its enemies, and it has alwayscontemptuously and summarily brushed aside accusations ofgross violations of human rights in its wars against its adversaries.It has almost completely exterminated the Native Americanpopulation whose land the White Puritan Christians invadedand occupied. It has maintained the racial demography of thenon-White African-American population at less than 12 percentfor over 130 years now. Compare this to the spiraling Muslim

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 217population in India and the rapidly depleting Hindu populationin Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Joseph McCarthy era completelydecimated all Communist challenges within US borders even asthe US colluded with the Vatican to break up the Soviet Union.Americans have shown the world what they are capable ofwhen they are determined to pursue their White-Christian-Capitalist homogenising mission. A determined Hindu societymust begin to articulate these historical and contemporary truthsand expose the NGO industry and ‘peace activism’ as beingnothing more than domestic Marxist and American and Westernagents for emasculating Hindu society and the Indian nation. Itis in this light that I will detail the activities of Nirmala Deshpande,Admiral Ramdas and Sandeep Pandey – leaders in this anti-Hindu, anti-Nation mission.24. Original theories of Ramdas about the 1947 vivisection ofIndiaDidi Deshpande’s Tweedledee Admiral Ramdas thinks theproblem between India and Pakistan is rooted only in ‘prejudice’and that removal of all prejudices between them will usher inmagical peace, ‘not just locally, but globally’. Ramdas offeredthese prescriptive magic formulae at the Magsaysay AwardeesLecture Series at the Magsaysay Center, Manila, August 27, 2004.He, along with Nirmala Deshpande and a retired General fromthe Pakistani Army, one Karamat Ali, founded the Pakistan IndiaPeople’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). Incidentally,this ‘peace’ organisation held several conventions in the cities ofIndia and Pakistan and issued ‘declarations’ at the end of everyconvention. The Peshawar Declaration stated that the Indianarmy was guilty of raping Kashmiri Muslim women. Now thisis just what loony Pakistani Generals love to hear and, likeArundhati Roy in the Aligarh Muslim University, Didi Deshpandeand the Admiral scripted this declaration to please their Muslimaudience. I would just love to have these worthies say this onIndian soil.We, the members of Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peaceand Democracy (PIPFPD) are deeply concerned at and condemn

218 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsthe atrocities committed in Kashmir by the Indian security forcesagainst women, including rape and molestation in a systematicway, and on un-armed civilians through the use of arrest,detention, and torture. We, similarly, condemn violations bysections of the militants.This anti-India duo accuses the Indian security forces intoto of ‘rape and molestations’ while they merely ‘similarlycondemn’ ‘sections of militants’ for ‘violations’. Militants, notterrorists, please note and not all militants; only ‘sections’ of themilitants and they are accused not of rape and molestation butonly of ‘violations’, whatever that may mean. 9Generous and broad-minded to a fault, Ramdas andDeshpande, like the mythical monkeys, refuse to see, speak orhear about the evil of Islamic jihad, Islam’s endemic separatistmindset or about Pakistan as the creation and now embodimentof jihad. The problem of separatism leading to secession first in1947 and now in Jammu and Kashmir and in East Timor inIndonesia and the North-East in India is typical of Islam andChristianity, politico-religious ideologies both. There are secessionistmovements in J&K and in the North-East only because the majoritypopulation is Muslim and Christian respectively. Only Christiansand Muslims or Islam and Church-backed movements and groupsworldwide are secessionist by nature, including the Tamil separatistmovement in Sri Lanka. Several top leaders of the LTTE areChristian and it is also alleged that the Tamil separatist movementhas the covert support of the Church in Sri Lanka. But the truthabout separatism being inherent to Islam and Christianity is notto be seen, heard or spoken by good ‘secular monkeys’.What happened to the Indian nation in 1947 was not partitionbut vivisection. Ramdas, Deshpande and an entire brigade ofsecular monkeys would like to convince the world that the problembetween India and Pakistan is ‘Kashmir’ while Hindus will notbuy this fiction and believe that the fundamental problem betweenIndia and Pakistan is jihadi Islam which will not live in peacewith other religions nor will it acknowledge the sanctity andinviolability of national borders. Hindus believe that IslamicPakistan and Islam are the root causes of the problem between

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 219India and Pakistan and in J&K. But the award-winning ‘peace’industry thrives on peddling imaginative fiction which passesoff as history or truth.What the Muslims of India did to the nation was vivisection,and what they are now doing in J&K is a bloody and painfultearing apart of a segment of a living nation. Now, how doesone justify the war unleashed by Indian Muslims against theHindus and the Indian nation and thus justify one’s own ‘peace’initiatives? By offering new and creative theories about 1947and about the Sunni Muslims of Kashmir, of course!There is fair amount of scholarly agreement that Partitionoccurred not because Hindus and Muslims could not livetogether, but because the elites of the two communities couldnot agree to power sharing. Jinnah’s Muslim League won theday and Partition came about.Both India and Pakistan were born in an atmosphere of hate,mistrust and bloodshed. Each side felt cheated, for they didnot get the real estate they had hoped for. The Partition cameabout more due to the greed of the elite leadership rather thanby ascertaining the wishes of the people.We know that the roots of prejudice could lie in nationalism,culture, religion, education, socialisation, history and mediaor in some measure due to a combination of some or all of these.For example, history is deliberately written to give it a definiteslant against someone. This has been observed in our studiesof history portrayed by Pakistan and more attempted in Indiaby the previous Government. In India, there are certain extremistright wing groups who like to place all of India’s problems atthe doorstep of the Muslims. Hitler, for example, blamed allof Germany’s problems to the Jews (Magsaysay Centre, Manila,27 August, 2004).Now what is ‘fair amount’ and who are the scholars is leftdeliciously vague and conveniently unspecified. Ramdas is actuallystating that India and Pakistan were born simultaneously; byspeaking this arrant nonsense he is exposing his anti-Hindu biasbecause the Hindu, Indian nation has a timeless existence and it

220 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundswas vivisection of this Hindu nation which created Pakistan.Hindu India had always existed while Islamic Pakistan wasviolently created by tearing apart this nation. This equal-equalstatus of India and Pakistan has been borrowed by the US andWestern nations which also conveniently falsify history and makea willing leap of falsehood with regard to Pakistan’s creation in1947 and its reality today. Note also the clever passing shot atthe BJP’s effort to correct distorted and perverted writing of historyby Marxist ‘eminent historians’ and also the award-winningrepetitive lie of speaking about political Hindus and Hitler inthe same breath. If you have listened to one of them, you havelistened to them all.25. Being ‘Gandhian’ the Nirmala Deshpande wayDidi Deshpande’s USP and the competitive edge in thisthriving anti-Hindu activist industry is her self-styled appellation–‘Gandhian’. Of course there is no law against anyone callinghimself or herself ‘Gandhian’. Sandeep Pandey, the other famousanti-Nation Magsaysay awardee, also describes his activism as‘Gandhian’; what does it mean to be ‘Gandhian’ of the Deshpande,Pandey variety? For one, when I think of Gandhiji and Didi andPandey all at the same time (although it is blasphemous to placethe Mahatma in the same category as the other two), the firstthing that comes to my mind is that they are all great walkers or‘marchers’.The very least that Nirmala Deshpande and Sandeep Pandeycould do to justify their appellation ‘Gandhian’ is to march –Deshpande marched (figuratively, of course) to the US in 2003carrying tales about the Gujarat riots to the US Government whiledear Sandeep marched from Delhi to Multan for ‘peace’ betweenIndia and Pakistan. Only the bill for the Dandi March did notamount to Rs 5,25,634.00 (five lakhs, twenty-five thousand, sixhundred and thirty-four rupees, that’s right) which was the costof Sandeep Pandey’s march to Multan. Some costly march, that!The expenses for Pandey’s ‘peace’ march from Delhi to Multanincluded petrol and diesel expenses which totaled Rs. 11,896!! 10Didi Deshpande’s march to the US in autumn 2003 was of coursesponsored by NRI-SAHI – in American dollars, forsooth! Gandhiji’s

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 221march cost nothing because he marched on his legs, which didn’tconsume petrol and diesel. Gandhiji, unlike Sandeep Pandey,also did not distribute pamphlets as he marched nor did he arrangea photographer for photo-ops along the way to Dandi. To NirmalaDidi and Sandeep Pandey goes everlasting credit for re-definingGandhian simplicity and the Gandhian march.I saw Nirmala Deshpande for the first time in July 2001when she descended on Chennai with her Tweedledee the goodAdmiral, a 150-strong all-male contingent from Pakistan, MirwaizUmar Farooq, Abdul Ghani Lone, and the Dalai Lama to bootfor a seminar on Jammu and Kashmir. This was barely a yearsince Pakistan’s invasion of Kargil and I fell in love with Didiwhen she asked the women present in the auditorium to tie rakhisto ‘our dear brothers from across the border’. It was love at firstsight because I was still bleeding from the memory of the mutilatedbodies of Lt Sourabh Kalia and five others captured on 15 May1999, brutally tortured and killed (our dear brothers from acrossthe border had amused their jihadi souls by first torturing theseyoung men and then killing them after 22 days, and thenmutilating their dead bodies). Lt Kalia was barely 21 years oldwhen he was tortured and killed by ‘our dear brothers’, and thebodies were handed over to the Indian forces on 22nd June,tortured and mutilated beyond belief. I was still bleeding fromthe wound of having lost over 400 of our armed forces – officersfrom the Indian Army and Indian Air Force, junior commissionedofficers and sepoys; and dear Didi was asking us all to tie rakhisto ‘our dear brothers from across the border’. When Didi askedus all to tie rakhis to our dear Pakistani brothers I decided Iwould get to know her better. The last part of this chapter is,therefore, a labour of love and devoted to two of my most alltimefavourite persons – Nirmala Deshpande and Sandeep Pandeywho says his mission in life is to ‘resolve the Kashmir issue’.26. Didi goes to AmericaThe Gujarat riots that followed the burning alive of Hindumen, women and children in Godhra in February 2002 providedour activists with a great opportunity for sponsored jaunts tothe US on talking tours. Nirmala Deshpande was one of those

222 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundswho enjoyed a fully-paid-for-talking tour of the US in August-September 2003 and the non-resident Indian groups thataccompanied her on the conducted tour were—NRI-SAHI: Non-Resident Indians for a Secular andHarmonious IndiaVaishnava Center For Enlightenment, Lansing, MichiganCSDI: Coalition for a Secular and Democratic IndiaCAC: Coalition Against CommunalismIMC-USA: Indian Muslim Council, USASAPAC: South Asian Progressive Action CollectiveFIACONA: Federation of Indian American Christians ofNorth AmericaSAGAR: South Asian Group for Action & ReflectionWTO: World Tamil OrganisationGMAA: Gujarati Muslim Association of AmericaICCFHR: International Christian Coalition for Human RightsThe list of Deshpande’s friends and sponsors is selfexplanatory.Nirmala Deshpande came to the US primarily torun squealing to the US Government asking them ‘to dosomething’ about Narendra Modi, Hindutva, the RSS and theBJP.‘The European Union sent a team to Gujarat to find the facts— unfortunately your Government didn’t do that,’ saidNirmala Deshpande, projected by her cronies as the keeper ofGandhi’s legacy. Deshpande, made the remarks in an interviewafter speaking about cooperation and nonviolence to 400 MountMadonna School students, parents and staff. The activist alsomade stops in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco as partof a month-long swing across the country.27. Indian Activist takes Bush to task – David Scafenberg,Sentinel Staff WriterExcerpt from India Abroad (September 5, 2003):Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande pulls no punches at meetingswith administration officials – complains US reaction toGujarat riots was not strong enough.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 223Deshpande, 74, pointed to the lack of a strong reaction fromUS Govt. to the sectarian carnage in Gujarat, which she saidwas state sponsored. She lamented the victims had not seenjustice either through the police or judicial systems.At the State Dept., Deshpande—known for her campaignscovering thousands of miles with the likes of freedom fighterVinoba Bhave—met with Diana Barnes, Foreign Affairs Officer,Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. At the USCommission on International Religious Freedom, she met withPatricia Carley, a senior policy analyst. She met with staffersof the hierarchy of the Congressional Caucus on India andIndian-Americans, addressed a community meeting atUniversity of Maryland and interacted with the media.She said part of her trip would be to convince non-residentIndians and the Indian-American community not to contributeto the extremist groups. ‘We would like to make our friends awareof the reality and those who subscribe to these views that if youreally love India, you should not do anything that would harmIndia. What these people are doing in Gujarat and trying to doin other states will harm India in a very big way.’Her trip is being sponsored by NRIs for Secular andHarmonious India. In Washington, she was accompanied tothe meetings by John Prabhudoss, Executive Director, PolicyInstitute for Religion and State, and Kaleem Kawaja, coordinator,NRIs for a Secular and Harmonious India.Indians who depose before the US State Department or beforethe USCIRF are anti-national, period. They squeal against theirown countrymen, they express to a foreign Government theirdistrust of their country’s democratic institutions, they abusetheir country’s police and armed forces, and they wail, ‘Indiandemocracy is in peril, come and save us.’ And if you are ArundhatiRoy, you will add, ‘Me slave, you king’, for better effect. Some ofthese anti-national Indian informers actually think it is an honourto be summoned to appear before the US Government to squealagainst their country. Professor Sumit Ganguly, University ofTexas, who also passes himself off as ‘expat journalist’ has appearedmore than once before the USCIRF and his opening sentence at

224 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsone such appearance in September 2000 was, ‘I consider it anhonour and a privilege to be asked to testify before this Commissiontoday.’ Now, this kind of slavish deference must have been musicto American ears and they summoned the good and willingprofessor again in 2002.The USCIRF held a special hearing on ‘Communal violencein Gujarat, India and the US response’ and those that weresummoned to depose and those that appeared obediently beforetheir masters on June 10, 2002 were Teesta Setalvad, ProfessorKamal Mitra Chenoy, Professor Sumit Ganguly and Father CedricPrakash. The URL of the proceedings of this hearing is presentedto readers in Appendix 7 and is a must-read for the sheer antination,anti-Hindu intent not only of the Indians who deposedbefore an alien Government but for the anti-India, anti-Hinduintent of the USCIRF itself. The comments made by theCommissioners about India are an unmitigated piece ofimpertinence. Didi Deshpande, let us not forget, deposed beforethe US Government in September 2003. 11Neither the USCIRF nor the US State Department’s Bureauof Democracy, Human Rights and Labor ever felt compelled tohold a hearing on the genocide of the Hindus of Kashmir or theongoing violence and acts of terror by Christian terrorists in theNorth-East and Muslim terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. Readerswill note that these anti-national Indian worthies while auditingtheir country and its democratic institutions before the Americansalso shed a few obligatory and insincere tears for the Hindus ofBangladesh! Not a tear for the Hindus at home – those that werekilled and terrorised to flee from the state of Jammu and Kashmir,for the Hindu women and children killed in the Sabarmati Expressin Godhra or for the Hindu victims of the Mumbai blasts andriots. I also present as an appendix a contrasting meeting with aUS State Department official in Chennai on a similar mission inOctober 2004, not a word of which was reproduced in theirinternational religious freedom report of 2005. 12 Let us get backto Didi Deshpande now.28. Nirmala Deshpande’s multiple avatarsSelf-styled ‘Gandhian’ Didi Deshpande gives the self-styled

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 225‘Acharya’ Shrikumar Poddar a run for his money with hersimultaneous and varied avatars. Just as the three-member Poddarfamily can provide up to six signatures in any anti-Hindu appealor petition, so can Nirmala Deshpande who is –President—Harijan Sewak Sangh (founded by MahatmaGandhi), since 1983President—Akhil Bharat Rachanatmak Samaj since 1982President—National Centre of Rural Development, NagpurPresident—Stree Shakti Pratishthan, DelhiDirector—Shantisena Vidyalaya, 1961-69Founder Chairman—Association of Peoples of Asia, DelhiFounder-member—Women’s Initiative for Peace in SouthAsia (WIPSA)Nirmala Deshpande a la Poddar provided The Promise ofIndia appeal with five signatures in different avatars.29. Nirmala Deshpande on J&K and ‘peace’ with Pakistan‘I have been heartened by the response I got from the peopleof Kashmir, particularly the youth. Whenever I meet friendsfrom this country’, Deshpande said, ‘I feel inspired becauseof their commitment to the Gandhian philosophy. Sometimes,one wonders whether Gandhi is remembered more outside Indiathan in India.’At her meeting with Mansingh, she faulted him for having astereotyped image of Pakistan as a fire-breathing fundamentalistjihadi society. She spoke of her visits to Pakistan and pointedout that 24 per cent of the members of Pakistani Parliamentare women, compared to India’s 8 per cent. She told him thatamong Pakistanis and several parliamentarians, there was ‘somuch good feeling for India.’ She said she could not understandwhy New Delhi was not responding and engaging in a dialoguewith Islamabad (excerpt from India Abroad, September 5, 2003,by Aziz Haniffa).Professional activists working in the ‘peace’ industry andtheir ‘secular’ supporters have always maintained that the onusof communal harmony rests only with the Hindus just as the

226 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsonus of ‘peace’ with Pakistan rests always with India. Decodethat to mean that no matter what the provocation by intransigentMuslims, jihadi Muslims and evangelical Christians, as long asHindus do not resist or protest, communal harmony will bepreserved. But woe betides the fools’ paradise called communalharmony if Hindus make any attempt to retaliate or protest! ForeignfundedNGOs and ‘peace’ and human rights activists backed bythe European Parliament and the US State Department raise acacophony about communal harmony, secularism, pluralism andeven democracy being in danger because of the rise of ‘Hindutvafascism’.30. What they speak and write about Jammu and KashmirThe ‘disputed’ status of the state of Jammu and Kashmirwas engineered in the UN by the British even as a mindless IndianGovernment led by Nehru allowed affairs to get out of their controlin 1948. Jammu and Kashmir merits the attention of the‘international community’ not merely for its geography but alsofor its religious demography. The positions that have been takenon the issue of separatism leading to secession, Islamic jihad,Western interference and machinations, Pakistan and its role inJ&K, by the Muslims of Kashmir, by Indian Muslims, by the Hindusand Buddhists of the state, by the Indian polity and by the‘international community’ reflects their opinions with regard tonation, national borders and nationalism. It also reflects theiropinions of the police and the armed forces whose responsibilityit is to defend our borders and the territorial integrity of thenation.Nationalism is primarily the vibrant consciousness of thesoil, the territory, to which we and our forebears belong. It is theterritory of our history, the territory which we have inherited asour priceless heritage. Nationalism is to be aware that allcomponents of our being, our identity is of that territory alone.Hindus and those who were Hindus, when they own up to theircivilisational-cultural and dharmic moorings, can only be Indians,children of Bharatam. By India and Bharatam, I mean all of theterritory that was once part of Akhand Bharat, undivided India.Hindu nationalism is therefore essentially territorial nationalism

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 227because for Hindus, India, Bharatam is our homeland, our onlyhomeland.Today, nationality may have acquired the connotation ofthe country of one’s current citizenship, and nationalism maymean loyalty to the country of that citizenship but this connotationhas come about only because of White European colonialismand its aftermath; however, nation, nationality and nationalismcontinue to be inextricably linked to the territory of our mostbasic identity. And protecting the territory of our nation, is for aHindu, a fundamental dharma. To decry it as ‘militarist’ or‘territorial’ nationalism is self-serving because there is nonationalism that is severed or disconnected from territory orsevered from the concept of homeland. It is with this understandingof nation and nationalism that I judge Nirmala Deshpande,Sandeep Pandey, Akhila Raman, Arundhati Roy and the otheractivists profiled below and accuse them of being anti-India, antinationaland anti-Hindu.Now, I will present the views and opinions of these activistsand NGOs on Jammu and Kashmir, on nation and nationalism,on our men in uniform and, of course, on India’s nuclear weaponsprogramme, all of which have a direct bearing on the territoryof this nation. In the forefront of this anti-India propaganda onall these issues are Akhila Raman, Ved Bhasin, Kamal MitraChenoy, Sandeep Pandey, Gautam Navlakha and ArundhatiRoy. The core premises around which these anti-nation activistshave developed their position on Jammu and Kashmir are:1. ‘Nation’ is a patriarchal construct;2. National borders are negotiable and irrelevant;3. The territory of a nation is mere real estate;4. Defending the nation’s territorial integrity is ‘territorialand militarist’ nationalism;5. Muslims have the right to self-determination whichincludes the right to secede;6. The demand for secession by the valley Muslims which isbeing made out to be the voice of the people of Kashmir and‘Kashmir’ is falsely supposed to include the voices of theHindus of Jammu, and the Buddhists of Ladakh too;

228 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds7. The right to self-determination is being claimed not bySunni Muslims or the politico-religious ideology of Islambut in the name of Kashmiriyat;8. Kashmiri Hindus, victims of genocide and terror, mustmake ‘peace’ with the genocidal valley Muslims for thesake of ‘Kashmiriyat’;9. Kashmiri Hindus reduced to demanding that a portionof the valley be assigned to them as their homeland withfull integration with the Indian Union, do not have theright to self-determination;10. The people of Jammu and Ladakh too do not have theright to self-determination which asserts that Jammu andLadakh are an integral part of the Indian nation;11. While the Sunni Muslims of the Kashmir valley have theright to self-determination leading to secession from theIndian nation, the people of Jammu and Ladakh do nothave the right to self-determination seeking separationfrom the valley and integration with the rest of India;12. While the Sunni Muslims maintain that they will notallow the state to be divided on communal lines, that is,Hindu Jammu, Muslim valley, and Buddhist Ladakh,they insist that they alone have the right to selfdeterminationwhich allows them to vivisect India alongcommunal lines;13. The casual and even cavalier attitude that these ‘peace’activists and NGOs have towards Jammu and Kashmirreflects their basic assumptions about the Indian nation,1947 vivisection, separatist demands of the KashmiriSunni Muslims and national integrity.31. Sandeep Pandey – Piece de ResistanceOne of the meanings of this phrase is ‘principal dish of themeal’. It was a difficult choice to make between Arundhati Roy’sclever outpourings on every issue under the sun and SandeepPandey’s self-conscious pretentious posturing for this honour,but Pandey won my vote only because he describes himself as‘Gandhian’. I will begin this segment with this Gandhian’s Naxalleanings and then go on to detail his position on nation,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 229nationalism, ‘the bomb’ and, of course, Jammu and Kashmir,Pandey’s pet activist project.32. Sandeep Pandey – Communist in a Blue FunkSandeep Pandey is a man of many parts, all of them skindeepand each of them carefully and calculatedly crafted to feedhis gargantuan appetite for Mammon. American greenbackMammon, that is. He walks, he talks, he writes, he protests – forhis version of ‘peace’, against Indian nukes, for Kashmiri andother terrorists, for the terrorist state of Pakistan, against Hindusand their nationalism, against Coca-Cola, and for the ‘poordestitute children of India who don’t go to school’—which factthis Indian, this IIT graduate confesses in an interview to theMilli Gazette, he came to know late in his life, only during hisyears in the US from a book published by MIT in 1991 titled ‘TheChild and the State in India’.Sandeep Pandey has so far picked only those issues for hismoney-making activism which will keep him in media limelight,and those issues which for the most part resonate like music inthe US Government establishment, that’s for sure, all except CocaCola. Only the Coca Cola bit is a dead giveaway of the colour ofskin-deep Sandeep’s ideology. Skin-deep San-deep’s activism isintentionally anti-Hindu and anti-Hindu nation which is whythe US, and its client states, were willingly deceived intopatronizing the man with awards, media attention, with talkingtours in foreign universities and with the Magsaysay; but Pandey’sactivism, far from leaning ideologically towards the capitalistWest, is inclined steeply towards the Left to which fact the USestablishment is perhaps only now beginning to open its eyes.As I said, each one of these many parts of Sandeep Pandeyis intended to make money from anti-national disruptive activism.While these are well-crafted money-making parts, the moneymakingis secondary to their primary role as false hair on theface to disguise him. Sandeep Pandey, the pseudo-educationist,the pseudo social-activist, the pseudo peace-activist, the pseudoanti-nuke-activist—all of these pseudo-beards disguise from publicgaze Sandeep Pandey the committed and vocal supporter ofMarxist-Leninist Naxal terrorism. And skin-deep Sandeep is

230 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsmortally afraid the false beard may fall off and that his Naxalproclivities may come under the US State Department scanner.Now why should that put dear Sandeep Pandey into a blue funk?Thereby hangs a tale – this tale in fact.America has always nurtured a McCarthyian hatred forcommunism, communists and Russians. This hatred has as muchto do with politics and White Christianity as with economics.Long after Joseph McCarthy, McCarthyism is still alive and kickingwithin the US, and anti-communist sentiment, like White racism’ssocial correctness, is always simmering beneath the surface becausethat is American political correctness. In short, Communism,Marxism, Marxist, Left, Leftist are all dirty words in their publicdiscourse lexicon. But there is another trend that is slowly butmore visibly emerging within the US in the last decade.The disintegration of the Soviet Union, the emergence ofthe megalomaniac American State as the lone superpower, theWTO and its destructive clauses pushing entire nations in Africaand large sections of societies even within developed countrieslike the US into increasing poverty, the intrusive and bullyingways of the IMF and World Bank, the first Gulf War, the crippling12-year-long economic sanctions culminating in the invasion andoccupation of Iraq, the war against terror post 9/11 and currentlythe obscene and rabid American evangelical churches that informWhite House foreign policy – all of which have assumed antiracialand religious minorities, anti-women, anti-labour and antifreechoice connotations, have triggered a neo-Left movementwithin the US and given a new impetus to communism whichwas delivered a near-fatal blow when the Soviet Union collapsed,and American universities seem to be their new breeding ground.Marxism, let us not forget, was not born in Russia which,like Turkey, is located on a continental/cultural cusp. Marxismwas conceived in Europe and like all European thoughts, conceptsand constructs without exception – European monarchy,Christianity and the Church, capitalism, democracy and itsattendant baggage of Christian values – Marxism too is intolerant,hegemonic and monotheistic and has made conquest of territoryand destruction of other ways of life its intrinsic nature. Whileall competing/conflicting European ideologies fight their war

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 231unto death on their own territories, they also carry a decisivepart of their war into territories where they both seek supremacy.Asia and Africa have been the battleground for capitalism/communism, Church/Islam and US/Russia, encapsulating theconverging/conflicting basic European interests and ideologies.The America of today, the White Christian supremacistAmerica of today, is Europe’s child and Marxism has chosenthe US as its battleground, not unlike White Christianity choosingpagan Rome as its battleground and finally setting up its empirein Rome itself. As already stated in the introduction, the IndianLeft is a significant ‘mover and shaker’ in this direction and theIndian Left, as represented by comrades Vijay Prashad, RajuRajagopal, Biju Mathew, Akhila Raman, Angana Chatterji andSandeep Pandey and his acolytes, deriving their inspiration fromthe professional American Dissenter par excellence, NoamChomsky, has penetrated and entrenched itself in very large andpotentially disruptive numbers in American universities. It isdelicious irony but not surprising at all that Marxism, intellectuallypowered by the Indian and American Left in the US, is raisingits head making its comeback from the very womb of its archenemy and empowered in its world-wide resurrection in no smallmeasure by the US dollar.Sandeep Pandey’s ASHA raising hundred of thousandsof dollars from inside the US is no small indicator of the Leftrising from the dead. The other big indicators are the mammothanti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle, the anti-war protests bymillions of Americans who took to the streets following theinvasion and occupation of Iraq, the anti-IMF and World Bankprotestors growing by the year, the mammoth annual gatheringof NGOs and other activists at the World Social Forum – theseare the big indicators of the gathering storm within the USand the storm clouds are spreading over Latin America, overAsia and over Africa through these annual communistconventions. Making the storm more menacing for the LefthatingUS is the quiet but increasing assertiveness of Putin’sRussia in international politics, and the steady march ofcommunist China as a global economic and military power.And closer to home, the US has Hugo Chavez and the immortal

232 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsFidel Castro as insulting irritants of an enemy who will simplynot go away.The US (read CIA) has a long history of creating and feedingmonsters, which then turn upon their creator. Let us not forgetagain, these monsters are initially created by the US to disrupttheir native societies, nations and governments in the US’ questfor new territories to control, or created like the Afghan mujahideen(a part of which later went on to becoming the Taliban) to fightits celestial war with communism. The Indian Left in Americanuniversities is one such Frankenstein’s monster waiting to happen.And that is why Sandeep Pandey is in a blue funk about hisNaxal leanings. For one, as the US State Department wisens upto his communist credentials, questions are sure to be asked aboutASHA, its chapters in the US, its presence in American universities,Sandeep Pandey’s and ASHA’s connections with AID (Associationfor India’s Development), AID’s chapters in the US, and the natureof funds being raised by ASHA and AID for Sandeep Pandey’sdisruptive activism at home. The next step for the AmericanGovernment would be to track down the individual andinstitutional donors within the US and Europe. The third stepwould be to put these persons—students, assistant professorsand professors in American universities—under the scanner andhave their cover blown which in turn could jeopardize theirprofitable careers in the US. The last and inevitable step wouldbe to clamp down on Pandey’s sources of funds from the US.Futuristic? Sure, but not improbable, considering both AID andASHA are endorsed by Charity Monitor and also consideringthat the Patriot Act of 2001 places charities that receive Americanmoney under its scanner to make sure that Americans don’tcontribute funds to charities that may be fronts for terroristsand terrorist organisations and to make sure that personssupporting terrorist groups do not use American soil for fundraisingactivities.It is these fears which compel skin-deep Sandeep to go togreat lengths to keep his pseudo beard on his chin – to keep hisLeft, and worse, his Naxal leanings a secret from the USGovernment. The possibility of adverse media attention and thepossibility of the US immigration doing to him what they did to

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 233another Indian Leftist, Ramachandra Guha, which will put paidto his luxurious five-star activism bankrolled by American dollars,must be giving Sandeep Pandey sleepless nights.Sandeep Pandey has every reason to be in a blue funk forreasons stated in the beginning because, in October 2004, hewas forced to deny communist/Naxal links, he was compelledto resign as trustee of ASHA, he was also forced to offer theexplanation that he never used ASHA funds for his other activitiesand that he has generally passed his hat around to people whohave supported his political ambitions.My ideology: Gandhian, Humanitarian (I’m not a Leftist, I havetill date not read a single word of Left literature). Moreover, Iwould not have got Magsaysay if I was a leftist or a naxalitebecause President Magsaysay, the former President ofPhillipines(sic), in whose name the award is given, wasstaunchly anti-left and the award is not given to anybody witha ‘left leaning’ This is probably the strongest argument tocounter the label of ‘left’ which has been put on me; actually,by labeling me as a leftist it is easier for the rightist to criticizeme because they cannot condemn me as a Gandhian as easily(from email of Manoj M Prabhakaran, graduate student,Computer Science, Princeton, http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~sudhakar/asha/ weblog/ sandeep.txt).Sandeep Pandey’s blue funk is palpable as is his desperateattempt to keep on the false beard. I say blue funk because hestands exposed not only because of what he writes above butalso because his communist leanings are exposed by the communiststhemselves!Sandeep Pandey is in a blue funk also because his supportersand donors in the US are in a blue funk about becoming objectsunder the US State Department microscope. Now here is the reportof the CPI (ML), Seventh Party Congress held between November25-30 in Patna, in 2002. The report was filed in January 2003.Taking place at a historical juncture when the footsteps ofcommunal fascism are getting louder and US imperialism is

234 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundssystematically tightening its noose around India, the CPI (ML)Congress pledged to convert its successful mass struggles inthe flaming fields of Bihar into a countrywide movement forrevolutionary change. Addressing the inaugural session,Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya set the tone for the entireCongress when he called upon all Left forces to form a broadbasedconfederation to beat back the fascist-imperialist offensive.Accusing the Congress Party of legitimising the Hindufundamentalist agenda by playing the ‘Hindu’ card in theGujarat elections he said that attempts by sections of theparliamentary Left to move closer to and join hands with theCongress would only result in their losing credibility in theeyes of the Indian people. It would be a historic blunder if theLeft failed to unite and provide a third alternative to the peopleat this critical hour, he warned. Renowned NAPM activist andMagsaysay Award winner Sandeep Pandey stressed the needof unity of revolutionary communist organisations like CPI(ML)and social movements to take on fascist danger (http://www.cpiml.org/ liberation/ year_2003/january/feature.htm).So, dear Sandeep, who had never read a word ofcommunist literature and who, by his own admission, wouldnot have been awarded the Magsaysay had he been a communistor a Naxalite, was present at the Seventh Congress of the CPI(ML)! And Sandeep Pandey, it is clear, lied to his supporters inthe US because he feared a US backlash against them and, worse,he feared the American golden goose would strike work. Evenas I am writing this, Sandeep Pandey is in the US passing thehat around at his café talks in American universities. News ishe was stopped by the authorities in Immigration and subjectedto a lengthy interrogation. Sandeep must know that this is thefirst gentle slap on his face by the US Government, sure to befollowed by a punch. His beard is slipping. The communistmovement has nothing to lose if Sandeep’s cover and those ofhis supporters is blown in the days to come but skin-deep Pandeyhas a lot at stake.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 23533. Sandeep Pandey’s Naxal connections – Raju Rajagopal kogussa kyon aata hai?A friend from the US confirmed my suspicion that SandeepPandey and his partners and supporters are desperately seekingto keep Pandey’s false beard from falling off. Vigilonline hadexposed Sandeep Pandey’s Naxal connections as attested to bythe CPI (ML) itself. Getting wind of the uncomfortable questionsbeing raised increasingly by supporters and donors of ASHA inthe US after reading the exposé by Vigilonline, Sandeep Pandey’sfriends and patrons were forced to go into damage-control mode.Significantly, response to criticism and doubts about SandeepPandey’s dubious Naxal connections came from two persons –one, an office-bearer in ASHA and, the other, from the individualwho created yet another profitable not-for-profit US-based NGOand who is now afraid that some mud, in fact a lot of mud, willstick to him because of his close association (?) /partnership (?)with Sandeep Pandey.Both responses are extremely interesting in that neither theASHA office-bearer nor Raju Rajagopal (of ICA and POI fame)have been able to deny Pandey’s Naxal connections, which havebeen attested to by the CPI (ML) itself (http://www.cpiml.org/liberation/ year_2003/january/feature.htm). Even SandeepPandey couldn’t deny his connections and so he too was pushedinto lying to his supporters (http:// www.cs.princeton.edu/~sudhakar/asha/weblog/sandeep.txt). Now, neither this officebearerof ASHA, Netika Raval, nor Raju Rajagopal can denythe truth of Sandeep’s connections to Naxal terrorists or theirown guilt by association with dear Sandeep and so they resortto beating around the bush. Please read their response, all ofyou, and see them playing ring-a-ring-a-roses with the truth.They don’t even make the attempt to touch the issue of SandeepPandey’s Naxal connections.And because these two persons take us all to be idiots, letme give you all another URL – this time of a news report whichtestifies to the illustrious company that Sandeep Pandey keeps(http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/nov/ 15naxal. htm). AndRaju Rajagopal, whose ‘Promise of India’ is supported andwelcomed precisely by these same persons, now has to defend

236 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsnot only his association with Sandeep Pandey but also with these‘internationally recognized and applauded’ eminent defendersof human rights and ‘peace’ activists who assemble at the SeventhCongress of the CPI (ML) to ‘honour’ the memory of slain Maoist/Naxal terrorists because they think slain Maoist/Naxal terroristsare noble martyrs!Towards the end of his weak response, Raju Rajagopalconfesses to his own preference for communist NGO activismbut unconvincingly distances himself from Naxal terror. Now,that is like saying he will work with Osama bin Laden as long ashe too wears the beard of an anti-Hindu NGO activist, nevermind the few thousands he kills routinely as afternoon pastimeamusement.(The following is from the response of Raju Rajagopal, thecomplete text is at http://www.vigilonline.com/news/plain_speak/ps_view.asp?plainSpeakId=93):Whether we like it or not, communist organisations are an activepart of India’s electoral politics; they run two states; and they arepart of the ruling coalition today. No person or NGO doing anydecent work on the ground can possibly insulate himself orherself from collaborating with committed leftist activists, whoare also working for the poor. Unfortunately, certain extremistcommunists like the Naxalites also believe in and indulge indespicable violence and terrorism in the name of the same poor.So, if one is not familiar with the distinctions amongvarious leftist organisations—I’m certainly no expert on this—it would be quite easy to confuse an uninformed donor by linkingterrorist outfits on the one end—like the PWG—to other groupswhich are actively into electoral politics and are part of thepolitical mainstream in India. Once you blur these importantdistinctions, it is then only a step away to smearing people, Balaji,because he worked with DFYI volunteers in clearing bodies, orSandeep because he gave a speech or accepted an award at ‘XYZ’party meeting’!Now, this is either unbelievable naiveté on the part of RajuRajagopal or a pack of lies. The RSS, the Ramakrishna Mission,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 237and several Hindu organisations work among the poor and themarginalised in our society. Raju Rajagopal and his friends couldhave worked with any of them if ‘seva’ had been their only motive.But they chose to work with communist NGOs only because theyare ideologically of Marxist persuasion and congenitally anti-Hindu. We do not know if the money coming into India throughAID and ASHA for so-called ‘grassroots work’ finds its way intoterrorist hands but what we do know and accuse AID and ASHAof is their known association with and endorsement of SandeepPandey, Raju Rajagopal and Balaji Sampath who are in turnclosely associated with political entities who take recourse toterrorism as means to political objectives.Religious, social and economic philosophies and ideologiesoriginating from the White/Western world are all monotheistic– that is, they are essentially intolerant of other ways of thinkingand organising life; they are totalitarian in attitude and approach.Marxism/Maoism/Naxalism is no different and aspires to fulfilits totalitarian intentions through state power if it can, throughterrorism if it can’t. Raju Rajagopal must indeed be naïve not toknow that Marxism and its nuanced organisations not only enterthe political arena to capture state power legitimately but alsocontrol and operate secretive, outlawed and undergroundextremist/terrorist groups to cause social disruption leadingtowards ‘perfect total revolution’.Even if I gave in to Coleridge’s willing suspension of disbeliefand took Raju Rajagopal at face value that, in spite of being agraduate of IIT Chennai, he is completely ignorant of Indianpolitics and cannot make distinctions among the various leftistorganisations, I would have to be brain-dead to accept the sameof Sandeep Pandey, which is what Raju Rajagopal is asking meto do. He wants me to believe him when he says Sandeep Pandeyspoke at the Seventh Congress of the CPIL (ML) without knowingthat the CPI (ML) is Naxalite by another name and looks just asred. Sandeep Pandey calling for unity among communistrevolutionary organisations doesn’t sound like uninformed ‘speechmaking’ at some ‘XYZ’ meeting’. So, someone here is not speakingthe truth – either Raju Rajagopal or the person who wrote thereport of the Seventh Congress of the CPI (ML).

238 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds34. Sandeep Pandey on J&K and nationalismThe concept of nationalism of bomb-supporters is limited toprotecting the physical boundaries of their nation. They arenot concerned about what happens to the people living withinthose boundaries or their sentiments. Their notion of nationalismstems from a traditional feudal mindset. It is linked to the ideaof possession of material property.In Phaloudi, while the peace-march rally through the townwas blocked by the bomb supporters, they were advising thepeace marchers to go back from Phaloudi and instead go toKashmir to work for peace. However the peace marchers donot share a common vision of peace in Kashmir with the bombsupporters. What the bomb supporters would like to see inthe name of peace in Kashmir is complete surrender of peopleof Kashmir, especially those belonging to a particularcommunity, to the hegemony of Indian State, even if it mayhave to take place against the will of people, and moreimportantly the land of Kashmir should be in the possessionof Indian State. They would not mind use of force to maintainthis state of ‘peace’. For the peace marchers, however, what ismost important is the sentiments of the people of Kashmir. IfKashmir has to remain with India, they would like to ensurethat the hearts of the people of Kashmir are with India ratherthan merely the piece of land on which they live.The concept of nation is like the concepts of religion and caste,which are artificial manmade ones. They are not natural. Theseconcepts have played more divisive role than that of unitinghuman beings. They have been cause of strife and tension. Aperson believing in global peace would reject these concepts.The idea of nationalism can create illusions and misguidepeople. A person who may feel insecurity in his/her immediateenvironment is made to believe that he/she can be securebecause of some bomb made for a far away enemy whom he/she does not even know.The concept of nationalism is used by the rulers to evokesentiments so that we may forget about our real life worries.After all it is the leaders, irrespective of whichever party they

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 239belong to, who need to harp on this concept. Because if peoplestop accepting the concept of nation, what will the rulers ruleon?The concept of nation and nationalism should be buried inthe interest of peace for greater humanity (excerpted from ‘Whatdoes it mean to be a nationalist: Reflections from India’ http://www.sacw.net/kargil/nationalism_meaning.html).Our host here was Mr. Johal, President of the Committee, whichruns the Gurdwara where we were to stay. He registered hisprotest as soon as we arrived, rejecting our position on theKashmir issue as according to him, it favoured Pakistan. Hebelieved that Kashmir was an integral part of India and onlyIndians had a right to decide about the future of Kashmir. Itwas obviously a narrow nationalist position, shared by someother Indians too.We explained to him that the narrow nationalist view heldby Indians from outside Kashmir, or for that matter Pakistanisoutside Kashmir, was born out of a feudal mindset and in aworld in which people were more sensitive to human rightsviolations and also a democratic way of thinking, theconventional nationalist Indian and Pakistani views could notbe imposed on the people of Kashmir.Also, in a world where economic policy of globalisation istaking over, the concept of a nation state is weakening. Wealso pointed out that a major section of our societies, includingdalits, tribals, women, and other marginalized sections, do notshare the traditional concept of nationalism as they are busywith more basic struggles for life and livelihood (excerptedfrom ‘View from the ground’ http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/ apr2005-daily/26-04-2005/oped/o4.htm).Note the phrases ‘narrow nationalist’, ‘conventionalnationalist’, and ‘traditional concept of nationalism’. The ideabehind such deliberate coinage is to disassociate nationalism fromits accepted ‘conventional and traditional’ origins and to malignall things ‘conventional and traditional’ as ‘narrow’. SandeepPandey’s reference here to ‘conventional and traditional’ is toHindu conventional and traditional and not the Western

240 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsconventional understanding of nationality and nation derivingfrom ‘nation-state’. Stripped of its traditional and conventionalorigins, nationalism is as small and as changing as ‘citizenship’.If nationalism is the same as citizenship, then an Indian Hinducould have been a British national 30 years ago, may be an Indiannational today and possibly an American national 20 years later.If nationality is as changeable as a washing machine, nationalismis effectively de-linked from the sense of historical belonging toterritory, thus de-sanctifying the territory of a nation and renderingnational borders without sanctity. This is the core intention ofall anti-nation activism. And, for Sandeep Pandey, ‘Kashmiri’clearly does not include the Kashmiri Hindu.35. Sandeep Pandey on ‘Kashmir’Can India and Pakistan really trust each other?Why not when the worst of enemies like US and Soviet Unioncan mend their fences and East and West Germany couldbecome one country. I know that the thorn in Indo-Pakrelationship which is Kashmir can only be solved throughtripartite talks. There can be no military solution and once ifit gets solved India and Pakistan will have nothing to fightover. The dialogue should have all political voices of Kashmiralong with India and Pakistan.Now is this stupidity beyond belief or something else? TheUS and the Soviet Union did not mend their fences. The USmanipulated the disintegration of the Soviet Union; there is noSoviet Union today, period. And East and West Germany haveindeed become one country because East Germany lost its identityand was absorbed into the idea of West Germany which thenbecame ‘Germany’. Can Sandeep Pandey extend his argumentlogically and advocate a similar territorial integration of not onlyJammu and Kashmir within India but also bring about theintegration of Pakistan into India?Which of the two countries has been found in your experienceto be more keen in solving this problem?

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 241Well, both the countries have made mistakes over Kashmir.India has always maintained to talk under Shimla agreementand has stressed for bilateral talks and Pakistan has tried tointernationalise the issue. But of late Musharraf has been moreforthcoming asking for talks on Kashmir and I think India isevading that question by asking Pakistan to first stop crossborderterrorism and cross-border terrorism happens from bothsides as Pakistan intelligence agency ISI is active in India whileIndia’s intelligence agency RAW is active in Pakistan and forthe conducive atmosphere—for a dialogue—this cross-borderterrorism from both sides has to be stopped. Moreover, Pakistanhas from time to time asked for a ‘No War Pact’ with Indiabut India has never accepted it.Should the Government engage in dialogue with militants?Government should become more serious about the peaceprocess in Kashmir and involve all the voices of Kashmir,however militant they might be. It is after all their land. It isneither Indian nor Pakistani land and the final decision todecide their fate will lie with Kashmiri people.You have been accused of advocating Kashmir’sindependence?I have never advocated independence of Kashmir. I have stoodfor a dialogue with all the possible groups in Kashmir and ifthe people of Kashmir either in the process of dialogue or byany other means decide for independence then India andPakistan will have to grant it.What is your ultimate aim?It is to solve Kashmir political problem, Indo-Pak borders tobe de-militarised, nuclear weaponry to be dismantled and theway Indians and Nepalese travel between each other shouldbe the way of travelling between India and Pakistan and inthe entire SAARC region (excerpts from interview ‘Kashmiris for Kashmiris only’ published in the 16-31 Jan. 2004 printedition of Milli Gazette).As stated quite early in this chapter that these activists havea casual attitude towards the territory of this nation and nationalborders, Sandeep Pandey also proves my point that for these

242 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds‘peace’ activists, the onus for ‘peace’ between India and Pakistanis on India alone and the right to self-determination belongs onlyto the Sunni Muslims of the Kashmir valley. Not surprisingly,Sandeep Pandey’s ranting finds pride of place in the Milli Gazette,in the leftist South Asia Citizen’s Wire (SACW) and in Pakistanimainstream English newspapers.Sandeep Pandey marched from Delhi to Multan for ‘peace’at a cost of nearly six lakh rupees, money which I think couldhave been put to better use; after all, Sandeep Pandey keepstelling the Indian government to cut down expenses on militaryhardware considering that it takes away resources from the poor.Surely this money could have served India’s poor better thanthe ‘peace’ march, which was nothing more than a self-promotionexercise. He also got to meet with the Pakistani prime ministerShaukat Aziz and this meeting seems to have had an intoxicatingeffect on Pandey because he exclaims breathlessly and coyly,“Why should the prime minister of Pakistan be interested in talkingto an Indian activist about a proposed peace march?” I couldhave told him why! The Pakistani prime minister wanted anactivist sounding-post to parrot the Pakistani position on Jammuand Kashmir, on India’s nuclear weapons programme, on India-Pakistan bilateral issues. The Pakistani government regularlygrants visas to and meets with anti-India and anti-Hindu activistsand NGOs. We have had N Ram, Rasheeda Bhagat, ArundhatiRoy, Shekhar Gupta, Nirmala Deshpande and Admiral Ramdastrotting to Pakistan and coming back with drippy stories abouthow the people across the border are just like us!But Sandeep Pandey doesn’t wait for me to reply and herushes to add:I was amazed when I got the invitation, just 48 hours beforethe appointment. I had to literally rush to Islamabad after gettingmy visa and ticket. That the office of Prime Minister decidedto invite me to discuss the peace march along with Pakistaniactivists clearly indicated that the Government of Pakistan wasviewing this march positively.Shaukat Aziz expressed the commitment of the Governmentof Pakistan towards building an atmosphere of peace in the

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 243sub-continent and the willingness to do whatever wasnecessary to achieve this objective. He said that PresidentMusharraf shared this vision.Peace activists from Pakistan and India have been advocatingthe unilateral, or with bilateral agreement, renunciation ofnuclear weapons and downgrading armed forces at the border.Only a border free of army and arms can provide us with asense of true security on both sides. I hope our heads of Statewill eventually understand this clear logic and move towardsgetting rid of weapons.I still find it difficult to believe that I was allowed into theoffice of the Prime Minister of a country that until not longago was considered an enemy country, and got to listen to hisfrank opinion on pressing issues. His approach clearly reflectsthe commitment of the Government of Pakistan to bring aboutpeace and normalcy in the region.Thank you, Mr. Shaukat Aziz, for making it possible for meto meet you (excerpts from ‘Moving towards a durable peace’,The News International, March 21, 2005).Pandey’s excitement at having been let into the Pakistani primeminister’s room is almost virginal in its breathlessness. It is as ifhe believed his ‘peace’ and ‘Kashmir’ activism had been accordedthe highest honour! I wonder why Sandeep Pandey did not usethe opportunity to ask Shaukat Aziz if Musharraf was meetingthe LeT and the Jaish-e-Muhammad for dinner that night.36. Sandeep Pandey on nationalismBesides suffering from juvenile fantasies about Pakistan andits commitment to peace, Sandeep Pandey also has some weird,not to say delinquent, notions about Indo-Pakistan relations, aboutwhy Indians distrust Pakistan, and about nationalism. We haveso far seen one important IITian, Raju Rajagopal, declaring thathe cannot make a distinction between communist and naxaliteand now we have another IITian Sandeep Pandey ranting onKashmir and nationalism. Nationalist IITians around the worldare probably wincing at Sandeep Pandey’s intellectual depthand understanding of foreign affairs. Sample this:

244 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsI am hearing stories from people returning from India who wentthere to see the cricket game in Chandigarh of the tremendousresponse they got from Indians. They did not have to pay fortheir stay or food. Indian families were competing with eachother in inviting Pakistanis over to their place for dinner. ThePakistanis were having difficulty in deciding which invitationto accept and which to leave. Indians were welcoming Pakistaniswith warmth as they probably do not welcome their own fellowcitizens from other parts of India….Is it not the people that comprise any nation? Of course, thereare the fundamentalists on both sides. But do they representthe feelings of common people?Let us not force our youth to put on uniforms and make them faceeach other with guns in their hands at the border. After all, it isonly a difference of few kilometers which determines which sidethey’ll fight for. It is only a matter of few kilometers whichdetermines whether they will be indoctrinated in Indiannationalism or Pakistani nationalism. The outer coat of ideologyin the name of nation or religion is what we received only afterwe were born. The nature did not ordain us to fight. We have morein common than we have differences. The cultural and emotionaland more importantly human bondings are much deeper. Let usrespect them, rediscover ourselves as peace loving people andlearn to live peacefully with our differences (from ‘Rediscoveringeach other’, Hindustan Times, March 19, 2005) .Let us take the last paragraph alone as being illustrative ofSandeep’s congenital idiocy. He thinks that it is only a fewkilometers which determine whether a man will be born an Indianor a Pakistani. Now let us take the argument further – it is onlya few feet which determine whether I will be born to my parentsor my neighbours and just a few feet which will determine whetherI am Radha, Rosemary or Rukhsana. And if nature did not ordain‘us’ to fight and if ‘we’ have more in common than we havedifferences and if the cultural and emotional ‘bondings’ arestronger than our state of the art weaponry, perhaps SandeepPandey should tell us why the Muslims unleashed a bloodbathin 1947 and why they insist on self-determination leading to

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 245secession in Jammu and Kashmir now, why have the Hindusbeen driven out of Pakistan and the Kashmir valley, and whetherthe Hindu victims of genocide in the Kashmir valley are alsoKashmiris. Which makes me wonder repeatedly – who is theiraudience? When Arundhati Roy, Sandeep Pandey and NirmalaDeshpande speak and write, who is their audience? Why dothey speak and write what they do knowing that nothing thatthey speak and write will withstand nationalist critical scrutiny.Sandeep Pandey was conferred the Magsaysay in 2000. Thecitation leaves us in no doubt about why this award was conferredon him.He denounced a Government plan to favour Hinduism in stateschools and called for an end to the politics of revenge thatdrives his country’s communal violence. Warning againstmilitarist nationalism, in 1999 he organised and led a 400-kilometer Global Peace March to protest India’s nuclear armsprogram. These days, he vocally supports reconciliationbetween Indians and Pakistanis. ‘The voice of peace has tobe louder,’ he says (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asha_redlands/message/626).The Americans, however, are giving him the award not justfor his anti-Hindu activism but primarily for campaigning againstIndia’s nuclear weapons – just India’s nuclear weapons. SandeepPandey, accused of being anti-national, denies the accusationand declares that he is not against just India’s nuclear weaponsbut that his activism is aimed at getting the Americans, and theP5 nations to commit themselves to total nuclear disarmament.Piffle! The Americans are convinced that Sandeep Pandey’s antinuclearposition targets not only India’s nuclear weaponsprogramme but also the nationalist RSS and the BJP. This is whathe says and this is why is he is conferred the Magsaysay:However as it became clear to the Sangha Parivar that the marchwas not deliberately planned against the BJP and also that itwas not merely directed against the Indian Nuclear Test andweapons but it was a global campaign against nuclear

246 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsweapons and energy and for world peace, the oppositionsubsided.Although the kind of stiff opposition which the Global PeaceMarch faced in the first week where it was not even allowedto present its view point is no longer there, doubts kept arisingabout its intention when people misinterpret this campaignas opposing only the nuclear tests carried out by theGovernment of India.No, Sandeep, it is not just nationalist Indians who thinkyou were posturing only against India’s nuclear programme butalso the Rockefeller Brothers’ Foundation which gave you theMagsaysay.37. On terrorism and counter-terrorismClosely linked to their rejection of the concept of nationand nationalism is the destructive posturing of these ‘peace’ andhuman rights activists on counter-terrorism and counterinsurgencymeasures that governments, particularly the Indiangovernment, have to take to protect the territorial integrity ofthe nation and civil society from acts of terror. While these activistsmaintain a studied silence on Islamic jihad and Christianseparatism in the North-East, they are virulently hostile to allcounter-terrorism and counter-insurgency measures adopted bythe state. As has already been demonstrated earlier, special lawslike TADA and POTA, our armed forces, our police and statepower have been defamed and abused even on foreign soil.38. Arundhati Roy on Kashmir, POTA and the PoliceThe most striking feature about Arundhati’s opinions whenshe plays politically-motivated games, is her transparentinsincerity, her theatrics which give the discerning among heraudience and readers the impression that they are watching afilm. The words are crafted to sound like a film script – wordswith spit and fury, fire and brimstone but examine them closely,and they sound hollow and are patently untrue.Once, a young friend was talking to me about Kashmir. About

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 247the morass of political venality, the brutality of the securityforces, the inchoate edges of a society saturated in violence,where militants, police, intelligence officers, governmentservants, businessmen and even journalists encounter eachother, and gradually, over time, become each other. Abouthaving to live with the endless killing, the mounting‘disappearances’, the whispering, the fear, the rumors, theinsane disconnection between what Kashmiris know ishappening and what the rest of us are told is happening inKashmir. He said: ‘Kashmir used to be a business. Now it’s amental asylum.’Roy has to make a dramatic beginning by comparing Kashmirto a mental asylum and so she has to invent a ‘young friend’who mouths her script. She starts with her ‘young friend’, buildsup the tempo with whispers and blood and rumours andinsinuations, which gradually lead up to the image of a mentalasylum. Please understand that this building up to the climax isintended to keep the reader chewing his/her finger-nails sittingat the edge of the chair breathlessly wondering what is comingnext.In recent years, the number of people killed by the police andsecurity forces runs into tens of thousands. Andhra Pradesh(neo-liberalism’s poster state) chalks up an average of about200 deaths of ‘extremists’ in ‘encounters’ every year. In Kashmiran estimated 80,000 people have been killed since 1989.Thousands have simply disappeared (excerpts from, ‘Let ushope the darkness has passed’ on the BJP losing the electionsin 2004).Roy’s slip is showing here. Notice her reference to AndhraPradesh and placing her favourite terrorists the Naxalites, whomshe euphemistically labels ‘extremists’ within quotes, implyingthereby that Naxalites far from being terrorists are not evenextremists. And she, like those of her ilk under the scanner inthis book, is not above taking liberties with the truth, facts andfigures as demonstrated earlier with the figures of those that

248 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundswere killed during the Gujarat riots. She is saying thatapproximately 80,000 people have died in J&K since 1989 whereasSouth Asia Terrorism Portal, an independent think-tank whichpresents one of the most comprehensive data on terrorism, givesthe total numbers of those dead as of 12th April, 2006, as 40,044,which includes civilians, security forces and terrorists amongthose killed.The Indian state’s proclivity to harass and terrorise people hasbeen institutionalised by the enactment of the Prevention ofTerrorism Act (POTA). It has been promulgated in 10 States.A cursory reading of POTA will tell you that it is draconianand ubiquitous. It’s a versatile, hold-all law that could applyto anyone — from an Al-Qaeda operative caught with a cacheof explosives to an Adivasi playing his flute under a neemtree, to you or me. The genius of POTA is that it can be anythingthe Government wants it to be.Now Arundhati Roy must be asked to show us even one‘adivasi playing his flute under a neem tree, who has been detainedunder POTA by the Indian state only because he was playingthe flute under the neem tree. If she can’t show us even one,then the Indian state must take her to court for defamation andthe highest court of the land must punish her in an exemplarymanner for defaming an important national institution.POTA allows confessions extracted in police custody to beadmitted as judicial evidence. In effect, under the POTA regime,police torture tends to replace police investigation. It’s quicker,cheaper and ensures results. Talk of cutting back on publicspending.Today in Jammu and Kashmir and many North-Eastern States,the Armed Forces Special Powers Act allows not just officersbut even Junior Commissioned Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers of the army to use force on (and evenkill) any person on suspicion of disturbing public order orcarrying a weapon. On suspicion of! Nobody who lives in India

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 249can harbour any illusions about what that leads to. Thedocumentation of instances of torture, disappearances,custodial deaths, rape and gang-rape (by security forces) isenough to make your blood run cold. 13Laws like POTA are like buttons on a TV. You can use it toswitch off the poor, the troublesome, the unwanted (excerptsfrom ‘Kashmir, how deep shall we dig’).This talk was intended to inflame the Muslim students ofAMU. While she paints a colourful picture of the ‘evil’ Indianstate, Arundhati Roy observes the norms of perfect politicalcorrectness making sure she doesn’t offend the gentle sensibilitiesof her Muslim audience; there is nary a word on the genocideand terrorising of the Hindus of J&K by Islamic jihad and narya word on the obscenity of terrorism or the terrorists themselveswho have brought J&K to this pass. In dear Arundhati’simaginative rendition of terrorism and its victims, the terroristsare made out to be the victims – she calls them ‘poor,troublesome and unwanted’. Now that’s the last word onperversion for you!But coming back to the counter-terrorism initiatives, over thelast decade, the number of people who have been killed bythe police and security forces runs into the tens of thousands.In the state of Andhra Pradesh (the pin-up girl of corporateglobalisation in India), an average of about 200 ‘extremists’are killed in what are called ‘encounters’ every year. TheBombay Police boast of how many gangsters they have killedin shoot outs. In Kashmir, in a situation that almost amountsto war, an estimated 80,000 people have been killed since 1989.Thousands have simply disappeared. In the north-easternprovinces, the situation is similar.In recent years, the Indian Police have opened fire on unarmedpeople, mostly Dalit and Adivasi. Their preferred method isto kill them and then call them terrorists.In India, POTA (Prevention Of Terrorism Act) is often calledthe Production of Terrorism Act. It’s a versatile, hold-all lawthat could apply to anyone from an Al-Qaeda operative to a

250 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsdisgruntled bus conductor (excerpts from ‘Democracy Now’,24 August, 2004).Notice how Arundhati Roy has re-cycled the same idea withalmost the same words in both ‘Kashmir: How deep shall wedig’ and in ‘Democracy Now’? Note the references to AndhraPradesh, first as ‘poster-state’ and then as ‘pin-up girl’ and thepairing of Al-Qaeda, first with a flute-playing adivasi and nowwith a ‘disgruntled bus conductor’. I didn’t know disgruntledbus conductors too, like flute-playing adivasis, were detainedunder POTA. The time has come for the Indian government tomake Arundhati pay for her irresponsible flights of fancy.Arundhati must be asked to show us both the ‘flute-playing adivasi’and the ‘disgruntled bus conductor’ or else must be made to payexemplary damages. Now we know how, politically-motivatedprofessional dissenters-cum-speakers save on time, truth andcreativity.39. Akhila Raman on Jammu and KashmirAkhila Raman, US-based, self-styled ‘researcher on theKashmir conflict’, sings off-key for her supper on American soil.Her so-called research on Jammu and Kashmir is nothing moresubstantive than a diatribe against Indian security personnel andshe relies on Amnesty International and Human Rights Watchfor her data while I will provide readers with data on jihaditerrorist atrocities from the clinically objective South Asia TerrorismPortal website. 14 Akhila’s bile:November 2002: The human rights record of the Indiansecurity forces in Kashmir has been characterised by arbitraryarrests, torture, rape and extrajudicial killings. These have beenextensively documented by human rights organisations suchas Human Rights Watch and the PUCL (People’s Union forCivil Liberties) and others.In 1995, Amnesty International documented 706 cases ofcustodial killings in the period 1990-1994, nearly all aftergruesome torture.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 251Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Akhila Ramanand other ‘peace’ and human rights activists all belong to the sameunholy anti-India conglomerate, and it doesn’t surprise me onewhit that they quote each other. Now this is how the networkoperates. No Indian government will allow Amnesty Internationaland Human Rights Watch to set foot inside this country. Thesebusybodies rely on entities like the NGOs and activists selected forcritical scrutiny in this book to compile their fictional data. AmnestyInternational and Human Rights Watch will ask neither the Indiangovernment for the truth, facts and figures nor will it accept whatthink-tanks like South Asia Terrorism Portal have to say. And so,Amnesty International and Human Rights watch will ask the likesof Teesta Setalvad, Harsh Mander and Kathy Sreedhar forinformation which they will then peddle world-wide in theirimaginative ‘reports’. This hearsay ‘evidence’ will then make anobedient U-turn and come back to its ‘sources’; the figures which,in the first instance were provided by these activists will now be‘authoritatively’ quoted by the same self-styled ‘peace’ and humanrights activists now citing Amnesty International and HumanRights Watch as reference!Hundreds of women have been raped with impunity and mostof them go unreported given the social stigma and fear ofretribution by the State.It’s the Peshawar Declaration all over again.40. Akhila Raman’s definition of ‘renegade’Let us go back to Sean Macbride the Irish nationalist, whodistanced himself from the IRA of which he was an importantmember, and went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. If we wereto judge Sean Macbride by Akhila’s opinion of those who giveup terrorism, then Sean Macbride qualifies to be called a ‘renegade’.The phenomenon of renegade militants has been extensivelydocumented by Human Rights Watch. Renegades are formermilitants who have surrendered and changed sides to theIndian forces. Since the 1989 insurgency in Kashmir, renegades

252 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundshave been used for extrajudicial executions of militants (besideshuman right activists, journalists and other civilians) and laterconveniently dismissed as ‘inter-group rivalries’. Many of thesegroups have been responsible for grave human rights abuses,including summary executions, torture, and illegal detentionas well as election-related intimidation of voters. They are neverarrested or prosecuted and go scot-free.In 1997, an estimated 5,000 renegades were reportedly‘rehabilitated’ as Special Police Officers (SPOs) in the State Policeand many others were absorbed in the security forces. Thepresent number of renegade militants continues to be significantand the estimates vary. In 1999, Gurbachan Jagat acknowledgedthat there were 1,200 renegades in the payroll of New Delhi;According to a renegade representative Javed Shah, the numberof renegades exceeded 2,000; Renegades remain a dreadedgroup.41. Akhila Raman on the Chhatisinghpora massacreIn March 2000, around the time of US President Clinton’s visitto India, unidentified gunmen gunned down 35 Sikhs atChattisinghpora; India blamed foreign militants; Kashmirisblamed renegade militants employed by Indian security forces.While some argue that the Chattisinghpora massacre may verywell have been engineered by the Indian forces for politicalgains during Clinton’s visit, the least that can be said is thatconfirmed, unpunished atrocities of the security forces mostcertainly do not inspire confidence in the people, and fuelresentment instead.Despite the fact that she has no proof to substantiate herweird theories, Akhila Raman continues to maintain that Indiansecurity forces and ex-militants (renegades) are responsible forthe killing of the 35 Sikhs at Chattisinghpora. Not unlike PrafulBidwai and Arundhati Roy before her. She is so weird she actuallyaccuses our security forces of having masterminded the killingof Kashmiri Hindus at Nadimarg too!

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 25342. Akhila Raman on the Nadimarg Massacre of KashmiriHindusMassive solidarity demonstrations by the Kashmiri Muslimsfollowing the brutal killings of Pandits at Nadimarg reveal thatKashmiriyat continues to flourish and also highlights thealienation and plight of the Kashmiris who continue to bebrutalized by the militants and the Indian forces.In a dastardly act, ‘unidentified gunmen’ massacred 24Kashmiri Pandits including 11 women and two children inNadimarg village in Indian-administered Kashmir, on March24. Kashmiri Muslims rallied in solidarity with their Panditbrethren, voicing their outrage against the carnage. No militantgroup claimed responsibility; India promptly accused Pakistanbackedmilitants, while Pakistan also condemned the killings.Some local villagers besides militant groups have in factaccused Indian authorities of masterminding the carnage toundermine their freedom struggle. What is really going on?The killings have been a devastating blow to his [then ChiefMinister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed] efforts to bring back theminority Pandits who fled the Valley in a massive exodus in1990. The killings also come closely on the heels of thedisbanding of the dreaded SOG (Special Operations Group)which has committed massive human right violations in the past.This lady, who has no stake in the country of her birth, issitting on foreign soil and making a livelihood by peddling thiskind of unsubstantiated drivel about the Indian security forces.I reside in India and am a close watcher of events in J&K withgood friends among the Kashmiri Hindu community, and I haveno news of any serious effort being made to bring back the terrorizedKashmiri Hindus with dignity or assurances for their safety. Thereis also no news that Mufti Sayeed, or any Sunni Muslim ChiefMinister present or past, had ever given the displaced KashmiriHindus the assurance that they should come back and that theirhomes and all other property, that they left behind them in thevalley when they were driven out, will be restored to them. So,as I said before of Nirmala Deshpande and Arundhati Roy, whoreally is Akhila Raman’s audience? Who is she trying to fool?

254 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsAnd please take note of the last line – she is actually insinuatingthat the ‘dreaded’ SOG which had been disbanded may havehad a hand in the killing. I am amazed that the Indian Governmenthas so far not seen fit to bring these scandal-mongering activiststo book. It is time to make them accountable for what they speakand write (all Akhila quotes from http://india.indymedia.org/en/2003/09/7548.shtml).43. Akhila Raman, the ‘Voice of the Hurriyat’, and on thefantasy called ‘Kashmiriyat’It is heartening to note that thousands of Kashmiri Muslimsrallied in support of their Pandit brethren and held protestdemonstrations; the entire Valley shut down on March 25 inresponse to a call for a strike by the Hurriyat, thus sending aclear signal to the killers that Kashmiri Muslims do not approveof killings of their Hindu brethren and that Kashmiriyat- thecomposite culture with the glorious traditions of communalamity, tolerance and compassion- is still flourishing.Akhila Raman and Nirmala Deshpande are hard-selling thejihadi Hurriyat as legitimate representatives of all the peoples ofJ&K, very much like saying that the terrorist LTTE is the solerepresentative of the Tamil-speaking people of Sri Lanka. Let usalways remember and let us never forget that the Hurriyat is thepolitical coming together largely of those groups and individualswho terrorised the Kashmiri Hindus into fleeing the valley in1989-90 and who presided over the genocide of the Pandits.Pakistan’s direct involvement in the state came a little later. Solet Akhila tell us why this ‘flourishing Kashmiriyat’ drove theKashmiri Hindus out of the valley, why Kashmiri and Pakistanijihadis continue to kill the remaining doughty Hindus and Sikhs,why the Sunni Muslims of the valley, inspired by ‘Kashmiriyat’are making no attempt to bring the Hindus back and, above all,whether ‘Kashmiriyat’ is the Kashmiri version of the muchcelebratedIndian secularism and pluralism (which is ‘anti-Hindu’by another name) (http://www.indiatogether.org/peace/kashmir/articles/indhr.htm). And persons like Akhila use theword ‘brethren’ only when ‘brothers’ of an imagined family do

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 255not share a sense of ‘brotherhood’.Reading what Arvind Lavakare has to say about these activistsand their distortion of the facts pertaining to J&K may have asalutary effect on those of our readers who may have been connedinto buying their arguments. 1544. Sumit Ganguly whining to the US State Department aboutKashmirI consider it an honour and a privilege to be asked to testifybefore this Commission today.Finally, to turn to the most contentious issue, namely, Americanpolicy towards Kashmir, and I am going to be downrightheretical on this issue. Being a tenured full professor enablesyou to do these kinds of things, particularly in a democraticsociety. This is one of the great joys of tenure in America.To begin with, I think it should—the United States should callon India to forthrightly address allegations of human rightsabuses on the part of its security forces in Kashmir; to maintainits offer to negotiate with any insurgent group while continuingnecessary counterinsurgency operations: to renew the stalleddialogue with Pakistan; and to seriously consider returningKashmir, the portion of Kashmir that it controls, to theautonomous status that it once enjoyed in 1953.(US State Department Hearings on Religious Freedom in Indiaand Pakistan: Excerpts from Prof. Sumit Ganguly’s OralTestimony, September 18, 2000. Professor Sumit Ganguly,University of Texas.)President George W Bush on the eve of being sworn intothe White House at the time of his first tenure as President, inresponse to a journalist’s question on India, confessed he didnot know who were the Prime Minister and President of India.Now, Sumit Ganguly is probably banking on this averageAmerican illiteracy about life beyond the American nose to peddlehis drivel. Let us take this drivel apart. Going by Sumit Ganguly’sdeposition:India is a banana dictatorship ruled by a tin-pot dictator who

256 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundshas denied Indians freedom of speech.For Indians to speak ill about their country and governmentthey have to travel to the US.[Now, please don’t ask the silly question how a tin-pot dictatorwho has denied us all freedom of speech has allowed usfreedom to travel.]And even in the US you have to be a ‘tenured full professor’,traitorous Indian to enjoy this right. Traitorous non-tenure halfprofessorsare denied the same right in that ‘democratic society’.As for his ‘heretical’ views on Kashmir, he is not the onlyheretic; this book has featured other heretics/traitors who sharehis cavalier attitude to nation, national borders and the territoryof this nation. Every heretic Indian in the US may cherish theillusion he/she is one of a kind but, in American universities,they are two a dime. While, as Mary Roy has proved to us, theseactivists are not willing to part with even one inch of territory orreal estate or one paisa that is their baap ka maal, and whichthey consider their rightful patrimony for which they will taketheir own fathers, mothers and brothers to court, they are generouswith what is not theirs and want nationalist Indians to bemagnanimous and surrender territory to Islamic jihad and thecountry across our border which sponsors it.45. Achin Vanaik, linking India’s nuclear tests to ‘Kashmir’‘South Asia’ has been designated as the ‘most dangerousnuclear flash-point’ today. This is a self-serving argument dishedout by the Nuclear Weapons States (NWS) which practice nuclearapartheid. The NWS which are also the permanent members ofthe UNSC have a vested interest in not admitting more membersinto their select club. Faithfully parroting this line of thought isthe group of self-appointed nuclear watchdogs under the namesCoalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) and SouthAsians Against Nukes (SAAN). This group blames India’s 1998nuclear tests for Kargil, Kandahar, Kashmir, for the intendedpre-budget hike in the cost of LPG and for India’s defeat in thetest series against Pakistan in January-February, 2006.This group chooses to ignore:

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 257Jihadi Islam can wage jihad without nukes.Jihadi Islam vivisected India in 1947 when there were no nukesin ‘South Asia’.Pakistan is bleeding India through the ISI, the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and the Jaish-e-Muhammad without nukes.Kashmir has been a festering wound long before nukesappeared on the scene.India is committed to a no-first-use while Pakistan has givenno such assurance.The world had already been endangered by the nukes in thepossession of the US and the USSR.Nuclear apartheid which implies nuclear weapons in thehands of White Christians (except China) is a yoyo whilenuclear weapons in brown hands makes South Asia adangerous nuclear flash-point.This is what Achin Vanaik and Praful Bidwai have to sayabout India’s nuclear weapons for which they were jointlyrewarded with the Sean Macbride Peace Prize in 2000.How much was India’s past nuclear programmes and the forcesand vested interests associated with it responsible for whateventually emerged? Alternatively, how much weight is to begiven to other factors such as the distinctive character andideology of the Sangh Combine and the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) which led the coalition government at the time and tookthe decision (independent of its partners) to prepare and carryout the tests?If India virtually pushed Pakistan to test and declare itself anuclear weapons power, then Islamabad’s acquisition of a‘nuclear shield’ of sorts undoubtedly was one important spurto its embarking on the Kargil misadventure. The politicaldiplomaticdefeat for Pakistan over Kargil promoted seriousdissent within the Pakistan armed forces and led to the attemptby the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to revamp the upperechelons. This in turn promoted the counter-coup that led tothe establishment of the military dictatorship of Gen. PervezMusharraf. There is a train of events then that connects India’s

258 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsdecision to nuclearise South Asia to the emergence of directauthoritarian rule in Pakistan.In the fall of 1999 with memories of Kargil still fresh, therewas the takeover of an Indian Airlines plane carrying Indiancivilian passengers at Kandahar in Afghanistan by hijackersof Pakistani-origin.Within the country, following Kargil as it did, this incidentwas seen as yet another deliberate provocation by Pakistan.Furthermore, the nuclearisation of the region does makeKashmir a distinctive ‘flashpoint’, which requires greaterinternational attention and for Washington, its mediation, ifthings are not to go out of hand.In explaining why India decided to go openly nuclear in 1998we have separated fundamental causes (the political andideological rise of Hindutva, and the accession to power ofthe BJP backed by its cohort organisations in the SanghCombine) from more proximate, secondary and complementaryfactors.Over the last two decades in India, the steady rise of Hindutvarelatedideology and politics has caused the most dramaticrupture with India’s whole past history, including the decadesof its National Movement for independence. Indeed, any Indianpolitical scientist worth his or her salt, regardless of politicalinclination, would testify to the remarkable changes this haswrought in the country, in civil society and the state, in policiesand politicking. It is truly extraordinary but true that it remainspossible for security analysts to believe that these great changesare of peripheral or minimal, indeed of negligible, consequencefor explaining and unfolding the story behind Pokharan II!It is only because Realism is so barren and inadequate anexplanatory paradigm that it becomes possible to elidealtogether the issue of Hindutva in accounting for Pokharan IIWe certainly do not claim to have provided a complete portrayalin our book. But we do believe that we have provided at leastthe skeletal framework on which the larger story can beconstructed. It is given by the concept of ‘elite nationalism’and the story of why India went nuclear must above all bethe story of how this elite nationalism has changed so as to

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 259enable the political and ideological pre-conditions to emergethat finally made India cross the nuclear Rubicon.To reverse the nuclear path India has set upon will requireus to oppose the highly aggressive and belligerent, the intolerantand exclusivist form of Indian nationalism that today has fartoo many people, albeit in the elite, under its partial, substantialor complete sway. We hope there will be many among ourreaders who will join this endeavour (excerpts from draftforeword to the second edition of ‘South Asia on a Short Fuse:Nuclear Politics and the Future of Global Disarmament’, tobe published by Oxford University Press, India).I could sum up Vanaik and Bidwai’s intellectual calisthenicson the reasons behind why the BJP decided to conduct nucleartests in 1998 in just two words. Vanaik and Bidwai are tellingthe RSS, ‘You dunnit’. The duo could have saved themselves alot of trouble.The grassroots activism of these politically-motivated activistsis the fig-leaf covering their naked political ambitions – ambitionsnot restricted to electoral politics but an expansive and manicdesire to control not only the political discourse of this countrybut the course of Indian polity itself. The rise of the Italian ChristianSonia Gandhi in the Congress party and, through the party, inIndian politics, and the politics of minorityism of the CongressledUPA Government are perhaps a testimony to this ambition.This group of anti-nation, anti-Hindu activists has so far notbeen placed under the scanner of public scrutiny and intellectualshave not dared to acknowledge the dangerous portents of theirpolitical activism. Raju Rajagopal hit the nail on the head when,in his pathetic defence of Sandeep Pandey and AID, he statedthat most of us would never bother to really examine the grassrootswork of these activists and organisations. But that has changednow. This book, besides exposing the anti-nation character oftheir activism has also critically scrutinised ASHA’s claim of socalledgrassroots work by analyzing the projects and their sourceof funds as described by them on their website. The project analysisof ASHA is the next chapter in the book and its denouement.

260 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsNotes1. ‘Mirror, Mirror on the wall’ by Balbir Punj, Hindustan Times,August 11, 2003, http://www.hvk.org/articles/0803/117.html2. http://www.ciaonet.org/olj/ad/ad_v7_1/wie01.htmlJ Edgar Williams, US Foreign Service retd., and member of theEditorial Review Panel of American Policy, an online AmericanForeign Policy website which publishes ‘thoughtful articles oninternational issues, to support efforts to strengthen the AmericanForeign Service, and to promote understanding of the challengesof diplomatic life abroad through the memoirs of US Foreign Servicepersonnel and their families. Among our contributors are Americandiplomats, both active and retired, as well as distinguishedacademicians. ‘Ciao’ expands as Columbia International AffairsOnline.)3. Appendix 2 for B Raman on ‘Modi Visa denial – who did it?’4. Appendix 3 for the list of signatories.5. Appendix 4 for the list of signatories.6. The other awards presented by IMC-USA include :Maulana Muhammad Ali Jowhar award in JournalismFor best in-depth coverage of Indian diaspora in the USJerome McDonnell and Andrea Wenzel, Worldview/Chicago PublicRadio.Rafi Ahmed Kidwai award in Humanitarian workFor self-less service towards the upliftment of the poor and theoppressed classes in IndiaDr. A.R. Nakadar, Former President, American Federation ofMuslims of Indian Origin, Michigan.Altaf Hussain Hali award in Humanitarian workFor self-less service towards the upliftment of Muslims in IndiaKaleem Kawaja, Former President, Association of Indian Muslims,Maryland.Tipu Sultan awardFor courageously serving India and India’s interestsPrabhudoss John, Executive Director, Policy Institute for Religionand State, Washington, DCIndian Muslim Council – USA.7. See Appendix 5.8. ‘Testimony: Striking down a Succession Act – Against All Odds,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 261Essays on Women, Religion, and Development from India andPakistan’, Kali for Women, 19949. Appendix 6, text of Peshawar Declaration10. Sandeep Pandey’s ‘Peace March’ expense account:INDO-PAK PEACE MARCH ACCOUNTPaymentReceiptS.N. Head Amount Name Amount1. Bank Charges 768.00 Assoc. for India’s Development 95,975.002. Food 11,467.00 Raj Mashurawala 100,000.003. Petrol & Diesel 11,896.00 Assoc. for India’s Development 42,977.004. Medicine 1,510.00 K.C. Raju Srinivas 50,000.005. Miscellaneous 6,167.00 Donation (Indian Rs.) 24,293.006. Photography 941.00 India Friends Assoc. 42,977.007. Repair 1,020.00 Oxfam 8,240.008. Telephone, fax Assoc. for India’s Development 42,977.00& mobile 24,097.009. Passport 75,000.00 Maharashtra Foundation 50,000.0010. Books & Periodicals 715.00 Small Donations 6,446.0011. Conveyance 23,005.0012. Meeting expenses 57,674.0013. Printing expenses 117,299.0014. Printing &Stationery 4,958.0015. Office equipment 26,095.0016. Travellingexpenses 159,1200.0017. Visa 3,900.00Total Payment 525,634.00 Total Receipt 463,885.00BALANCE—61,749.00(Source: http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2005/peace_march_accounts.html)11. Appendix 7, attendees at the USCIRF special hearing on the Gujaratriots.12. Appendix 8, Plainspeaking the US State Department.13. Statement by the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Lt. Gen. (retd)SK Sinha as reported by the Times of India, March 30, 2006.“During the last 16 years of militancy; the Indian Army has convicted

262 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds134 personnel and officers found guilty of committing human rightsabuses against civilians in Jammu and Kashmir.In a strong offensive against propaganda that Indian troops hadcommitted huge violations in Kashmir and remain unpunished,”State Governor Lt. Gen. (retd) S.K. Sinha quoted official figuressaying, “there was more noise than facts in the campaign, againstthe armed forces.”Out of the 134 army personnel, two were given life imprisonment,83 dismissed and sentenced to jail for one to 11 years, five simplydismissed from services and 44 given lesser punishment, he toldthe gathering. Sinha said: “We don’t do justice to our forces whoare constantly being vilified in a hostile and false propagandaatmosphere.”The Indian Army, he said, has a much better record than any otherarmy in the world. Substantiating, Sinha pointed out the PakistaniArmy was using air power and. artillery guns against its own peoplein Waziristan and the US was using military might on a biggerscale in Afghanistan and Iraq.“When indiscriminate fire opens whole towns and religious placesget destroyed. Now compare this with the record of the Indian Armyand its commendable on their part that not even a single instanceis there, in Jammu and Kashmir when the Indian Army used airpower or artillery guns against civilians,” he said.14. Appendix 9 - important data on terrorist atrocities against womenand children and numbers of civilian victims and Indian securitypersonnel killed by terrorists.15. Appendix 10, ‘Getting it right on J&K’ by Arvind Lavakare.

9ASHA PROJECTS:Where does all the money go?Nirupama Rajan and Radha RajanIn this chapter, we will be looking at some of the projectsthat ASHA has funded in India.Nirupama Rajan downloaded all the projects funded byASHA from ASHA’s website: http://www.ashanet.org/projects/funding.php? a=&p=285&s=. The website allows us to downloadby Year, Chapter or Projects. There are altogether 1,538 projectsunder this category. The projects are numbered chronologicallyand mention the Chapter, if any, which funded the project andthe amount of money granted to the project in a particular year.If a project has been granted money for four years, eitherconsecutive or otherwise, by the same Chapter or differentChapters, the project is listed four times at different chronologicalnumbers, with the names of the Chapters making the grant, theyear of the grant and the amount of money granted.Nirupama made an XL file of the data so downloaded withfilters so that we could look for any information Chapter-wise,project-wise, money-wise or year-wise. Radha ran a random checkof the projects listed on the website to critically examine the kindof projects that were being ‘shepherded’, as the Magsaysay citationput it, by Sandeep Pandey. She found that some projects hadthe basics – Chapter, year, money and description while manyhad only sketchy or no details at all. Some projects carried detailsof so-called ‘project reports’ while some indicated the reportson the webpage which, however, did not open. This was both

264 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsNirupama’s and Radha’s experience. In this chapter, we are noteven getting into the issue of whether FCRA has verified thetruth or otherwise about whether these projects really exist onthe ground, whether targets have been achieved and if the fundsreally reached the intended end-source and the like. We are onlyexamining the details provided by ASHA on its website aboutthe projects and the funds received. We take the data as presentedby ASHA at face value and subject it to critical scrutiny.Obviously, this chapter is about exposing what we thinkare gross accounting inadequacies, to put it charitably. As Radhabegan to analyse the projects listed on ASHA’s website, shestumbled upon no fewer than five Pandey funding beneficiaries –Sandeep, Mahesh, Vallabhacharya, Asha and Sudhakar – allapparently connected. We also do know that there have beenmeetings of ASHA office-bearers over the issue of accounting.When one of them suggests hiring a professional charteredaccountant on a salary, Sandeep Pandey says he finds the ideaof a professional accountant ‘uncomfortable’ and suggests thatthey continue with one of them taking care of accounts, while atrustee called Shanmuga expressed the view that for NGOs aprofessional and paid accountant is ‘dangerous’ (http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:mou KYOBiJ1UJ:www.ashanet.org/conferences/2002indiaconf/mom/16.html+ASHA+India+trustees&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&lr=lang_en).We can now understand why!1. Uncorrelated contributions over two years.Poorna Vidya Project, money given only by Chennai Chapter.Rs 95 Chennai Chapter 2004Rs 1,78,360 Chennai Chapter 2005Project Description:Volunteers of ASHA Chennai have also been participating inthe Chennai Citizen’s Forum that looks at improving theChennai Corporation Schools. In late 2003, the Pitt Macdonaldlodge of the Free Masons society approached ASHA Chennaito take up improvements at a Corporation school as a pilot

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 265project which can then be expanded to cover more such schools.The contacts made through Chennai Citizens’ Forum and theproposal from the Pitt Macdonald Lodge fit in perfectly withASHA Chennai’s vision to improve the government schools.We undertook the project to improve corporation primary school,Paindiyamman Koil Street, Odaikuppam (opp. AshtalakshmiKoil, Besant Nagar) in Zone No. 10.Purpose/Goals:To facilitate learning in the classroom through creation oflearning corners within each classroom, through provision ofa variety of age appropriate material. Organising children towork as a group and as individuals. Linking the material withsubjects. To build the capacity of the teachers in lessonplanning, choosing appropriate methods and evolvingnecessary material so that concepts of child-centered learningare internalised. To enable teachers and children to monitorprogress and evaluate levels of learning. To promote all rounddevelopment of children through music, craft, art, drama, danceand sports activities during classes and workshops. To ensurethat vibrant library activities become part of the school timetableand a variety of creative activities are built around it.To facilitate regular involvement of the parents in PTA meetingsand sharing the progress of their children.Project Type: Formal SchoolsPrimary Focus: to go to formal schoolArea: Rural( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=505)Comment: Except for providing every class-room with ageappropriatematerial, which calls for some small money to createthe material, the rest of the objectives listed in Purpose/Goalsdo not need money to implement, only care and dedication. RadhaRajan has some experience in teaching children and has herselfcreated teaching material outside of prescribed textbooks to enablechildren with varying abilities to learn without stress. And creatingthis material certainly doesn’t demand one lakh, seventy-eight

266 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsthousand rupees.Having received a mere 95 rupees in 2004, this project throughthe ASHA Chennai Chapter alone receives Rs 1,78,360 (one lakh,seventy-eight thousand, three-hundred and sixty) the very nextyear. While one school has been named specifically as havingbeen chosen for ‘improvement’, the rest of the project descriptionis very general and full of good intentions. There is no detail onwhether all the money received in 2005 went towards improvingjust this one school or if other schools benefited too. If yes, whichschools? There are also no details about the kind of improvementsthat were effected in the Besant Nagar school and the costsinvolved. And Besant Nagar, far from being ‘rural’ as it is describedin the last line, is a posh, elitist and one of the most prosperousup-end localities in Chennai. This report has been preparedobviously on hearsay and is inaccurate.*************************2. AkankshaEindhoven Chapter contributed to four different projectsin 2003 and 2004. One project has a recorded contribution ofEuros 0.Project Description:This is our joint effort together with ASHA Bangalorevolunteers in Bangalore. The goal is to procure used computersfrom various IT companies in Bangalore and install them ingovernment schools to teach students basics of computers.Volunteers from Bangalore chapter have taken the responsibilityfor training the teachers and making sure the computers areup and running all the time.”( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=504)Comment: This ASHA chapter is located in the Netherlands.This is probably to give ASHA the veneer of being not just anAmerican-based Indian NGO but also as having a Europeanpresence. But why specify euros when none were received? Tallorders for a project with zero euros as funds. So, why put up

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 267the project on the list when there are no funds and, we presume,the project has not taken off the ground. The idea is probably tocompile an impressive list of projects for potential donors whomay just peruse or glance through the website without subjectingit to critical scrutiny.*************************3. (a) Category called ‘General Funds’ as source of fundsComment: A total of $43,496 has come in for unspecified,miscellaneous purposes, but the source has been classified asGeneral Funds. The Chapters from where these ‘General Funds’have come are also not specified, rather ‘General Funds’ is placedunder the ‘Chapter’ category. The purpose of these ‘General Funds’is also not always specified. For example, look at 3(b) where,along with money raised for ASHA Center, Kanpur, from variousChapters, there is one category called ‘General Funds’ whichdoesn’t indicate source of funds. As pointed out, a total of $43,496has come in as ‘General Funds’ and there are no details aboutthe specific source of funds or to what use they have been put.Refer to ASHA project numbers 556, 557, 744, 745, 746, 943,and 1211, for more ‘General Funds’. ‘General Funds’ appears tobe an accounting black hole.(b) Asha Center, KanpurFunds Disbursed1999 Work an Hour $10,000.002000 Silicon Valley $3,400.002000 Dallas $4,300.002000 Seattle $3,000.002000 General Funds $5,500.002000 Silicon Valley $15,556.00Total = $41,756(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=21)Comment: While a total of $41,756 has come into ASHACenter, Kanpur, there are two questions here:Why are there no details about how the money was utilized

268 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsin these three years, 1999, 2000 and 2002? $41,756 is a verylarge amount of money with not even broad details about whyand what for.*************************4. $10,250 has been contributed to various projects listedbelow but the source of the funds is unknown. They have notbeen classified even as ‘General Funds’. It is money that has justcome in.(a) http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=16This project named ‘Ankuran’ has received a total of $11,500of which $6,500 was received in 1999 from the Arizona Chapterwhile $5,000 was received in 1997 but does not say from whichChapter or the source of the funds.(b) http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=116Titled ‘MVF’, this project received a total of $9,250 between1997 and 1999. It received $2,000 in 1997 but the Chapter whichmade the grant or the source of funds is not cited. No detailsabout where the money came from.(c) http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=119This is the Nankari school profiled below at number 5. Thisproject received $1000 but there are no details about which ASHAChapter funded this project or about the source of funds.(d) http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=202This money has been received in the name of ThoraiyurHigh School which received a total of $1,500 — $750 in 1997and $750 in 1998. There is no information about which Chapterfunded the amount in 1997.(e) http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=83This is the Jamshedpur project profiled at number 18A below.A total of $1,500 has been received for this project but there isno information about which ASHA Chapter funded this project.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 269Comment: In some of the projects cited in this chapter ofthe book, wherever the project description has not been able tocite the ASHA Chapter which funded the project, it has beencategorised as ‘General Funds’. However, in the five projectscited above in this section, not only is there no information aboutthe ASHA Chapters funding these projects, the project webpagedoes not even cite the source of funds as ‘General Funds’.*************************5. Nankari School1997 $1000Kanpur is surrounded by villages where the literacy level ofthe people is very low. Three sisters in the area have started aschool for about 70 children from first to sixth standard. Theywish to incorporate teaching skills like making greeting cardsto the children.( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=119)Comment: ‘Making greeting cards’ cannot be termed ‘teachingskills’ and there are no details about how the one thousand dollarswere used. No details on which Chapter funded this project andwhat the money was used for.*************************6. 1996 Central/NJ $5002004 NYC/NJ $8500Total = $9000Comment: These are projects listed at chronological numbers10 and 134 respectively in the ASHA project list which, whilethey tell that these Chapters have granted this amount of money,there is no information about the projects for which this moneywas raised.*************************7. Towering ambitions for $ 1!Sugandha Project has had a one-time contribution of $1

270 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds(in 2004) from the Boston MIT Chapter.Project Description:To educate the destitute and under-privileged, orphans, poorchildren living below poverty line and to develop these childreninto responsible citizens, prepare them in good vocation for adecent living and to make them self-sufficient.To open an orphanage, handicapped school and school forthese children To provide food, clothes, books, stationery, otherbasic necessities.To provide medical aid and healthcare facilities. To provideprofessional training and skills like mechanic, electrician,paramedic, etc.To improve the environment and inculcate habits resulting inclean surrounding.To create awareness about forestation, clean drinking water,personal hygiene, etc.To provide facilities for games, sports and cultural activities.( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=491)$1?Comment: All these magnificent noble intentions for just*************************8. Short-lived noble thoughtTuition fees funding of students from Govt. College LeatherTechnologyAnother one time contribution is for Tuition Fee Fundingof poor students from Govt. College Leather Technology in 2004for Euros 370 from the Nijmegen Chapter.Purpose / Goals:Helping bright students from rural and poor background toget higher education and thus, enabling them to come out ofcircle of poverty. Efforts of these students will help increasemotivation of the community and inspire more children from

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 271these rural and poor communities to continue their education.http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=524Comment: So what happened to these excellent nobleintentions after 2004? And is this kind of ‘funding’ poor studentsdifferent from the ASHA scholarships? If yes, then there are nodetails about how they differ.*************************9. One night standEegai Tsunami Relief WorkFunds Disbursed2005 St. Louis $3,835.00( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=563)Comment: Eagai Tsunami Relief Work is another projectthat has received a one-time contribution of $3835, from the St.Louis Chapter. There is no specification of whether this projectis ongoing or completed. We present this project as a test case ofhow even when there is a seeming ‘project report’ the details inthe report are sometimes not of ‘things achieved’ but merely repeatthe ‘must do’, ‘intended’, ‘will hope for’ good intentions alreadyfound in the project description. Rarely do ‘project reports’ justifythe quantum of funds received for that particular project. Thetsunami was the proverbial ‘golden goose’ for several NGOs outto make a fast buck.The points under ‘Purpose/Goals’ are a case in point. Thissection is divided into Primary Objective and Secondary Objective.The difference as we can make out is that the ‘noble intentions’of the Secondary Objective are more grandiloquent and bombasticthan the noble intentions of the Primary Objective. The descriptionof ‘Purpose/Goals’ is remarkable for its vagueness, aimlessnessand brazen lack of specific details. The ‘Project Type’ descriptionsays ‘one time/infrastructure’ although the points mentionedunder ‘Purpose/Goals’ are all long-term and ongoing processes.

272 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsProject Description:After Tsunami, most of the main towns are basically coveredby all the NGOs and Govt. agencies. And the small villageswere mostly neglected, due to inconvenience in transport andvarious other reasons. Eegai identified two villages(Thazhampettai and Pudupettai), which are badly affected andthe children are the main victims. The two remote villages arenear Tharangambadi, in Nagapattinam district. Eegai isplanning to provide the support and necessary help to thesetwo villages to come back to normality.Purpose / GoalsPrimary Objective:To help the infants and kids, to provide foods, clothes etc. Takingcare of the school children to pursue their education in a bettermanner. To provide the necessary educational support forchildren, try to provide employment-oriented courses for thediscontinued students from 10th and 12th Std. Example likeMRF Driving School, Apparel Training Centre., etc…Any otheraids/help for betterment of these two villagers.Secondary Objective:Assist the villagers to get good design of houses. If they areinterested, they can go for 1+1 structure. The design can besourced through our contacts or from IIT, Chennai or anyreputed institutions. Assist the young villagers to give basictraining in construction. Assist the young villagers to providetraining in terms of servicing their engine boats. Assist thevillagers to form a team, provide them necessary guidance toprocure loans from Bank. Get boats at cheaperprices…etc…Link the Fisherman to Fisheries Institute andprovide them basic training and to know about theadvancement. Other possible help to form them in groups andlead a comfortable life. To provide training for ladies throughour known self-help group contacts.Project Type: One Time / InfrastructureSite Visit Report: 5Visited on 02/05/2005 & 02/06/2005

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 273Onsite Update : Visit to Thazhampettai village on 02/05/2005& 02/06/2005Visit by Chezhian, Suresh Kumar and volunteersPosted on February 07, 2005This week Chezhian brought 16 students (IX Std.), 2 teachers(Lakshmi School, Karuppayurani) and 1 volunteer fromMadurai and I took 2 lady volunteers from Chennai. We hadtime to concentrate only on Thazhampet.Day-1 (Saturday) was spent in engaging the kids in variousgames. We also participated in games like volleyball andkabaddi with youngsters.Day-2 (Sunday forenoon) was spent in engaging the kids invarious craft activities.Kudos to Lakshmi School. We are sure, the students enjoyedthe trip and had an altogether different experience in their lives.We left Thirukkadaiyur at around 13:00 Hrs. The activitiesimpressed the village kids to the extent of asking, “Will youcome tomorrow?”We supplied the following items:1. 3 Bicycles2. Health Flour (Sathu maavu)3. Blouse pieces4. Biscuits5. Pencils6. Pencil Boxes7. Mathematical Tables (Vaaipaadu)8. Notebooks9. Some books for the recent coming exams10. Balls and bats (Donated by Lakshmi School)We have (once again) asked the elders to build a model,acceptable to majority of the villagers, wherein if we supplyboats and nets, it will benefit the entire community. Similarlywe have asked the ladies to look into community kitchen conceptwhich will make our spend economical.We took Arun, a volunteer from CCD, to speak to the villagers.He will be once again meeting them today. We expect Arun tosupply nets through CCD. For this, he will need the village tobe organised (and united) by means of Ladies Self-Support

274 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsGroup. (He will lead this initiative in a professional way.)Regards,Nedunchezhian DSuresh Kumar R.Comment: $3,835 amounts to nearly 2 lakh Indian rupees.Three cycles, pencils, pencil boxes, notebooks, ‘some books’, and‘health flour’ at best would have cost not more than five to sixthousand rupees altogether. But there are no other accountingdetails about where the rest of the money went. There is no reportif the boats were procured and delivered and if community kitchenswere set up. These details are not difficult to present on the websiteconsidering that there is a detailed report about an inconsequentialsight-seeing trip to these villages.Nedunchezhian and Suresh’s so-called report, except forarranging some outside students and teachers to visit the villagein question, is only full of future good intentions. This NGO sprungup only in 2005 in the aftermath of the tsunami, one amongthe hundreds that mushroomed overnight, seeing in the tsunamirelief work potential for a profitable commercial enterprise. Theproject description as usual is full of good intention generalities.But there is no information on what precisely this groupundertook to do and what results were achieved for 2 lakh rupees.And the most pertinent question, why did ASHA choose to funda new NGO when there were other well-known groups workingfor relief?*************************10. Serving a political cause for free!Review of social studies textbooks in Gujarat.There has been $ 0 as contribution that is registered fromthe Seattle Chapter.Project Description:We started this exercise of reviewing textbooks after we heardcomplaints about the content of the social studies textbooksin Gujarat. Media reports talked about the poor state and alsothe communal overtones of the books. So we decided to check

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 275it out for ourselves. ASHA has been very closely involved witheducation for over a decade. But to our knowledge a systematicassessment of the quality of teaching material has never beenmade. We feel that such an assessment is necessary to reallyunderstand what the children are subjected to in schools. Soonafter starting we realised that we were entering a problematicterritory. We heard a lot about ‘communalisation’ of Gujarattextbooks. In addition to aspects of this, we found a whole lotof other issues in these books.Our guidelinesBefore I go into details of what we found, let me give you theset of guidelines that we were following when looking intothe textbooks. We selected the following questions as ourguidelines:• Does the textbook provide a comprehensive view of history?• Does the textbook present history in a clear and coherentmanner?• Does history follow a timeline?• Does the textbook promote different types of biases andstereotyping?• Are there any factual inaccuracies?• Does the textbook promote analytical thinking on part ofthe student?• Are multiple viewpoints presented?• Does the textbook provide background for pressing socialproblems in India?What we foundWe found all kinds of issues including the following—widespread mix-up of history with mythology, promotion ofvarious types of biases and stereotyping, incoherent andincomprehensive presentation of history, poor presentation,factual inaccuracies and often lack of any attempt towardspromoting critical thinking among children.Project Type: Working with the Government [emphasis added]( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=483)

276 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsComment: Now this is a joke. We would have thought workingagainst the Narendra Modi Government would have been a moreaccurate description. This project, which is one of the 1,538projects listed in the ASHA funding website, is overtly politicalin that it has undertaken a review of textbooks as a part of theirhistory/fiction-writing obsessions in a State which they fear iscompletely hinduised. Sandeep Pandey was obviously justifyinghis Magsaysay citation which commended him for resistingGovernment plans to favour Hinduism in State schools (excerptsfrom the citation are presented at the end of this chapter). Nomoney though! At least none that is on the website. We musttake it that the textbooks were reviewed free of cost by ASHA toretrospectively justify Sandeep’s Magsaysay!!*************************11. FellowshipsMany fellowships have been handed out to several peopleof whom three are Pandeys – Sandeep himself, Mahesh andVallabhacharya.Year 2005 Mahesh Pandey DC chapter $3000The reason for the fellowship is stated as:Project Description:This fellowship support is to allow the fellow to focus onregion’s development through education, income generation,right to information, projects development and coordination,site visits to projects, projects accounts and audits, and otherrelevant activities in the interest of ASHA for Education. Byclose participation with the fellow, ASHA stands to gain theperspective on the issues of the underprivileged and themarginalised communities that the fellow works with.( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=619)Year 2005 Vallabhacharya Pandey Silicon Valley $3000The reason for the fellowship is stated as:

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 277Purpose / Goals:Fellowship of Vallbh bhai allows immense support of AshaIndia and ASHA for Education activities world wide. Purposeof this fellowship is to benefit from his capabilities in projectscoordination, projects audits and accounting, and monitoringand evaluation activities.http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=611Comment: While there is at least a brief account on thepurpose of the above two fellowships, Sandeep Pandey’s ownfellowship comes with no stated purpose or description:Funding Info2001 Silicon Valley $800.002002 Silicon Valley $800.002002 General Funds $250.00Total = $1,850( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=285)Comment: This is what the Magsaysay citation had to say:‘ASHA’s teachers take no pay. Instead, they support themselveswith sidelines such as making candles and greeting cards fromhandmade paper’!*************************12. International network of Christian NGOs in dalit colonies‘The International Ocean Institute (IOI), Anawim’ projectis one of the few projects that have received a maximum amountof contribution on a regular basis; $68,755 from 2000 to 2004.This project focuses almost exclusively on dalit colonies. The detailsavailable from the website indicate that while the project payscursory attention to the children of these colonies, their mainfocus seems to be on women – organising micro-credit and selfhelpgroups. ASHA is partnering two other NGOs in this project– The International Ocean Institute located in IIT Chennai, andAnawim which seems to be a Church-funded NGO run byChristians who also receive funds from churches in theNetherlands. The ultimate objective of Church-funded and

278 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsChurch-backed NGOs working in dalit colonies and among thefishing communities along the coasts is to create Christian majoritypockets, villages and districts in the country.DETAILED REPORT: The Anawim Trust [excerpt from thewebpage of this project, URL cited below].An NGO group started in 1993 to improve local conditions inthe Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu. Registered in Tuticorinin 1997, FCRA clearance in 2000. The Trustees of theorganisation are:Mr. John Sekhar—Commissioner of Customs, ChennaiMr. K. Sundaraj—Retd. Police Sub, Inspector, TuticorinMr. G. Rajasekar—Asst. Manager, Air India,ThiruvananthapuramMr. A. Selwyn—Surveyor, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, NagercoilMrs. Shanthi Devapriam —Director and Secretary, AnawimTrust.Comment: All Christians?Shanthi manages the operation of Anawim and the women andchildren programs. Selwyn manages the educationalcomponents of the programs on a part time basis. Sundarajoversees the accounts and manages the FCRA account. Further,Anawim has 6 additional office staff and 28 directly supportedteachers (one for each centre). Annual reports 1997-2001 can bemade available on request. They run operations to the tune ofroughly Rs. 21 lakhs/annum ($55,000) (audit statement 2001-02).Main funding sources for 2001-02:United Churches of Netherlands: Rs. 5.6 lakhsMicrocredit Funding: Rs. 4.5 lakhsOther Donations: Rs. 2.2 lakhsASHA: Rs. 75,000CRY: Rs. 1.25 lakhsAEON Foundation (Japanese): Rs. 75,000GTZ Spirulina Program: Rs. 25,000SEA Program: Rs. 25,000

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 279Comment: Unlike the textbook review project in Gujaratwhich is overtly political, the political intentions of this projectare covert. Church-backed and Church-funded NGOs focusexclusively on dalit localities and women’s issues. The dalit issuehas been internationalised precisely because of the involvementof local and foreign churches in so-called ‘dalit welfare’. ‘Dalit’is a 20th century Christian missionary construct with explicitpolitical overtones and objectives. The International OceanInstitute, Anawim and ASHA come together in this project. TheChurch-funded NGOs which operate in the dalit colonies in thecountry are the primary informers against Hindu society throughan agency called the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN)to the churches and Christian NGOs abroad.Indian Christian NGOs-Foreign Christian NGOs in Indialike Cordaid (Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development),Caritas, ICCO (Interchurch Organisation for DevelopmentCooperation), CARE-CRY-IDSN-American and EuropeanChurches-Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch-USState Department and the European Parliament—connection isa powerful anti-Hindu web. The issue of women’s rights as humanrights, dalit rights as human rights, and ‘caste is racism’ havebeen internationalised and politicised by this network with thecalculated intention of defaming and discrediting the Hindudharma, Hindu society and the Hindu people. As pointed outearlier, this project receives funds from the churches in theNetherlands. Cordaid, ICCO and Indian Committee of theNetherlands are Dutch Christian NGOs which actively campaignagainst the Hindus in the guise of dalit human rights with theEuropean Parliament.Justitia et PaxJustitia et Pax is the world-wide organisation for ‘justice andpeace’ of the Catholic Church. It aims to inspire and mobiliseCatholics to commit themselves to human rights, and advisesand supports bishops and church organisations in the areaof justice and peace.Justitia et Pax has a network of over 130 national commissionson all continents. The work of the Dutch commission focuses

280 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundson three themes: Human Rights world-wide, Social Justice (inparticular poverty in the Dutch society), and Pluralist Society(integration, refugees, and tolerance between communities).Dalits in IndiaJustitia et Pax works to improve the miserable living conditionsof the dalits (untouchables) in India. Together with theLandelijke India Werkgroep, CMC and ICCO, Justitia et Paxhas founded the Dalit Network Netherlands (DNN). In Octoberthe campaign ‘Stop Caste Discrimination – Support the Dalits’was launched. In its lobbying work the DNN mainly focusedon the Dutch EU Presidency.Comment: This project has been set up by ASHA inpartnership with Church-funded NGOs in just one district inTamil Nadu and this is the international network effected byjust one small Christian NGO. There are other churches, othernetworks and other donor agencies, like AID, ActionAid, AID-India, and World Vision, operating in other districts of TamilNadu and in other states in India. Elsewhere in the book RadhaRajan has drawn attention to the highly political ‘dalit’ Christianfrom Gujarat, Martin Macwan who is backed by a White American,Kathy Sreedhar, whose links with Amnesty International, HumanRights Watch, the Unitarian Universalist Church and Councilon Foreign Relations have been exposed. Father Cedric Prakash,the globe-trotting Jesuit with a dalit agenda is also from Gujarat.The nexus between the political, Christian construct called ‘dalit’,foreign churches, human rights organisations and White, Westerngovernments is well and truly established.This project merits a complete analysis on its own if onlybecause there is a lot of money coming to it with definite politicalobjectives. If you read all ‘project reports’ on the right hand sideof the web page, then you realise it is full of good intentions butdoesn’t tell you where all the money went. And also that mostof the links on the right hand side of the web page (allegedly‘reports’ of the project) conveniently do not open. And thosethat do open are full of ‘good intentions’ again with no detailsabout what has been achieved in specific terms.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 281Funds Disbursed2000 Boston/MIT $2,575.002000 Seattle $2,500.002000 Work an Hour $5,500.002001 Silicon Valley $3,000.002001 Boston/MIT $2,500.002001 Seattle $3,500.002001 Work an Hour $5,500.002002 Berkeley $6,000.002002 Silicon Valley $3,000.002002 Stanford $7,000.002002 Seattle $5,000.002003 St. Louis $7,000.002003 St. Louis $1,000.002003 NYC/NJ $5,000.002003 Seattle $1,200.002004 Silicon Valley $1,000.002004 St. Louis $3,500.002004 NYC/NJ $1,000.002004 NYC/NJ $3,000.002004 Singapore INR 21,000.00Total = $69,232.80January 2003, Kumar’s site visit report is very interesting.Fully managed by Christians, heavily funded by foreign Churches.(see comments above)(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=78)*************************13. Disparity in DatesMalarchi is a project that is stated to have begun in 1970.The project is recorded as completed where all objectives havebeen met. However, funding for this project as shown on thewebsite of Asha has come in only in 1996 and 1997.Funds Disbursed1996 Boston/MIT $1,020.001997 Boston/MIT $1,020.00Total = $2,040

282 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsComment:There have been no other prior contributions andnone after this period. There is no detail on when the projectconcluded and what were the objectives that were achieved inorder to term it as completed.Project Description:Malarchi is a home for children from families that have beendeserted, or seriously abused, by the father, and where the motheris unable to provide for them. The children are educated inlocal schools.( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=105)Comment: Though the above description ends with a linkto the project conclusion, the link only leads to an error pageand does not open.Another interesting point to note is that the contributionsmade both times are identical, which could mean that it representsfixed costs. This being a reasonable assumption to make, thereare no details on what this money covered.And since the project is complete, one would assume thatdetailed accounts should be available, especially sinceVallabhacharya Pandey had been awarded a fellowship toimprove accounting practices!*************************14. MIPS—Madurai Institute of Peace ScienceThis is another project that is termed as completed. The statedpurpose of this project seems rather dubious.Purpose / GoalsTutoring and facilities for 101 children in 4 hamlets of AlathurPanchayat, Madurai District. Funding required for one year.Later, it is supposed to be self sufficient.Comment: As the purpose states, ASHA managed to providefunding of $5660 in total in that one year in 1997. Howeverthere is no reason stated as to why the funding was needed only

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 283for that one year, or how the institute intends to become selfsufficientwith the money received in that one year.Project Description:After hours coaching facility and study centre for children ofSC/ST landless labourers. Homes of these labourers do notoffer a conducive environment for children to study becauseof lack of lighting, space, poor ventilation etc. This is one ofthe reasons for high dropout rates and poor performance ofthese children. Moreover, these labourers are not literatethemselves and cannot provide the help and support for thesechildren to study. A total of 101 school children of all agegroups will be benefitted. The project is going to buyinfrastructure equipment (blackboards, writing tables etc.),provide tutoring with the help of one trained tutor plus 2volunteers per hamlet. The project also will provide basic healthcheckups for the children. In addition, the project will providea library and a recreational facility for the children.( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=113)As stated earlier, since the project is completed, there shouldbe accounts available. However, none have been shown.*************************15. Asha Center, BalliaProject Type: Educational ExperimentsPrimary Focus: to go to formal schoolSecondary Focus: girlsOther Focus: otherArea: RuralFunds Disbursed1996 Berkeley $300.001998 Berkeley $450.001998 Cleveland $1,500.001999 DC $3,000.002001 General Funds $22,196.00Total = $27,446

284 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=20)Comment: No project description, no details on where themoney went and once again note the category ‘General Funds’with the largest amount to its credit - $22,196, very similar toASHA Center, Kanpur.*************************16. Prerana DhamProject Description:Prerana uses an innovative scheme to provide impetus to theprocess of setting up schools in the local villages. The idea isto first set up schools there that are modeled on Govt. schoolsand then pressure the Govt. into take over the running of theseschools.1995 Stanford $2,000.001998 Seattle $500.00Total = $2,500( http://www.ashanet.org/projects/projectview.php?p=139)Comment: No details on the gap between 1995 and 1998,why the project didn’t receive funds thereafter. There is also noinformation on how many such schools were set up and howmany of these schools were taken over by the Government dueto pressure from ASHA.*************************17. Nameless, faceless wonders!In this section, we are presenting projects that, like prisoners(and no.6 above), have only numbers for identity, the year inwhich the grant was made and the amount of money. There isabsolutely no information on what these projects are, where theyare located, what were the objectives of these projects, and howthe money was used.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 285Project 1Funds Disbursed1996 Arizona $1,000.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=211)Project 2Funds Disbursed1996 Berkeley $3,000.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=218)Project 3Funds Disbursed1996 Stanford $5,000.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=219)Project 4Funds Disbursed1996 Stanford $5,000.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=220)Project 5Funds Disbursed1996 Stanford $2,692.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=221)Project 6Funds Disbursed1996 Colorado $515.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=222)Project 7Funds Disbursed1996 Chicago $445.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=223)Project 11Funds Disbursed1996 Research Triangle Park $1,506.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=213)

286 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsProject 13Funds Disbursed1996 Seattle $5,000.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=215)Project 14Funds Disbursed1996 Seattle $5,000.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=216)Project 15Funds Disbursed1996 Seattle $8,443.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=217)Comment: This appears to be a perfect accounting blackhole. A total of $ 37,601 has been granted in 1996 alone throughthese projects, with no details on any project or where and howthe money went. There is also a gap between Project 7 and Project11. We may safely assume that the money for Projects 8, 9 and10 which are not to be found in the website have simply beenleft unmentioned; this money, because it has no name, by Cartesianlaw, therefore does not exist.*************************18. We have a name but no face, and in one instance a facewith two names.In this section, we look at projects that have been namedafter an Indian city or state but, except for indicating the amountof money received for the project, there are no details or informationabout the nature of the project, where exactly they are located,what were the objectives and how the money was used.(A) Jamshedpur Project:Funds Disbursed2000 $1,500.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=83)

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 287Comment: No project description. No source of fundsspecified and no details about how the funds were used.(B) The Jhansi Project has had two contributions.Funds Disbursed1999 Berkeley $1,850.002000 Berkeley $2,200.00Total = $4,050(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=85)Comment: The project is running a formal school. However,since the year 2000, there have been no contributions. There isagain no information on whether the project is ongoing ordiscontinued.(C) Varanasi Project:Project Description: The School was started by Mrs. AshaPandey [another Pandey!] on July 1, 1996, in Varanasi. Theaim of this project is to provide education to those childrenwho due to extreme poverty do not have the opportunity togo to school.The school was founded with the hope and intention ofgrowing and developing as the children who come also developand grow. Asha Pandey is the project coordinator. She receivedher M.A. in psychology from Banaras Hindu University, aswell as completing a one year teacher’s training course. Upongraduation, she worked for 2 years as a teacher at the RamNiwas school, as well as at the St. Atulanand Central School,both in Varanasi. At St. Atulanand’s there were 65-70 childrenunder her supervision in the classroom. The methods at thisschool were not beneficial to teaching or learning for that matterand Mrs. Pandey became bored with the monotony of theexisting system.Funds Disbursed1996 Syracuse $1,153.00

288 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsComment: Only one year and then what? What happenedto Asha Pandey’s boredom after 1996?(D) Rajasthan Project:Funds Disbursed1997 Indiana $2,500.001998 Cornell $600.00Total = $3,100(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=144)No details about what this project was about, whether itwas one time or ongoing, etc.(E) Bihar Project:Funds Disbursed1997 Austin $630.00http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=36Comment: No details at all.(F) UP Project:Funds Disbursed1996 Philadelphia $400.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=214)Listed as Project 12 in the financials. No details.(G) Prakash:Funds Disbursed1999 Indiana $2,500.002000 Indiana $2,800.00Total = $5,300(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=136)No details.(H) Bisauli:Funds Disbursed1999 Indiana $5,000.00

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 2892000 Indiana $3,000.00Total = $8000http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=37No details.(I) Hamsadhwani Project:Funds Disbursed1999 Silicon Valley $10,000.00http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=72No details.(J) The Laubach Literacy:Funding Info1997 Stanford $1,500.001998 Silicon Valley $4,500.001999 Silicon Valley $3,000.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=97)Comment: No information on whether project is ongoingor discontinued or what the project is about, in which city, villageor state it was started or any other detail.(K) FWERW—Foundation for Women’s Education in theRural World:1993 Berkeley $500.001994 Berkeley $500.001995 Berkeley $1000.001997 Berkeley $1000.001997 Colorado $1,625.00Total = $4,625(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=63)Comment: No details about where this project was locatedand towards what it was used.

290 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds(L) Soligha Sangha:Funds Disbursed1998 Berkeley $1,100.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=181)No details.(M) Hosur:Funds Disbursed1999 Detroit $980.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=75)No details.(N) Kathai Aruvi:Funds Disbursed2003 Princeton $4,667.002004 Princeton $4,667.00Total = $9,334(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=477)Comment: No details here on what this project is about.However, in another project, mention is made of ‘Kathai Aruvi’and we gather that it is a compilation of stories for children.$9,334 in just two years amounts to approximately 4.5 lakhs inIndian rupees. Now, this is a colossal amount for a small bookthat is a compilation of stories. There are no details about whichindividual or organisation received the money and no detailsabout whether all the 4.5 lakh rupees were spent in just compilingthis book.(O) Rishi Valley Education Center:Funds Disbursed1995 Research Triangle Park $500.00http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=151all.Comment: How were the 500 dollars used? No details at

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 291(P) Rishi Ubr Vidya Mandir:Funds Disbursed2000 Detroit $450.00(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=150)Comment: A total of $ 60,122 has come into these projectswhich have the name of an Indian state or city but there are noproject descriptions and no details about how the money wasused and for what purpose. This is an astronomical amount inIndian rupees and, appropriately enough, seemingly is sunk ina black hole.*************************19. Little Stars SchoolProject Description:This project aims to run a school for the poorer sections startingfrom nursery level to the sixth standard. Asha Pandey, whoruns the school at her house at present, provides nutritionalsnacks, instruction on hygiene, and extra-curricular activitiesbesides imparting the three ‘R’s.Primary Focus: Children from slums.”Funds Disbursed1998 Berkeley $4,720.001998 Seattle $3,500.001999 Berkeley $6,440.001999 NYC/NJ $1,283.001999 Seattle $5,000.001999 Madison $2,000.002000 Madison $5,000.00Total = $27,943(http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=98)Comment: ASHA Pandey again!! Little Stars School is‘Varanasi Project’ at number 21 by another name and now weknow what happened to Asha Pandey’s boredom after 1996.This is the face with two names though we do not know if it isacceptable accounting practice to give two different names tothe same project. Asha’s enthusiasm continued for another three

292 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsyears, it seems, and after 2000 she probably lapsed into boredomagain. Twenty-eight thousand dollars for a project which thisPandey only ‘aims to run’? Does this mean that the school is notrunning yet or it is not fully running but trotting perhaps oronly pretending to run? So where exactly did this huge amountgo for a school that Asha was running from her own house?Snacks? Instruction on hygiene? Extra-curricular activities?Imparting the three ‘ “R’s” ‘? Or her personal expenses?? $27,943is roughly rupees 13 lakhs in just 3 years and that is pretty expensivecottage industry, non-formal education in her own home forchildren from the slums!*************************20. Christ King Society, Chennai, Chennai DistrictProject Description:For infrastructure, and to provide uniforms and books forstudents(1998). Funding was used to build a new schoolbuilding since the old one was not in good condition (1999).Project Type: One Time/InfrastructureFunds Disbursed1998 Seattle $5,000.001999 Seattle $5,000.00Total = $10,000Comment: No address, no telephone number of the schoollocated in a metropolis. No details about the number of childrenin the school or how many classes. Also, no details about how themoney was used. Obviously a Christian missionary society. Also,why did they need the same amount for two years and why hasthere been no further funding or project report or site visit.Now for Sandeep Pandey’s Magsaysay citation. The citationsays it all – he is being rewarded for campaigning against India’snuclear programme, for desiring a woolly-headed, nationalsuicidal peace with Pakistan, for his anti-Hindu posturing andfor the false ‘Gandhian’ beard that he had stuck to his face tohide his Naxal connections. We wonder how the RockefellerBrothers Foundation would react to information contained in

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 293this chapter and in this book about Sandeep Pandey, his fundraisingactivities and how this ‘Gandhian’ used the funds raisedin the US.Excerpts from Sandeep Pandey’s Magsaysay citation (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asha_redlands/message/626):It is a tradition exemplified by Gandhi himself. After years ofsojourning abroad, an educated Indian returns home and,forgoing a comfortable career, applies himself to the great socialquestions. Sandeep Pandey was such a person yet he haschosen Gandhi’s path.The enterprising founders [of ASHA] raised ten thousand dollarsin one year, an auspicious beginning for an organisation thatnow claims thirty six North-American chapters and hasdisbursed nearly one million dollars for programs in India.After launching ASHA, Pandey himself returned to India,doctorate in hand. He taught briefly at the prestigious IndianInstitute of Technology and, in 1992, left the institute to devotehimself full-time to ASHA’s larger purpose: to bring aboutsocioeconomic change in India through education.In the Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh, Pandey confronted theimpoverished world of low-caste families and dalits, oruntouchables. In this world, few children went to school atall; even those who did, grew up to swell India’s vastunemployment rolls. With local volunteers in the villages ofReoti and Bhainsaha, Pandey has created schools that instillself-reliance and values for a just society. ASHA’s teachers takeno pay. Instead, they support themselves with sidelines suchas making candles and greeting cards from handmade paper.He denounced a Government plan to favor Hinduism in stateschools and called for an end to the politics of revenge that driveshis country’s communal violence. Warning against militaristnationalism, in 1999 he organised and led a 400-kilometer GlobalPeace March to protest India’s nuclear arms program. These dayshe vocally supports reconciliation between Indians andPakistanis. “The voice of peace has to be louder,” he says.Thirty-seven-year-old Pandey shares his busy activist life with

294 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundshis wife Arundhati and their two children. He is soft-spokenbut passionate, as he motivates ASHA’s volunteers and youngpeople and shepherds a multitude of projects. How does a onetimeaspiring engineer manage such a life? “I believe in theGandhian thinking,” he says, “that once the path is chalkedout, the means will follow.” In electing Sandeep Pandey toreceive the 2002 Ramon Magsaysay award for EmergentLeadership, the board of trustees recognizes the empoweringexample of his commitment to the transformation of India’smarginalised poor.*************************ConclusionThis book has demonstrated the following:The network of anti-Nation, anti-Hindu NGOs and activistscomprising Marxists, Nehruvian Secularists, Muslims andMissionaries is well-entrenched in the US, particularly AmericanuniversitiesThere is a powerful network of donor agencies which includeforeign governments, foundations, trusts and other church charitieswhich work with Marxist, Nehruvian and Christian IndianNGOs in India with well-defined political objectives among thedalits, women and tribal communities within Hindu society.The Indian government’s Home Ministry through whichall foreign funds must be routed has no fool-proof mechanismto verify if the projects mentioned on paper exist in reality and ifthey do, whether the money received by NGOs for that specificproject have utilised the last paisa on that project alone and notfor ‘other’ dubious purposes.The Indian government has not cared to haul ASHA orSandeep Pandey over hot coals for such poor account maintenance.We are sure that whatever we have demonstrated as beingASHA’s poor and possibly dubious accounting methods willprobably be equally true of a very large number of other NGOs,both those that have been profiled in this book and those thathave not. Our concern is that this grassroots activism, which inmany instances is only a fig-leaf for political activism, is cited asthe reason for the inflow of foreign money only because in India

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 295there is a constitutional ban on receiving foreign money for politicalactivities. Some of us suspect that this grassroots activism in socialcauses is a fig-leaf to raise money for political and religious activitieswhich are detrimental to Hindu interests.Political parties too cannot receive foreign money andtherefore when persons like Sandeep Pandey, Harsh Mander,and Aruna Roy, besides the hundreds of Christian and MarxistNGOs who describe themselves as grassroots workers andadvocacy activists, associate themselves with political parties andpolitical agendas, politically conscious Hindus like the authorsof this book entertain the nasty suspicion that this money is probablybeing diverted for purposes other than those cited in governmentrecords. The Government of India must, therefore, ensure that avigorous mechanism be set up which will closely monitor theseNGOs and make sure that the money received by them is indeedspent for social causes. But to do that we will need a governmentthat does not depend on these NGOs to campaign in its favourand against its political opponents.(All project URLs cited in this chapter are functional as of11.30 pm, 16th April, 2006.)

10CLOSING WORD:Who is afraid of the Hindu nation?George ThundiparambilNGOs as instruments of hate and fratricideFor Indians who are aware of the anti-Hindu agendas ofChristian, Islamic and Communist organisations in India andabroad, it is neither shocking nor surprising that numerous NGOshave sprung up throughout the country, which act as sole agentsfor these alien and hostile organisations. As we come to knowfrom the few, but meticulously written articles of this book, mostof these agents are mercenaries of alien masters, and that theyare best described as Nehruvian secularists. The Macaulayanpat on the shoulder for submissive behaviour has been loyallysustained and well-absorbed by Nehruvian Stalinism, whichepithet describes the Nehruvian-Stalinist policy of sharing theloot among acolytes and relatives.From the Mitrokhin revelations, we also know that the policyof working for alien imperialist agencies had been vigorouslyflourishing even after India’s so-called independence in 1947.This type of activity is generally designated as treason and ispunishable by law, but on the contrary, we have seen that suchbehaviour is more than unsuitably rewarded with Governmentpatronage, privilege and high position in society. We see numerous,unscrupulous Indians like Harsh Mander still prospering ondishonour. There are thousands of Manders out there with adifferent upbringing and educational background, but all haveone thing in common – they are all Nehruvian secularists and

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 297Marxists working against Hindu India and the native traditionsthat brought forth them. Is it only greed or an evil mindset castby India’s enemies?Like any other instrument, an NGO can be used for goodor for bad. For foreign powers that have illicit designs for anaturally democratic country like India, buying an NGO or awilling-to-be-bought activist would appear to be the simplestway to fulfil and implement their agenda. In India, which weunderstand had never been free from the imperialist powers ofChristianity, Islam and Marxism, there is no shortage of custommadeHarsh Manders. For instance, one Cedric Prakash, onassignment for the Vatican, but masquerading as a social workerin Gujarat, has been bending over backwards cheering andadvocating for India’s enemies, especially Pakistan, when he isnot painting the Hindu civilisation black.Here, greed is the perk, where Christian and Islamicorganisations combined with their Marxist cronies lead the traitorsby their noses. To understand them better, one can go by theirown allegories, which have two significant indications. InChristian tradition, the believing Christian is depicted as the sheepand the Muslim is the tiger. In the first indication, in Christianity,this image is taken further to make the clergy the shepherd dogor the hound of god juxtaposed against the lay sheep who includethe already converted. The Christian metaphor extends also tothose pagans and infidels who are potential converts – these arethe ‘missing’ and the ‘black sheep’ who could be converted intoobedient, sacrificial sheep in future. In reality though, the houndof god is the wolf that infiltrates the herd of sheep, and aftertaking control of it, finishes them off one at a time. Meanwhile,the tiger that is unseen, but is always there hiding behind thebushes, preys on the isolated sheep. In the second indication,this allegory is extended to their own ranks of victims. By systematictraining and solid investment from abroad, the Christian sheepand the Islamic tigers are fed and fattened in such unnaturaland aberrant circumstances (more or less like broiler chicken)that satiating the desire for wealth becomes secondary to thereserved seat in nowhere land, also known as Paradise orHouristan.

298 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsModern-day Indian Marxists are closely enmeshed in theallegory by their own behaviour. They are the unscrupulous andvulgar hyenas chained to long transnational leashes, smackingtheir lips and waiting in the sidelines, while the more fiercecarnivores (Christian wolves and Islamic tigers) devour the naturalreligionists. These carnivores don’t mind the despicable hyenas;they might even make a few adjustments here and there, throwingscraps at them, as a potential ally/agent against the Hindu asthey perceive the Hindu ‘black sheep’ becoming resilient andeven assertive.The rewarding principle that is active in typical Abrahamicreligionist behaviour (which Stalin imbibed and Nehru copied)lets the cat out of the bag – awards and funding go only to theHindu-bashers; the ‘rewarding’ being a fingerprint of the ‘almightyGod’ of Christians and Muslims (and the Marxist who blindlyfollows them from scripture to fanatic fervour). A totally naïvereader might ask at this point: What do Christians and Muslimsfrom abroad achieve by proxy Hindu bashing?The answer to this question lies in the answer to otherquestions: Why are the Abrahamic religionists, Marxists andNehruvian secularists collectively frightened of Hindu nationalism?Why is political power for the Hindus a dreaded nightmare forimperialist religionists and ideologies across the world? The answeris: A successful and powerful Hindu nation poses a religious,psychological and cultural challenge to the very existence of theseideologies and cultures, because the very rise of Hindus is a successof all things natural that these enemies have been striving toexterminate. As if these enemies are afraid of the success of natureitself!To understand the above answer better, one has to pointout the peculiar feature of these ideologies, which are essentiallybased on pre-conditions on nature. For instance, humans, likeall nature, are held to be inherently (genetically) primitive andevil, and the only solution for progress for humans in each ofthese ideologies is conversion to their respective ideology. Forthe sustenance of the foundations of their belief systems,Christians and Muslims (and Marxists following at their heels)have to deny certain aspects of reality, for instance, the nature

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 299of humanity itself. The score of all the cultural or civilisationalprogress that these ideologies feign to possess has been dependenton how they compare themselves (converts to these ideologies)with those who have not converted (natural), in this case theHindus. So, the rise of Hindu nationalism and Hindu economicand political power signals the failure of systems that have beenstriving to put down the Hindu and what the Hindu signifies.Therefore, a Hindu nation is a threat to the very existence ofthese frail ideologies, which go against the grain of human natureand reality itself.The Christian and Islamic religious organisations are nogovernmental organisations, but they presume and act as if theyare supra-governmental organisations. They are no more andno less than any other NGO, but to gullible folk they issue fatwasand pastoral letters, which are meant to override the rule of lawof a nation on the premise that these religions don’t respect theconcepts of nation and democracy. Government sources inThiruvananthapuram, Kerala, who wish to remain anonymous,confide that many Christian churches have not paid the StateGovernment revenue for decades for the immense plantationsrun on vast encroached lands. The Christian and Islamic clergyare members of exclusive, professional, religious, non-governmentaland non-democratic organisations and are to be viewed by usIndians as agents of transnational institutions who have antinational,anti-democratic and fascist agendas. If anybody wereto have any doubts on that, check on their bye-laws (scriptures)and historical track records.National and cultural identities are neither recognised norrespected by these extra-territorial organisations, especially ifthese regional identities are not corrupted by conversion. Thecollective motivation of these organisations is not simply theannihilation of local identities, but its replacement with theirideologies, which our Hindu ancestors would discard as trashfor their non-experiential primary principles. Any Christian orIslamic NGO is intrinsically a hate propagandist. No amount ofwashing and cleaning with the much advertised ‘love’ and ‘peace’soaps will ever remove the systemic flaws of hate and internecinewarfare that stain their theological cassocks and gelabas. All

300 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsefforts of proselytisation by these religious organisations whowork round-the-clock in India spring from the venom of hateand fratricide embedded in their scriptures. The nefarious activitiesof the NGOs described in this book ultimately also stem from thesame evil ideological fountain.Hijacking of termsIt might be well worth to distinguish between certain conceptsthat have become ambiguous in recent times due to tacticalturnarounds of the Semitic consciousness in India. For instance,the word ‘secularism’, which denotes the ‘exclusion of religiousconsiderations’, means ‘the appeasement of minority religions’in India, ushered into vogue by the Nehruvians. On the sameprinciple, the words ‘liberty’, ‘democracy’, etc., have taken differentmeanings in the hands of Christian fundamentalists who haveincluded these terms in their list of Christian values. In actuality,the whole list is a fraudulent enterprise, because to them ‘liberty’means the ‘freedom to convert natural people’ and ‘democracy’means the ‘rule of the elite minority’. The real and original Christianvalues (‘original sin’ and ‘the poor and the meek shall inherit’)are exemplars of the malevolent deception of humanconsciousness, for these are anti-values at best, considering that‘original sin’ and ‘poor/meek shall inherit’ are experientially falsepropositions.In reality, the concepts of ‘liberty’ and ‘democracy’ came inthe wake of the White man’s discovery of his pre-Semitic heritagethat led to the European Renaissance, and it is a fallacy of Hindusand non-Hindus alike to believe that the above-said values, alongwith ‘freedom of expression’, have anything to do with Christianityor any of the Abrahamic religions. These modern human valuesoriginated in rationality and cultural progress, which is the naturalinheritance of human consciousness, brought forth by bold rebellionwithin Western Christian culture. One may recall that Voltairewas persecuted by Christians for his belief in the natural goodnessof humans, which is a premise that all Hindu thought intrinsicallyreflects. All modern, Western rational values have originated asa rebellion against the prevailing Semitic legacy of hate andfratricide, which inevitably manifested in fascism and oppression

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 301that characterised Europe not so long ago.The phrase ‘human rights’ too has been given a twist byour Western Christian mates, whose child it is, and in whoseglossary only the converts are considered ‘human’. This is logicalthinking on their part, however, because the non-experientialbasis of their ideology holds that the natural man is deficient ofgoodness and rationality and only by converting to their ideologiescan the ‘unconverts’ (in this case, Hindus) be considered ‘human’.This explains why Kashmiri Pandits and poor Indian andBangladeshi Hindu victims come outside the purview of theirmyopic ambit. In Hindu thought, conception of ‘rights’ for aparticular being, like the human, is impossible, because their primeprinciples envisage every being, whether animal or human, ashaving its own rights and duties, which is termed ‘dharma’. Onemay also note that the ‘animal rights’ activism was born as arebellion from within against the prevalent, primitive Christiansense and sensibility that gave birth to the ‘human rights’.The corruption of Hindu terms such as jati, varna and kulaby Western agencies also ultimately serves to push the agendaof keeping the Hindus on the backfoot, thus conserving themomentum started by Islamic invasions more than a millenniumago to erase them from the face of the earth.The password to international success: ‘Anti-Hindu’Guidelines for procuring lucrative international awards:Start your career by unleashing a tirade against the Hindus andHindu civilisation. In order to become successful as a mercenary,start an NGO and visit the USA and tell the Christianfundamentalists there what they want to hear: how evil andbackward the unconverted, pagan Hindus are. Compare themwith Nazis and then on the way back home, make a stopover inPakistan and talk ‘peace’ and mention the ‘atrocities’ committedby Indian soldiers in Kashmir. Punch the Hindu on the nosewhenever you can, and if you have accrued enough points, you’llstart winning international awards. When the NGO accountsare in a mess, close shop and start another NGO. Nehruviansecularists with Hindu names are preferred for the NGO industry.The password is ‘Anti-Hindu’.

302 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsThis password unites many combinations and bands ofstrange bedfellows, like the Christian and the Marxist, the Muslimand the Marxist, and the Christian and the Muslim, and all threeof them together in an orgy. They gang up to laugh at their ownancestors and their own culture that sustains them. Probablymoney makes up for all the discomfort attached to their betrayal.It has also become very effective to bludgeon Hindus wieldingthe modern sensibilities of Western thought. It is a fashionnowadays for seemingly glamorous Nehruvian secularists toportray the Hindu way of life as degenerate by alluding to thevarious unsophisticated factors in the Indian daily life, such assexual prudishness, which actually have been the ill-effects ofcenturies of Muslim and Christian rule.The sense and sensibility of a nation and a culture can bediscerned only in its art and literature. Look at some of the famousHindu temple architecture and read some of the ancient Indianliterature. Sexuality had never been an issue in ancient India.Homosexuality became a social prejudice in India only after thearrival of the European who biblically indulged in it and thenoutlawed it. The naturality of human nudity in India wasperverted for the first time after the arrival of the first invaderfrom the West. Now, it seems, the Macaulayan upstarts havestarted preaching the sexy sermon to the Hindus. There is noliberality existing in Western society, which had not existed inHindu India at some point of time or the other.The activists and NGOs portrayed in this book are allexperienced mercenaries nourished by foreign funds andideologies, and they display a hate and contempt for all thingsHindu, reminiscent of the colonial hell-fire missionaries who werenotorious for spitting sulphurous fumes at Hindu Gods. Theseold, mean missionaries from the West have been replaced, forobvious reasons, by paid, venom-spitting Nehruvian advocateswho continue their demolition work of the ancient Indiancivilisation. The activists picked up for scrutiny in this book haveall one thing in common. Their colourful anti-Hindu rhetoricreverberating with anti-Hindu sentiments have all been carefullyprepared to please their overseas paymasters. Starting fromArundhati Roy, the self-proclaimed ‘slave of the American empire’,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 303to Sandeep Pandey, the undercover Maoist, there appears asubstratum throughout their anti-national claims that revealstheir ulterior motives. All of them have received amplecompensation from foreign agencies for their mercenary efforts.And, it is a tell-tale evidence of foreign involvement that there isno home-sponsored NGO or activist short-listed in this book forsedition or treason. It is a hopeful sign, at the least, that Macaulay’sbrood cannot function without the dollar.The melodramatic tirade of the anti-Hindu brigade is oftenmarinated in the ludicrous, for the speakers very well know thatneither the so-called ‘fascist’ state of India nor the ‘Hindu Naziand Taliban’ will pounce upon them like a real fascist governmentor the gruesome Taliban and decimate them. They mercilesslyhumiliate the brave Indian soldier or the principled pracharakknowing too well that the Hindus, frustrated or not, are notgoing to issue a fatwa against them, nor murder them like maddogs on the street. On the contrary, these soldiers and pracharaksmake their lives safe and secure from their own diabolicalbedfellows. The venom of hate and contempt that these mercenaryactivists regurgitate can only freely flow in the singularly peaceableHindu culture, which they are paid to abhor. Or else, how canone explain the fact that these activists still walk the street andlead free and peaceful lives despite their extremely provocativediatribe against a culture and a nation? If they would do thesame against Pakistan, China or even the USA, they will knowfirst hand what exactly fascist terror is. These activists are notonly greedy mercenaries, but also cowards and hypocrites ofthe lowest order. If letting these lowly mercenaries carry on withtheir villainy without penalties is not evidence of the generosityand liberality of Hindu culture, then what could it be? This factitself exposes the blatant lies and mercenary accusations of theNehruvian-Stalinist tribe.The insult to the Hindu ModiAnti-Hindu activity dramatically increased as a result ofthe political success of Hindus, which was during the tenure ofthe BJP Government at the Centre. For the enemies of the Hinducivilisation who had banked on the inertial passivity of Hindus

304 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsin all sectors, the demolition of the Babri Masjid was a shockingslap on the cheek. The consequent worldwide condemnation wasfollowed by increased NGO activity that can best be comparedto mobilisation of armies in the time of war. When the BJPGovernment carried out the nuclear tests in the latter half of thedecade, the shock of the anti-Hindu brigade turned to panic. Bythat time, many of the spies and mercenaries were already dugin for the ambush, guns at the ready. And then rose one of themost successful Hindu leaders of modern India, Narendra Modi.And all the guns turned on Gujarat.Hindus don’t really believe in coincidences; they would rathertrust in the workings of karma and fate. But the choice of Godhrafor the carnage of Hindus does not appear to be a coincidenceeven to an agnostic, given the background of the rising Hindupolitical power and a Hindu cultural renaissance. And therewas Narendra Modi making Gujarat an exemplar of Hindubrilliance.In the latter half of 1986, when I arrived in Ahmedabad forthe first time, I wasn’t allowed to leave the railway station till itwas past 6 in the morning. When I enquired, the reason wasHindu-Muslim riots. In 2002, once again, Muslim criminals playedinto the hands of the Nehruvian Stalinists, who engineered theGodhra incident. What followed was lapped up by the anti-Hindubrigade and their overseas sponsors as the rebellion in hell itself.The media blitz that unravelled in the subsequent days made itout as if Hindu-Muslim riots have never occurred before in India,not until Narendra Modi appeared on the scene, as if the Muslimbandits of yore who invaded India were always welcomed withflower garlands.Thwarted again by a resilient Modi, the mercenaries badetheir time polishing their shoes and pens plotting revenge. Thenews of Modi’s proposed trip to the USA came as an idealopportunity for the bogus activists who scurried to the US withonly one agenda in their itinerary. Humiliate Narendra Modi!For the US authorities, however, the anti-Hindu mercenary effortswere like what the doctor prescribed. All they needed wereadministered by the Nehruvians. Modi was denied a US visa.To see the whole picture behind the scenes, one needs to figure

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 305out what the US thinks of Hindutva and Modi.For the US State Department and the CIA, and in fact foralmost all the Western establishments, Narendra Modi symbolisesthe successful Hindutva politician who managed to secure a twothirdmajority in the Gujarat assembly. If this Hindutva tendencywere to be emulated at the national level, the Hindus wouldsoon have a Hindustan with a rewritten constitution, equal rightsas other religions, uniform civil code, anti-conversion laws andthe re-establishment of the pagan values of tolerance andhumanism. And how on earth can one allow that? For the peoplewho follow the Abrahamic faith, not taking the opportunity fora snub against the heathen would be a sin against the god inheaven. For George Bush, Condoleeza Rice and the whole retinueof Abrahamic extremists, Hinduism is not a religion, but theworship of the devil. That is the essence of what they are taughtto believe in, and which they believe in. The insult to Modi is aninsult to every Hindu, no matter what anyone believes in.Had Narendra Modi been a Christian or a Muslim, or forthat matter, a Marxist or a Nehruvian secularist like Rajiv Gandhi,the Gujarat riots notwithstanding, the US would not have denieda visa to him. Being a successful Hindu is enough reason today,particularly among those who swear on the Abrahamic God,for attracting humiliation. If the now deceased pope’s brazendeclaration of intent to baptize the subcontinent and the crassJoshua evangelisation plan backed by George Bush were notblatant contempt for the Hindu culture, then what would it be?The new pope has meanwhile declared evangelisation as theprime motive of the Catholic Church.Safeguards against the alien menaceNGOs and activists funded by anti-Hindu outfits are rackingtheir brains scheming their next move against the Hindu civilisation.The foreign money flowing into India from abroad for Christianand Islamic organisations is completely unaccounted for. India’sNehruvian Stalinists have already seen to it that Christian andIslamic coffers are left alone for carrying out their nefarious,imperialistic agendas. The amount of money pouring into Indiafrom Saudi Arabia for advancing its evil Wahabi ideas can only

306 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsbe guessed at. The recent Saudi plan for 1500 new madrasas inthe subcontinent and the Christian Joshua Project running intobillions of dollars testify to this accelerating offensive againstnatural religionists such as the Hindus. Without a constitutionalmechanism in India to scourge these potent instruments of antinationalforces, they have already proven to be a menace.The kind of ideology that is flushed into the impressionableminds in Christian schools and Islamic madrasas strives to createa transnational loyalty in the subjects, which loyalty is howeveraffected by the irrational holes in their respective belief systems.The sustained impartation of ‘incorrect knowledge’ to newgenerations is slowly leading Indians towards an identity crisis.For instance, the answer of Nehruvian Stalinists to the question– Who is an Indian? – is absolutely predictable. They would firstdeny that there ever was a Hindu India. They would try to givea sort of background that would negate even the remotestsuggestion of a Hindu identity for the whole of India. They wouldcompletely deny that India was ever one country. So, they wouldsay, the modern Indian is the descendant of migrant barbarians,the so-called Aryans, who were civilised by subsequent Muslimsand Christians from the West. All the great things that you seeor hear about India, according to these paid slaves of hatemongers,are achievements of Islamic and Christian heritage.The California textbook issue is notable for bringing to thefore two aspects significant for the Hindu civilisation: one, themalignant karma of the Western, so-called ‘Indologists’ whoselife-time academic enterprises are confined to tarnishing the Hinducivilisation. Second, it highlights the emergence of the unapologeticand proud Hindu who is leading the fightback in a foreign country.The battle lines have been clearly drawn. The anti-Hindu brigadeled by Abrahamic religionists and Nehruvian foot soldiers onone side, and the dharmic Hindus (righteous pagans) on theother. This is the ultimate clash of civilisations, which wouldmanifest sooner or later on every land in this world.The need of the hour for Hindus is to stop the advance ofthese vicious enemies who try to decimate our national and culturalidentity and our ideals of democracy and equality. No individualis above the rule of law, and if a breach has been made against

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 307the law and constitution, it is the duty of every right-mindedcitizen to aid our nation in getting rid of this menace. If the lawhas been subverted by hook or by crook, it is time for Hindus,the natural religionists of the subcontinent, to unite, to assertand take the matter into their own hands and make new lawsthat are both fair and congenial to the principles of a peaceableand progressive civilisation worldwide. I am sure this book wouldgo a long way in disseminating correct information about theongoing war against Hindus, in which NGOs act as the mainconduits of hate and fratricide.

APPENDIX 1The California Textbook Issue* by Vishal Agarwal1. BackgroundThe State of California in the United States adopts newtextbooks every six years. The adoption of these textbooks ispreceded by a well-laid out and lengthy process of review in whichmembers of different resident communities in the state also get achance to participate and offer their comments on the contents ofthese textbooks. California underwent closure of one such cycleof textbook reviews. The textbooks adopted are then used in publicschools for the next six years. Grade VI textbooks on history containa long section on Ancient India, together with descriptions ofHinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.For several decades, Hindu Americans and Indian Americanshave been dismayed at the slanted, erroneous and prejudiceddescriptions of their heritage in these textbooks. This time, however,they organised themselves and approached the State Board ofEducation in California to rectify these errors, before the textbookswere formally adopted and the text was frozen. These groups ofHindu Americans meticulously followed the procedures of theState Board in offering their comments, suggestions and edits tothe texts that were submitted to the Board for reviews.However, just when these corrections were about to beaccepted, a group of traditional India-bashers (e.g., Michael Witzel),non-scholars (e.g., astrophysicist Rajesh Kocchar 1 ), Indian Marxists* The original version of this essay is at http://www.india-forum.com/articles/60/1.

310 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds(e.g., DN Jha, Romila Thapar), non-specialists in ancient India (e.g.,Sudha Shenoy, Homi Bhabha), scholars alleged to havedemonstrated a eurocentric bias in the past (e.g., M Tosi 2 ) andobscure linguists wrote an arrogant and pompous letter (on theHarvard University letterhead, signed by Michael Witzel withendorsing signatures from 46 other ‘scholars’) to the State Board,addressing themselves as ‘all equally famous world class specialists’on ancient Indian history. The letter alleged that all the Hindugroups proposing edits in the textbooks under review weredangerous Hindu nationalists who were somehow connected withthe slaughter of 1000 people in Gujarat, and whose friends in Indiaroutinely discriminate against millions of Indian minority membersand Dalits!The letter argued that the official hegemonic historiographyof Indian communist historians found in India’s NCERT historytextbooks should be used as the standard for what Californiatextbooks should say on the subject, forgetting that the State ofCalifornia has its own standards to determine what the textbooksshould say and what they should omit. As an example of such an‘official historian’, the letter specifically referred to one of itsendorsees, namely Romila Thapar, as the ‘most famous historianof India’ to fortify its claims.It is a forgone conclusion then that Thapar lent her weightyname to argue for retention of the wording of these Californiantextbooks unaltered. Perhaps she does not appreciate the fact thatCalifornia textbooks must be revised every six years to reflectadvances in the field of history, because her own textbooks writtenfor NCERT as long back as 1966 are still being used with verycosmetic changes and in innocence of the latest archaeological,linguistic and genetic data that necessitate the periodic revisionof historical narratives. 3 Thapar forgets that the Governments inthe State of California or in Washington DC are not dependenton support from friendly Marxists and Communists that she canexpect them to enforce her ‘official’ and slanted narratives as shehas managed to do for four decades in unfortunate India (withYours Truly being one of these unlucky students who had to readher political propaganda masquerading as ‘history’).So, let us see now what these books actually say. I want to

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 311emphasise that the examples given below are a small sample ofthe nonsense found in these textbooks.Textbook I:The Oxford University Press text titled ‘The Ancient SouthAsian World’, authored by two scholars including the renownedHarappan archaeologist Jonathan Mark Kenoyer has the followinggems:Page 81: ‘The Vedic peoples discriminated against the Dasa,a group of people who spoke a different language that did notsound at all like Sanskrit. The Brahmins sometimes made fun ofthe Dasa and said that they spoke as if they had no noses. (Pinchyour nose and see what you would sound like.) The Dasa hadwide flat noses and long curly black hair, and the Brahmins claimedthat they had darker skin and called them uncivilised barbarians,who didn’t know how to behave.’Comment: Though the authors reject the Aryan InvasionTheory in the earlier pages, they seem to hold on to part of it—the so-called ‘Aryan’ or ‘Indo-Aryan’ people and their language,Sanskrit without providing any rationale for it. Some of the SouthAsians are referred to as Indo-Aryans to set them apart from thenative inhabitants of ancient India who are identified as Dasa.There is no conclusive evidence that the Aryan and Dasa wereracially distinct. The invitation to students to imitate the allegedspeech pattern of the Dasa is uncalled for. The statement ‘Pinchyour noses…’ is frivolous.The statement that Dasas were insulted by Brahmins as darkskinned,etc., is based on 19th century racist and colonialinterpretations of the Hindu texts, something that even Indologists 4and Indo-European linguists dismiss today. 5Regarding the description ‘flat nosed’ which presumably refersto the word ‘anas’ in Vedic texts, numerous scholarly publicationsexplain the word in a different way . 6In short, the authors have reproduced 19th century prejudicedeurocentric scholarship of colonial historians. But apparently theeminent historian Romila Thapar agrees with this state-of-the-artcolonial Indology.Page 81: ‘The Dasa had in reality lived in the region for

312 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundshundreds of years. Their ancestors in the Indus Valley were theHarappans who had named the rivers and mountains, and hadbuilt the cities that now lay abandoned.’Comment: There are no surviving names of rivers andmountains that were given by these imagined Dasas. The statementis a figment of imagination. Thus, like many other textbooks, thisone also first casts a doubt on the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT)but nevertheless proceeds to construct Indian past and religionon the basis of this baseless theory.Page 87: ‘The monkey king Hanuman loved Rama so muchthat it is said that he is present every time the Ramayana is told.So look around—see any monkeys?’Comment: Hanuman is not the monkey ‘king’. The king wasSugriva. Students in class might use such an exercise to tease orridicule their Hindu classmates and call them monkeys. The texthas many more such frivolous statements.The book abounds in many such statements that are erroneousor could promote prejudice. Thus, on page 155, it is said that ‘…mostNepalese are Buddhist’ when in reality almost 80 per cent peopleof Nepal are Hindus. Likewise, on page 157, the festival of Onamis confused with Diwali in the following description: ‘But insouthern India, Divali is the time for worshipping a demon king.According to local traditions, Vishnu conquered the local demonking Bali, and then banished him from his kingdom forever inthe netherworld.’Textbook II:Let us take the second textbook named ‘Ancient Civilization’,published by Holt. On page 148, the text says the following aboutthe Vedas: ‘Though they are mostly religious, some of the Vedasdescribe Aryan victories during their invasion of India.’Comment: Obviously, the text is teaching the Aryan InvasionTheory, and has relied upon 19th century racist and colonialinterpretations of the Rigveda in seeing ‘proof’ of Aryan invasionsof India. Does Romila Thapar subscribe to this theory, consideringthat she opposes deletion of such sentences from the text asproposed by Hindu groups?

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 313Page 154: ‘However, Hinduism also taught that women wereinferior to men. As a result, Hindu women were not allowed toread the Vedas or other sacred texts.’Comment: No such remarks are made for any other cultureor religion in the textbooks and Hinduism is unfairly singled outand judged per modern standards, using ideals that have not beenrealised even in contemporary societies. It is questionable thatwomen could not read the Vedas in the entire period of ancientIndia that this textbook covers. More than 20 sages of the Rigvedaalone are women, the entire 14th book of the Atharvaveda isattributed to a woman sage. Sulabha is even said to have beenthe sage of a recension (shakha) of the Rigveda and quotationsfrom her lost ‘Saulabha Brahmana’ exist in extant works. It is beyondthe scope of the present article to refute the mono-lateral statementin the text. Even the most misogynist of Hindu lawgivers permittedwomen to read the Puranas, Mahabharata and many other Hindutexts. And yet, when Hindu groups in California ask the regionalboard of education to harmonise the description of women rightsin ancient India with similar descriptions given for Judeo-Christianand Islamic societies, they are called dangerous ‘Hindu nationalists’by Romila Thapar and her ilk.Page 169 makes the following astonishing revelation: ‘TheRamayana, written later than the Mahabharata,…’Comment: Hindu tradition and mainstream modernscholarship hold that the Ramayana was composed earlier thanthe Mahabharata (the word ‘written’ in the text obviously refersto ‘composed’, but it would be perhaps better to clarify that theepics might have been composed orally).Textbook III:Let us now look at ‘Ancient Civilization’ by Harcourt SchoolPublishers.This text starts the description of ancient India with aridiculous claim (page 364) that ‘Hindi is written with the Arabicalphabet, which uses 18 letters that stand for sounds.’ In facts,everyone knows that Hindi is written in the Devanagari scriptwhich can have 46-52 letters depending on whether the script isemployed for Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit or other languages that use

314 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsthis script. The textbook even gives ‘A.D. 9’ as the exact year inwhich Hindi developed. I wonder how the authors got such accurateinformation! No one with an elementary knowledge of scriptswould say that Hindi is written with 18 letters of the Arabic script.Considering that the textbook gives so little information onancient India or on Indic religions (with useless fluff aboundingin the large margins), it is almost a joke that four pages(371-373) are devoted to a fictionalised story (related to the inventionof chess) based in India. But more interestingly, the story obviouslyincludes the typical clichés of elephants, an oriental despot ‘Rajah’,poor and starving villagers, and illustrations that would suitMughal India better than ancient India.On page 385, the text falls back on the typical unproven andhypothetical description of massive Aryan migrations (the neweuphemism for Aryan invasions): ‘About 1500 B.C., after theHarappan civilisation collapsed, people known as Aryans beganwaves of migrations to the Indian subcontinent…’ The page evenhas a large illustration for the ‘Aryans’, who look more like Jewishtribes leaving Egypt in the Hollywood movie ‘The TenCommandments’.Page 387 describes the Bhagavadgita as ‘a discussion betweena God and a Vedic warrior’ and the preceding page cites threeverses that are not at all representative of the text. Many Hinduswould object (with reasonable justification) to the description ofKrishna as ‘God’ (especially since ‘God’ with an upper case G isuniformly used to denote the Judeo-Christian and Islamic Divinity)and it is quite misleading to classify Arjuna as a ‘Vedic warrior’.There is no mention of the Ramayana in the text at all. Less thanone page of text is devoted to the ideas of Hinduism.On page 403, an illustration depicting a 19th century or early20th century maharaja is given as a depiction of the Mauryanemperor Ashoka.Textbook IV:Let us take a brief look at the fourth textbook ‘California Visa –Ancient Civilization’, published by McGraw Hill McMillan. Thefirst few pages narrate the story of the Ramayana in a very sillymanner, accompanied with Mughal style paintings, one of which

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 315shows Dasharatha (spelled ‘Dashrat’ throughout) as a look-alikeof Akbar!The map on page 242 shows ‘Harappan Civilisation’, circa1500 BC (!) when in fact the culture was already extinct for severalcenturies by 1500 BCE. The map also excludes Saurashtra, Gujarat,Ghaggar-Hakra plains, northern intervening plains (doab) ofYamuna-Ganga from the shaded area showing the extent of thecivilisation.Pages 242-243 attribute the change in the culture of India tothe arrival of ‘Aryans’ from Central Asia. A map on page 244 showsa well-defined Aryan migration route as if there is proof for suchspeculative hypotheses. The same map is reproduced in othertextbooks as well.On page 249, this supposed Aryan migration is used to explainthe genesis of the Hindu religion, even though this belief is aninvention of 19th century colonial Indology, and has no place inthe self-awareness of Hindus and their traditions. The text says –‘Over the centuries, Aryan religion borrowed religious ideas fromthe people of India. This mix of beliefs eventually becameHinduism.’ Clearly, the text presumes large-scale migrations ofAryans from Central Asia. A more neutral and accurate descriptionwould have been to ignore the reference to Aryans completelyand state instead that the beliefs and traditions of diversepopulations in the Indian subcontinent (together with some externalinfluences) fused together to give birth to Hinduism as we knowit today.The word ‘Upanishad’ is wrongly defined (page 250) as ‘sittingdown close to’, following some modern definitions of the termby Dr Radhakrishnan, even though traditional explanations andmost modern scholars explain the word differently. The text (andmany other texts as well) dwells excessively on the negative aspectsof the caste system and the inferior rights of women, whereas thechapters on other cultures and religions tend to give a morebalanced view. This is unfair to Hindus obviously.On page 269, the Mahabharata and Ramayana are describedin that order, and although it is said that the two epics were writtenat about the same time, the student may be misled to believe thatthe Ramayana came later.

316 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsOn page 267, it is speculated that Alexander’s invasion mayhave led to the first Indian empire. One thought that such ideaswere propagated only in British colonial textbooks on India. DoIndians always need a stimulus from the West to develop anythingnew, even the idea of monarchy?Textbook V:Let us take the text book ‘Exploring the ‘Ancient World’,published by Ballard Tighe. On page 114, the book says: ‘Alsoabout this same time, tribes of people called Aryans began to moveinto the Indus Valley. These Aryan people came from the areaaround the Caspian and the Black seas.… Eventually some of themcrossed the Hindu Kush mountains into India where they slowlyspread over the subcontinent.’ On page 121, the book lapses intothe typical Aryan invasion mode and states: ‘Aryan tribes foughtwith each other and with the people of the Indus Valley who werethere before them.’The book abounds in errors and covers the subject mattervery inadequately. Perhaps that is why the California State Boardrejected this text and further details on this book need not detainus here.Textbook VI:Let us move on to another textbook ‘Discovering Our Past:Ancient Civilization’, published by Glencoe. On page 244, the texthas a picture of a bearded and turbaned man praying in a typicalMuslim gesture (the two palms facing up and abutting each other)and the caption says ‘A Brahman’. The text approaches the genesisof Indian civilisation and Hinduism in typical hypothetical termsincorporating the Aryan migrations, domination of aboriginalIndians and so on and therefore we need not discuss the detailshere again.Textbook VII:Let us take a very good text book ‘History Alive’, publishedby Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, but still retains a few errorssimilar to the ones present in other textbooks. Thus, on page 134-135, the text elaborates the reasons for rejecting the Aryan Invasion

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 317Theory but, on page 144, it goes on to add, nevertheless: ‘Around1500 BCE invaders called Aryans conquered northern India. Othersbelieve that traces of Hinduism can be found in ancient artifactsleft by India’s original settlers….Most likely, Hinduism is a blendof Aryan beliefs and the beliefs of the people they conquered.’On page 148, it is stated that ‘To recite them orally, theBrahmins had to memorise more than 100,000 verses!’ In reality,most Brahmins memorised one Veda, and all the Vedas put togetherhave less than 30,000 verses anyway.Page 167 states that the Gupta period is famous for itsillustrated manuscripts and then erroneously refers to palm-leafbooks from 550 CE when in fact such manuscripts from the Guptaperiod do not survive. Likewise, on page 172, the book says: ‘TheGupta Empire is famous for its beautiful paintings….Perhaps thegreatest ancient Indian paintings are those known as the Ajantacave murals.’ The truth is that Ajanta paintings lie in a regionthat was outside the Gupta Empire.Chapter XV of this book deals with Hinduism, and missingagain are discussions on the liberating yogas (jnanayoga, etc.) inHindu theology, ashrama system, purusharthas and so on.However, the description of Buddhism in the text is by and largevery accurate and comprehensive.2. General RemarksAll textbooks are richly illustrated but the images are oftenanachronistic or inappropriate, and captions are often incorrect.Some examples have been stated above, but it may be worthwhileto mention that the same erroneous picture is often reproducedin more than one text. For instance, the funny picture of emperorAshoka (looking like a modern maharaja) is found in at least 2textbooks that I saw. Likewise, one textbook shows a scene frompresumably Western or Central India with some priests recitinga text, a sacred fire, some villagers. The caption below it indicatesthat the Vedas are being recited to the villagers. This is very unlikelythe case because the Vedas are not recited this way in public, readingout from printed texts. Curiously, another textbook gives the samepicture, but with a different caption indicating that some Puranaor Itihasa text is being recited for the public. So what exactly is

318 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsgoing on? Are all the textbooks drawing from a common stock ofillustrations?A typical lacuna in most textbooks is inadequate discussionof the tenets of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism (whereasconsiderable space is given to the theology of Abrahamic faiths).In the discussion of Hinduism, most texts leave out the system ofpurusharthas (goals of human life), ashramas (stages of humanlife, or modes of living), liberating yogas (bhaktiyoga, karmayoga,jnanayoga, rajayoga) and other schools of Hindu philosophy. Manytexts enumerate even the four noble truths and the eightfold-pathof Buddha incorrectly. Jainism is typically dismissed with a briefdescription – one text actually devotes just one sentence to thisreligion.Buddhism is typically represented as an advance or animprovement over Hinduism even though the California Stateeducation policy guidelines clearly mention that one traditioncannot be privileged over another. As an example, the textbooksdo not present Islam as an improvement over Christianity, nordo they describe Christianity as an advance over Judaism.There is an incessant and even anachronistic dwelling on thenegatives of Hinduism, which seems to have been singled out asa religion for unfair treatment, when one reads the contrastingmore balanced, even glowing narratives about Abrahamic faiths(Islam, Christianity and Judaism) in these and corresponding textsfrom other grades. Hindu sacred narratives are referred to as storiesor myths, whereas Biblical and Koranic narratives are presentedas historical facts. Most textbooks also describe the subtle karmaand rebirth related principles of Indic faiths in a minimal andessentially caricaturist manner (‘According to this theory, if youdo bad deeds, you will be reborn as an insect’). Although it wouldbe anachronistic to mention and discuss Sikhism in the discussionof ancient India (though Kenoyer’s text on ancient South Asiareviewed above does not hesitate to discuss Islam!), one wouldexpect that some space would be given to the Sikh heritage intextbooks on the medieval and modern periods. Unfortunately,this is not the case even though California is home to perhaps200,000 or more Sikhs. Whereas the Abrahamic religions arepredominantly described from an insider’s (emic) perspective,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 319Hinduism is described from an outsider’s (etic) perspective. Themisuse of AIT and its euphemistic versions to discuss the originsof Hinduism is a case in the point.3. Muddying the WatersIt is precisely these kinds of errors, slanted descriptions,prejudiced discussions and outdated information in the textbooks(as mentioned above by me) that alarmed the parents of the IndianAmerican and Hindu American communities in California. Andyet Michael Witzel, Romila Thapar and other prejudiced ‘scholars’launched a Goebbelsian blitzkrieg, labeling these Californiaresidents, apolitical parents who pay their taxes regularly andcontribute to US society immensely, as dangerous Hindufundamentalists linked to murderers and whatnot.A pained Hindu resident of California asks if it is unfair toask that Hindus expect the same treatment of their heritage intextbooks as members of other religions? 7 Perhaps according tothe self-professed ‘world class specialists’ such as Thapar, Witzel,et al, Hindus do not deserve parity with others.Numerous instances are known where students of Hindu andIndian origins have faced humiliation at the hands of their fellowclassmates in the past because of selective negative presentationof their heritage in the textbooks. I have actually heard of an instancewhere an Indian student hid beneath her table out of shame atthe end of a lecture dealing with India.Does it not pain Romila Thapar to think that the same mayhappen again for the next six years?Perhaps not!After all, her own textbook for Grade VI dealing with ancientIndia has promoted subtle hatemongering against Hindus and theirheritage for the last 40 years, as I have shown in a journal article. 8Let Thapar and her acolytes know then that California does nottolerate such prejudice and that she can keep her own hatredsand prejudices to herself.The above negative description of the textbooks does not meanof course that they have no merit. In fact, with the correctionssimilar to ones suggested by me above, the text by Kenoyer couldserve the needs of high school or first year college students quite

320 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundswell. But as it exists (and even with the corrections), the text issimply too complicated for sixth grade students in elementaryschools.The textbook by the Teacher’s Curriculum (listed last of allthe texts above) is actually very good, and stands out among therest for its illustrations, lucid descriptions, comprehensive detailand logical flow. In any case, it is vastly superior to the faultyand vintage NCERT textbook of Romila Thapar for grade VI inCBSE-affiliated schools in India which I had the bad luck to studyas a student.Notes1. Amongst the crackpot theories of this protégé of Romila Thaparis the ingenious suggestion that not just the Rigvedic Saraswati,but even the Ganga and Yamuna mentioned in the Rigveda shouldbe located in Afghanistan!2. For the anti-Indian bias of the Italian Maurizio Tosi, refer DilipChakrabarti’s ‘Colonial Indology’, Munshiram Manoharlal: NewDelhi, 1997: 167ff.It is not out of place to mention here that Dr Kalyanaraman wrotean open letter to 47 signatories, including Tosi, who had urgedthe State Board to ignore the suggestions of Hindu groups. Inresponse, Tosi sent a most shameless, xenophobic response thatone could expect of a seasoned scholar.But then, Chakrabarti has also cited several relevant examplesfrom Tosi’s writings in the above book. For instance, in a 1992paper (Tosi, M. 1992. The Harappan Civilisation beyond the IndianSubcontinent, in Gregory L. Possehl ed., “Harappan Civilisation”,Delhi, pp. 365-378), Tosi argues: ‘……it is relevant to establishwhether the investments in people and resources the Induscivilisation would deserve should compare with those directedin the past to the study of ancient Mesopotamia and, more recently,pre-Columbian Meso-America.’If Tosi is so unconcerned about the Indian past, then why did hebother signing the Witzel letter in the first place?3. The Californian textbooks considered in the present article havetheir parallel in Romila Thapar’s ‘Ancient India’ (NCERT, NewDelhi) written first in 1966, and then ‘updated’ with veryinconsequential and cosmetic changes of a word here and there(to reflect the current political concerns of Indian communists

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 321and Marxists) three times. The ‘latest’ edition dated to 1987 hasbeen reprinted and is being used even today in 2005 in schoolsthat use NCERT textbooks. This NCERT textbook (or rather itsindifferent, ‘earlier’ edition), which I studied in 1982 as a sixthgrade student, contains numerous errors, slanted descriptions,prejudicial remarks, etc., and has been reviewed by me at:Agarwal, Vishal. ‘A Case Study in Eminent Historiography’, in‘India’s Only Communalist’, ed. Koenraad Elst, New Delhi: Voiceof India, 2005: 32-65.4. Maria Schetelich, ‘The Problem of the Dark Skin’ (Krsna Tvac) inthe Rgveda’, in Visva Bharati Annals, vol. 3, 1990: 244-249.5. See, for instance, Hock, HH, 1999; Through a glass darkly: Modernracial interpretations, in Madhav M Deshpande and JohannesBronkhorst (eds.), pp. 145-174, Aryan and Non-Aryan in SouthAsia – Evidence, Interpretation and Ideology, Harvard OrientalSeries, Opera Minora vol. 3, Harvard University, Cambridge (MA).6. Stephen H. Levitt. ‘What does Noseless mean in the Rigveda’,ABORI vol. 70, 1989: 47-637. Karthik Kalavai Venkarataramni, ‘The California Textbook Trial’on Sulekha.com, December 7, 2005. Available online at http://www.sulekha.com/ blogs/blogdisplay.aspx? contributor=Kalavai% 20Venkat.8. Agarwal, Vishal. ‘Misrepresentation and Stereotyping of HinduDharma in Indian History Textbooks’, in History Today, No. 5,2004-05: 61-76.

APPENDIX 2Modi’s visa denial: Who did it? by B Raman, March 21, 2005,rediff.comOne has to see the riot, which was provoked by the gruesomekilling of a large number of Hindus at the Godhra railway stationin Gujarat, in the proper perspective, without trying to rationalisethe incidents. India and every Indian, whatever be his or herreligion, ought to feel ashamed of what happened in Gujarat, butunfortunately periodic eruptions of such riots have been a darkfeature of Indian history ever since the country becameindependent.We have had riots involving not only Hindus and Muslims,but also different castes among Hindus. When I was working asa sub-editor in the Madurai edition of the Indian Express in thelate 1950s, hundreds of Harijans were massacred by their coreligionistsbelonging to the so-called upper castes. Many wereburnt alive by the upper caste Hindus, with the police watchinghelplessly.The late K. Kamaraj, one of the most distinguished leadersproduced by the Congress party, was then the chief minister ofTamil Nadu. He came in for strong criticism initially for failingto protect the Harijans and subsequently for permitting the policeto use ruthless force to put down the rioters. Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru, who is projected by the so-called secularistsas an icon of secularism, did not demand Kamaraj’s resignation.Many of us were unhappy over and ashamed of whathappened in Tamil Nadu, but we did not seek the assistance of aforeign power to teach a lesson to one of our own leaders because

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 323our Prime Minister had refused to act against him. Such a thoughtwould not have even occurred to us. We would have consideredit anti-national.In the early 1960s, following rumours of the molestation ofa Hindu girl by a Muslim boy in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh,violent Hindu-Muslim riots broke out in the city that lasted days.Hundreds, if not thousands, of Muslims were killed by riotingHindu mobs. I joined the state as a young assistant superintendentof police a few months after the riots and was posted in Jabalpurfor training. My junior police officers, who took me round thetown, told me it took them days to remove the dead bodies ofMuslims which had clogged the town’s drainage system.When the police could not control the violence Nehru himselfflew to Jabalpur and camped there to supervise the handling ofthe situation. He as well as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh,Dwarka Prasad Mishra, came in for criticism for failing to preventthe riots and for their ineffective handling of the situation. But itwould not have occurred to any of us to seek the assistance of aforeign power to teach them a lesson. We would have consideredsuch an attitude anti-national.In the mid-1960s, there were widespread anti-Hindu riots inthen East Pakistan. Hundreds of Hindus were massacred, younggirls were raped and their breasts cut off by rioting Muslims. Thisled to an exodus of Hindus into West Bengal. Nehru decided tore-settle the refugees in a special camp called Dandakaranya createdfor them in the Bastar district of Madhya Pradesh.The refugees were moved by special trains from Kolkata toRaipur in Madhya Pradesh and transported by bus to Bastar.Wherever the trains stopped and the refugees narrated whathappened to Hindus in East Pakistan, anti-Muslim riots broke out.Nehru and the Chief Minister came in for criticism for failing toanticipate the situation and to prevent the anti-Muslim riots. Butit would not have occurred to any of us to seek the assistance of aforeign power to teach them a lesson. We would have consideredit anti-national.In 1984, after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhiby her Sikh bodyguards, there was an outbreak of anti-Sikh riotsin Delhi which continued for two or three days before the police

324 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsacted against the rioters, many of them belonging to the Congressparty. Dozens of Sikhs were killed and many were humiliated,their turbans removed and their beards cut off. Rajiv Gandhi, whosucceeded his mother as Prime Minister, did not act in time andsubsequently tried to rationalise the violence.He and his officers came in for strong criticism for failing toprotect the Sikhs, but it would not have occurred to any of us toseek the assistance of a foreign power to teach him a lesson. Wewould have considered it anti-national.The destruction of the Babri Masjid in Uttar Pradesh by aHindu mob in December 1992 led to widespread riots by Muslimsin and around Delhi and in Mumbai. Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao of the Congress party was strongly criticised forfailing to protect the mosque and not preventing the subsequentriots. But, it would not have occurred to any of us to seek theassistance of a foreign power to teach him a lesson. We wouldhave considered it anti-national.Ever since the Gujarat riots of 2002, Modi has been the targetof a campaign of criticism and condemnation by many sectionsof Indian civil society for failing to protect the Muslims and forexacerbating the situation through his oratory. No one can denythat initially the Gujarat authorities failed to deal with the riotersfirmly. But subsequently, the police acted ruthlessly against theHindu mobs.How does one judge whether the police acted firmly or notin riots between members of two religious communities? Fromthe number of people killed in police firing. It was reported thatmore Hindus died from police bullets during the anti-Muslim riotsin Gujarat in 2002 than during the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi in 1994and during the anti-Muslim riots in Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s.Does this show culpability on the part of the Gujarat administration?If Modi is guilty of violation of human rights of religiousminorities, as alleged by the US, so were Narasimha Rao, RajivGandhi, Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, D.P. Mishra, andKamaraj. Why did the US, in its hypocrisy, choose to act againstModi, and never in the past against the others? There are severalreasons for this.One of them is that the Christian influence on US policy-

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 325making and its political leadership was not as strong in the pastas it is today. Another is that no Indian, whether living in Indiaor in the US, would have ever thought of seeking the interventionof the US to teach a lesson to another Indian whom they dislikedstrongly.Who were the people who ganged up against Modi tohumiliate him and teach him a lesson?Sections of the so-called secularists in India and the US, manyof them Hindus, who cannot stand the sight of any party whichseeks to articulate the feelings of Hindus and give them a senseof pride in their identity as Hindus. These secularists vie withone another in visiting Islamabad and getting themselvesphotographed with President General Pervez Musharraf as acertificate of their secularism. Has any one of them ever condemnedMusharraf for his murder of democracy or for the continuingmassacre of Shias and Balochis under his rule? Never. For them,Musharraf, or for that matter a Muslim or a Christian can do nowrong. All the wrongs in this part of the world are done only bythe Hindus.The Christian fundamentalist organisations in the US playedan important role in ensuring the re-election of President Bushand he owes them a political debt. They have made it appear thattheir action in demanding that Modi be barred from entry intothe US was motivated by their outrage at the plight of Muslimsin Gujarat. The real reason is their anger at his alleged action toprevent foreign Christian missionaries from indulging inproselytisation.For the so-called secularists of India and of Indian origin inthe US, Christian or Muslim fundamentalism is all right but Hinduassertiveness is a sin.Who are the people in the US whose help they sought tohumiliate Modi and to teach him a lesson?Those who supported the US invasion and occupation of Iraq.Those who strongly opposed any action or even an inquiry againstRumsfeld and his senior officers for the gross violation of humanrights of Iraqis. Those who justified or rationalised the inhumantreatment of Muslims by the US in the detention centre atGuantanamo Bay in Cuba. Those who are supporting the call for

326 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsa regime change in Iran.These are the elements which are closest to the USadministration, and their intervention against Modi at the urgingof the so-called secularists, led to the humiliation of an Indian bythe US at the instance of other Indians. They have not so far beenable to succeed in their attempts to drive him out of power inGujarat. So they sought America’s intervention.In the US, large sections of the population have been callingfor action against Rumsfeld for the human rights violations in Iraq.They have not succeeded. Have they taken their case to a foreigngovernment or court to teach him a lesson? No. And they neverwill. They would consider it unpatriotic.Not in India and among sections of Indians abroad. If oneIndian stabs another Indian in the back with the help of a foreignpower, he is considered a progressive, a liberal, a secularist. Cry,the beloved country!

APPENDIX 3List of Signatories against the Prime Minister’s comment re. theGujarat Chief MinisterThis book is intended as a handbook of NGOs and activistswhose activism is essentially anti-nation and anti-Hindu incharacter. In this and the next Appendix we present readers withlists of signatories to letters, petitions and appeals drafted by themore important (in terms of media visibility and the decibel levelsof their activism) among this group, so that readers are informedabout the individuals and organisations who endorse anti-nation/anti-Hindu activism.The protest letter to the Prime Minister is remarkable if onlybecause Dr Manmohan Singh’s Government is largely driven bythe agenda dictated by this group in the education and social sector.As mentioned already in the introduction to the book, almost allof the more vocal among these activists have been made membersof CABE and the NIC.Readers are invited to read the section under ‘Resolution ongovernance’ in the Peshawar Declaration (Appendix 6) where theDeshpande-Ramdas duo have demanded quotas and reservationsfor minorities and women in direct proportion to their numbers.Acting promptly upon this demand, Sonia Gandhi constituted theJustice Rajindar Sacchar Committee which is looking at quotasfor Muslims in educational institutions, the private sector and evenin the country’s armed forces.Cravenly surrendering to the pressure tactics of Medha Patkarand Arundhati Roy, the Prime Minister has called for the speedy

328 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsrehabilitation of persons displaced by the Narmada Dam. Boththe Prime Minister, and the Italian hand pulling the strings ofthis Government, are however playing ostrich on the issue ofrehabilitation of Kashmiri Hindus, victims of genocide and terror,who are not merely ‘displaced’ but have been driven out of theirhomes and homeland by local Islamic jihadis who are today beingprojected as the ‘sole’ voice of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.Readers are also invited to take note of the first signature tothe letter to the Prime Minister because this signature heraldedthis actor’s foray into this kind of activism, which is termed antinationand anti-Hindu. The actor, who has so far not taken upthe cause of the ‘rehabilitation’ of the Kashmiri Hindus howeverjumped at signing the letter on behalf of the Muslim victims ofthe Gujarat riots and also spoke up for the rehabilitation of thedisplaced persons of the Narmada dam project and, in passing,labeled politicians belonging to the Congress and the BJP as ‘lumpenthugs’.Signatories against the statement of the Indian Prime Minister’scomments in the Rajya Sabha following refusal of a US visa toGujarat Chief Minister Narendra ModiSouth Asia Citizen’s Wire (SACW) www.sacw.net March 24,2005‘We express our shock and anger at the stand taken by thePrime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha on theissue of refusal of visa to Mr Narendra Modi by the USA. He hassaid that it is not proper for any agency to form its opinion onthe role of Sh. Modi in the 2002 Gujarat genocide based on mereallegations…’March 21, 2005Released byShabnam Hashmi—ANHAD, Delhi anhad_delhi@yahoo.co.inOn behalf of:1. Aamir Khan—Actor, Mumbai2. Aditya, CEO, Ekgaon Technologies3. Admiral Ramu Ramdas—Member, National IntegrationCouncil

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 3294. Adv. Aradhana Bhargava—Mahatma Gandhi Sansthan,Madhya Pradesh5. Adv. Rajendra K. Sail, Pucl, Chhattisgarh6. Agnesh Murmu, Gram Sabha Seva Sansthan, Jharkhand7. Ajeet Caur, Writer, Delhi8. Ajit Kumar, Arise, Aurangabad9. Akshay Sail, Rcdrc, Raipur10. Alladi Sitaram, Emeritus Professor, Indian StatisticalInstitute11. Allwyn D’ Silva, Documentation Research and TrainingCentre, Mumbai12. Amal Charles, Step, Secundrabad13. Amar Farooqui, Reader, History Deptt., Delhi University,Delhi14. Amar Jyoti, Activist, Chennai15. Amita and BCF Team16. Amrit Gangar, Film-Critic, Curator, Mumbai17. Amrita Chhachhi, Delhi18. Anand Kumar, NCDHR19. Anand Patwardhan, Film-maker, Mumbai20. Anant Krishna, Researcher, Hyderabad21. Aneesh Pradhan, Musician, Mumbai22. Angana Chatterji, Professor of Anthropology, SanFrancisco, USA23. Anil Chaudhary, Indian Social Action Forum, Delhi24. Anjum Rajabali, Script Writer, Mumbai25. Anu Chenoy, Academician, JNU26. Anup Sanda, National Alliance of People’s Movements,Sultanpur, UP27. Anurag Chaturvedi, Journalist, Mumbai28. Anwar Ahmad29. Apoorvanand, Reader, Delhi University30. Aradhana Seth, Vienna, Austria.31. Arjun Dev, Historian, Delhi32. Arpana Caur, Painter, Delhi33. Arundhati Dhuru, National Alliance of People’sMovements, Lucknow, UP34. Arvind Krishnaswamy, Insaaniyat, Mumbai

330 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds35. Arvind Kumar, National Alliance of People’s Movements,Mau, UP36. Ashis Nandy, CSDS, Delhi37. Ashish Garg, Regional Coordinator, India, World Links,New Delhi38. Ashok Kumar Dalai, Maitree Samaj, Orissa39. Ashok Vajpeyi, Writer, Delhi40. B.Mahesh41. Bhashwati, Activist, Hyderabad42. Bishakha Datta, Documentary Film-maker and Writer,Mumbai43. Cedric Prakash, Director, PRASHANT(Centre For HumanRights Justice And Peace, Gujarat44. Chandita Mukherjee, Film-maker, Mumbai45. Chitra Singh, Animal Rights Activist, Bhopal46. Chitranjan Singh, PUCL, Allahabad47. Colin Gonsalves, Human Rights Law Network48. Damini Tiwari, Student, Mumbai49. Dayamani Barla, Freelance Journalist, Jharkhand50. Deepak Singh, Managing Director—Iram, ExecutiveMember-I-Congo Indian Confederation Of NGOs)51. Digant Oza- Senior Journalist, Ahmedabad52. Dilip Kumar, Veteran Film Actor, Mumbai53. Dilip Simeon-Academician, Delhi University54. Dr Zafarul Islam Khan, Editor, The Milli GazetteNewspaper, New Delhi55. Dr Amar Jesani, Medico Friend Circle, Forum for MedicalEthics Society, Mumbai56. Dr Seema Parveen-Institute of Social Sciences, Lucknow57. Dr Umakant-NCDHR58. Dr Virendra Vidrohi, MMSVS, Rajasthan59. Dr Saroop Dhruv Darshan, Ahmedabad60. Farah Naqvi, Independant Writer and Activist, Delhi61. Farida Khan62. Firozkhan Pathan, Dallas, Taxes, USA63. Francis Parmar, Principal, St. Xaviers College, Ahmedabad64. Gauhar Raza, Documentary Film-maker, Poet, Delhi65. Gorakshnath Dhanwate, Prerna Krida Mandal, Maharashtra

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 33166. Govind Singh Mahra, Uttarakhand Van Panchayat,Sarpanch Sangathan,Uttraranchal67. Harsh Kapoor-South Asia Citizens Web, France68. Harsh Mander, Writer, Social Activist, Delhi69. Hema B. Rajashekhar70. Hemant Tiwari, Uttaranchal71. Henri Tiphange, People’s Watch, Chennai72. Hiren Gandhi, Theatre, Samvedan Cultural Programme,Ahmedabad73. Hyder Khan, Chairman, Supporters of Human Rights inIndia (SHRI), Inneapolis74. I.M. Bhana75. Imtiazuddin, Exec. Director, Coalition for a Secular andDemocratic India, Chicago76. Indira Arjun Dev Acaedemician, Delhi77. Irfan Ahmed, Lok Manch, Aurangabad78. Irfan Habib, Historian, Delhi79. Jaba Menon, One Worldnet, Delhi80. Janette Sunita, Tarshi, Delhi81. Jaswinder Singh Mand, Journalist, Nawa Zamana,Jallandhar82. Javed Akhtar, Lyricist, Mumbai83. Jawed Naqvi, Journalist, Delhi84. Jaya Sharma85. Juli Queen Mary Selvakumar, Arise, Tamil Nadu86. Jyoti Bose, Principal, Springdales School, Delhi87. K.L. Moyo, Save The River Movement, Nagaland88. K.N. Sasi, Vaikom, Kerela89. Kabir Vajpeyi90. Kalamani91. Kalyani Upendranath Baske, Nagpur Diocesan Dev. Assn.(NDDA), Maharashtra92. Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Professor, JNU93. Kandala Singh, Youth For Peace94. Karthik Bezawada, Principal, CRICTV LLC95. Karuppan96. Khalid Azam, Coalition Against Genocide, USA97. Kiran Shaeen, Head Communication, New Delhi

332 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds98. K.N. Panikkar, Academician, Thiruvananthapuram99. Lahrc, Surat100. Lalit Babar, Dalit Activist, Mumbai101. Lalita Ramdas, Activist, Maharashtra102. Laxmaiah of CDS103. M.J. Jose, Dawn Trust, Kerela104. M. Mandal, Activist, Hyderabad105. Mahesh, National Alliance of People’s Movements,Lucknow106. Mahesh Bhatt, Producer & Director107. Manas Jena, Development Initiative, Orissa108. Manasa Patnam, Youth Forpeace109. Manjula Sen-Freelance Journalist, Mumbai110. Manoj Kumar, Belgium111. Mansi Sharma, Anhad112. Marry E.John-Women’s Studies Programme, JNU113. Martin J Shah, Prog Officer, RUPCHA, Delhi114. Martin Macwan, Navsarjan, Gujarat115. Meera Velayudhan, Utthan116. Mitu Pati-Suprabat, Orissa117. Molana Hanif,Mewat Vikas Shiksha Samiti, Rajasthan118. Mouttoucannou, PUCL, Kerela119. Moyna Manku, Youth For Peace, Hyderabad120. Mrinalini Tiwari, Student, Mumbai121. Mukul Dube, Freelance Writer, Delhi122. Mukundan C. Menon, Secretary General, (CHRO)123. N.D. Pancholi, The Amiya and B.G. Rao Foundation, NewDelhi124. Nafisa Ali, Actress, Activist, Delhi125. Nandita Das, Actress, Delhi126. Nandlal Master, National Alliance of People’s Movements,Varanasi127. Nanjundaiah, Nisarga Foundation, Mysore128. Nasirriddin Haider Khana129. Naveen Siromoni, Creative Director, Karpediem DesignPvt. Ltd.130. Neha Patel, TARSHI, Delhi131. Osama Manzar, Director, Digital Empowerment

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 333Foundation132. P. Joseph Victor Raj, Holistic Approach for People’sEmpowerment, Hope Pondicherry133. Paul Divakar, NCDHR, Hyderabad134. PD John, Policy Institute, Washington DC135. Prabha, Tarshi, Delhi136. Praful Bidwai, Senior Journalist, Delhi137. Pramila Loomba, Vice-President, NFIW, Delhi138. Prashant Bhushan, Advocate Supreme Court, New Delhi139. Praveen Mote, Samatha, Hyderabad140. Priti Verma, Human Rights Law Network141. Prof. Dipankar Home, Dept. of Physics, Bose Institute,Kolkata142. Ra Ravishankar, University of Illinois143. Ra Ravishankar, University of Illinois, USA144. Raghu Tiwari, Aman145. Rahul Ram, Singer146. Rajim Tandi, Mukti, Niketan, Chhattisgarh147. Ram Kumar,148. Ram Punyani, Ekta, Mumbai149. Ramesh Ali Beasant, Ambedkar Lohia Vichar Manch,Cuttack150. Reuban Raj, Center for Education and Social Services,Madurai151. Rish Raj Singh, Entrepreneur, Bhopal152. Ruchira Gupta, Executive Director, Apne Aap WomenWorldwide153. Ruth Manormas, Dalit Activists, Tamil Nadu154. S. Faizi, Environmentalist, Thiruvananthapuram155. Dr Henry Thiagaraj, Managing Trustee, Dalit LiberationEducation Trust and Founder of Human Rights EducationMovement156. S.K. Thorat, International Institute of Dalit Studies157. S. Sreekant, Deed, Development Through Education,Karnataka158. Saeed Patel, NRI-SAHI159. Sahir Raza, Youth for Peace160. Sameer Singh, Media Planner

334 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds161. Sandeep Pandey, National Alliance of People’sMovements, Lucknow, UP162. Sangram Keshari Mallik, Manav Adhikar, Orissa163. Sanjay Singh, National Alliance of People’s Movements,Sutanpur, UP164. Sarup Dhruv, Theatre, Darshan, Ahmedabad, UtkarshKumar Sinha, CCRS (Centre for Contemporary Researchand Studies), Lucknow165. Sarup Dhruv, Darshan, Ahmedabad166. Sehba Farooqui, Gen-Sec., National Federation of IndianWomen (NFIW), Delhi167. Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist, Member, NationalIntegration Council, Delhi168. Shalini Gera, Activist, USA169. Shamanthaka David, Cord, Karnataka170. Sharda, Deed, Karnataka171. Sheba George, SAHR WARU172. Shekhar, Samvad, Jharkhand173. Shiamala Baby, Forum for Women’s Rights andDevelopment (Forword), Chennai174. Shibi Peter,Youth Institute for Leadership Training, CSIYouth, Kerela175. Shivali, University of Illinois, USA176. Shoba Ramachandran, Books for Change, Bangalore177. Shubha Mudgal, Musician, Delhi178. Snehaprabha Mallick, SC/ST Village Welfare Dev. Yojana,Orissa179. Sofia Khan, Advocate, Ahmedabad180. Sohail Hashmi, Documentary Film-maker181. Sonia Jabber, Film-maker, Delhi182. S.P. Udayakumar, South Asian Community Centre forEducation and Research, Nagercoil183. Stalin K., Film-maker184. Subhendu Bhadra, Promise of India185. Sujata Tiwari, Anti-counterfieting, Mumbai186. Suma Josson, Mumbai187. Sunil Deshmukh, 36 Northwind Drstamford, Connecticut,USA 06903

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 335188. Sunil Kumar Singh, Lok Manch, Aurangabad189. Suresh Wasnik, Peace—Peoples Education Association forCommunity and Environment, Karnataka190. Swami Agnivesh191. T. Jayaraman, Scientist, TIFR192. Tarun Tejpal, Tehelka, Delhi193. Than Singh194. Thomas Pallithanam195. T.K. Ramachandran, Kerala196. U. Radha Priyadarshini, Sabala, Kurnool197. Uma Ashish Nandi198. Vijay Pratap Singh , Social Activist, Delhi199. Vimal Thorat, NCDHR, Delhi200. Vinay Kumar, Dalit Bahujan Samaj201. Vincent Manoharan, NCDHR, Hyderabad202. Vishwanath, Judav, Jharkhand203. Wilfred, INSAAF, Ahmedabad204. Yunus Khimani, Professor, National Institute of Design,Ahmedabad205. Zubair Patel, Gujarati Muslim Association of America

APPENDIX 4List of Signatories Promise of India AppealThe following supporting organisations worldwide haveendorsed the Promise of India Appeal (in alphabetical order):1. AAINA, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India2. Aatshankarachari Dharmosthan Sansad, Puri, Orissa, India3. Abhinaya Dance Company, Monte Sereno, CA4. ACCORD Adivasis of Nilgiris, Gudalur, Tamil Nadu, India5. Action Aid India, Mumbai, India6. ActionAid, Chhattisgarh, India7. Adhyatma Jagran Manch, New Delhi, India8. AFMI—American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin,Dallas Regional Section, TX9. AFMI—American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin,Mid-West Region, USA10. AICA—Asian Indian Cooperation in America, New York.11. AID—Association for India’s Development, Boston, MA12. AID—Association for India’s Development, India13. AID—Association for India’s Development, SF Bay AreaChapter14. AID—Association for India’s Development, Columbia,USA15. AID—Association for India’s Development, Concord, NewHampshire16. AID—Association for India’s Development, HoustonChapter, USA17. AID—Association for India’s Development, Tempe,Arizona

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 33718. Aid India Socieity, Mumbai, Maharashtra19. AIF—American India Foundation, USA20. AIM, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India21. AIM Association of Indian Muslims of America, MD22. Akhil Bharat Rachanatmak Samaj, New Delhi, India23. All India Harijan Sevak Samaj, New Delhi, India24. All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, New Delhi, India25. Alliance for Secular Democratic South Asia, Boston, MA26. Amity University Institute for Advanced Legal Studies,New Delhi, India27. AMU—Aligarh Muslim University Association, BuffaloGrove, IL28. AMUAA—Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Associationof Northern California, Foster City, CA29. An Association of Christian Prayer Fellowship & SocialWelfare, Hyderabad, AP, India30. ANANDI, Ahmedabad, India31. Andhra Pradesh Neil Armstrong Team Rural Org. Society,Andhra Pradesh, India32. Andolana Voluntary Project/Mission, Bhubaneshwar,Orissa, India33. ANHAD—Act Now for Harmony and Democracy, NewDelhi, India34. ARCH-VAHINI, Mangrol Rajpipla, Gujarat, India35. Art of Living, New Delhi, India36. ASHA for Education, USA37. Asian Outlook, London, UK38. Association for Spiritual Awareness, New Delhi, India39. Association Imagine New India, Vadodara, Gujarat, India40. Association of Peoples of Asia, New Delhi, India41. AVARD Association for Voluntary Associations and RuralDevelopment, New Delhi, India42. Basava Seva Trust, Hosur, India43. Better India, Flushing, New York, NY44. Bharatiya Varishtha Nagarik Samiti, Lucknow, UP, India45. BHEL Workers Union, Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu, India46. Blackstone Franks, London, UK47. Books for Change, Bangalore, India

338 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds48. Brothers of Sacred Heart, Trichy, Tamilnadu, India49. CAC—Coalition Against Communalism, USA50. Centre for Development, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India51. Centre for Communication Studies, Pune, Maharashtra,India52. Centre for Culture and Development, Vadodara, Gujarat,India53. Centre for Federal Studies, New Delhi, India54. Centre for Progressive Studies and Research, Pune, India55. Centre for Study of Society and Organisation, Mumbai,India56. CERAS South Asia Center, Montreal, Canada57. Chhattisgarh Centre for Entrepreneurship Development,Raipur, India58. Chhipa Community Organisation, Chhipawad,Ahmedabad, Gujarat and Washington DC59. Childright, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India60. Civil Society, New Delhi, India61. CLAP, Cuttack, Orissa, India62. Coalition for Egalitarian & Pluralistic India, Los Angeles,CA63. COPH Coalition for Peace and Harmony, Hyderabad,India64. Core Careers Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata, WB, India65. Counter Currents, Kerala, India66. CRY—Child Relief and You, Mumbai, India67. CSDI—Coalition for a Secular Democratic India, Chicago,IL68. CSSS—Centre for Study of Society and Secularism,Mumbai, India69. Dalit-Tribal Politics, Malappuram, Kerala, India70. Darpana Academy, Ahmedabad, India71. Delhi Study Group, Palwal, Haryana, India72. Dharma Mega, East Lansing, MI73. DiP—Develop in Peace, Charlotte, NC74. Dr Mallena’s Dental Hospitals, Mehdipatnam, A P, India75. Eco Monitors Society, New Delhi, India76. ECONET, Pune, Maharashtra

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 33977. Eco Science Research Foundation, Chennai, India78. EKTA A South Asian Progressive Network, San Francisco,CA79. EKTA Committee for Communal Amity, Mumbai, India80. FDRI Foundation for Democratic Reforms in India,Chicago, IL81. FFDA, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India82. Forum for Better Democracy, Bronx, New York83. Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, TX84. Friends of the Gandhi Museum, Pune, India85. G.M. Momin Women’s College, Thane, Maharashtra86. Gandhian Integrated Forum Trust, Chennai, Tamil Nadu,India87. Gill Heating and Air Conditioning Inc., Lilburn, GAGlobetrotter, Lucknow, UP88. GMAA—Gujarati Muslim Association of America,Lombard, IL89. GOPIO Chicagoland NFP, Chicago, IL90. Guild of Service, New Delhi, India91. Hamdard Education Society, New Delhi, India92. Health and Happiness, Chicago, IL93. Helping Hand in the Service of Humanity andEnlightenment, Toledo, OH94. Hindus for Peace and Justice, Melbourne, FL95. HOPE, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India96. Human Rights Association of Haryana, Palwal, Haryana97. Human Rights Congress of Bangladesh Minorities, Dhaka,Bangladesh98. Human Rights—Tamil Nadu Initiative, Chennai, TamilNadu, India99. Human Rights Forum, Bangalore, Karnataka, India100. HWWA, Vadodara, Gujarat, India101. IALW—Indo-American League of Women, Sacramento,CA102. ICA—Indians for Collective Action, USA103. ICC—India Community Center, Milpitas, CA, USA104. ICYO—Indian Committee of Youth Organisations, NewDelhi, India

340 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds105. IDEX—International Development Exchange, SanFrancisco, CA106. IDS—India Development Service, Chicago, IL107. ILP—India Literacy Project, United States108. IMC-USA—Indian Muslim Council, USA109. IMRC Indian Muslim Relief Committee, Palo Alto, CA110. India AMU Alumni Association, Buffalo Grove, IL111. India Association of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC112. India Foundation of USA, East Lansing, MI113. Indian Christian Forum, New Hyde Park, USA114. Indian Muslim Education Foundation of North America,Downers Grove, IL115. Indian Society for Universal Peace, Delhi, India116. IndiaWIN Group, Seoul, South Korea117. Indo-German Social Service Society, New Delhi, India118. INSAF—Indian Social Action Forum, Ahmedabad, India119. INSAF—International South Asian Forum, Montreal,Quebec, Canada120. INSAF—International South Asian Forum, New York121. Institute for Human Rights, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India122. International Christian Coalition for Human Rights, USA123. International Training Network, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa,India124. IOS—Institute for Objective Studies, New Delhi, India125. Islamic Center of Long Island, New York126. ISS—International Service Society, East Lansing, Mumbai,India127. J.R. Laliwala Education and Research Trust, Ahmedabad,Gujarat, India128. Jain Center of Toronto, Canada129. Jain Society of Alberta, Canada130. Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India131. Jana Chetna Foundation, Gujarat, India132. Janvikas, Ahmedabad, India133. Jeevodaya Hospice for Cancer Patients, Chennai, TamilNadu134. K.J. Somaiya Center for Studies on Jainism, Mumbai, India135. Kainat Foundation, Jehanabad, Bihar, India

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 341136. Kaliana Farms, Karnal, Haryana137. KCWA—Kerala Cultural Welfare Association, UK138. Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, Bhuj, Gujarat, India139. Lal Nishan Party, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India140. London Chamber of Commerce, London, UK141. Mahatma Gandhi Foundation India, Mumbai, Maharashtra142. Manavsadhana, Ahmedabad, India143. Marumalarchi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India144. Mesal High School (An institution dedicated to Gandhianideology), Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India145. Military Affairs Group, Chandigarh, Punjab, India146. MRGG—Movement for Restoration of Good Government,New Delhi, India147. Muslim Community Association of SF Bay Area, CA148. Muslim Organisation of San Diego, CA149. Muslim Voters of America, Oak Park, IL150. Muslims for Secular Democracy, New Delhi, India151. National Allianace of Women, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa,India152. National Center for Rural Development, Nagpur,Maharashtra, India153. National Network for India, New Delhi, India154. Navchetna Foundation, Haveri, Karnataka, India155. Navrachna, Palampur, HP, India156. Navsarjan Trust, Ahmedabad, India157. Nayi Azadi Abhiyan, East Lansing, MI158. Nayi Azadi Andolan, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India159. New Socialist Movement, Ahmedabad, India160. New Stream Media, New Delhi, India161. News for Kidz, Miami, FL162. NMR Hospital, Bhopal, MP, India163. NRI Milli Forum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia164. NRI-SAHI NRIs for a Secular and Harmonious India, USA165. Ocwen Financial Solutions, Bangalore, India166. OHM Laboratories, North Brunswick, NJ167. Optiserv Muskan Services Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, AP168. Patriotic Sons of Mother India, Delhi, India169. People’s Action for Saving Lives, Pune, Maharashtra

342 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds170. People’s Media Initiative, Mumbai, India171. Periyar International, Palos Heights, IL, USA172. PHD Peace, Harmony, Development Forum, Ahmedabad,India173. Praja Net—People’s Resolve to Act for Justice &Accountability174. PRASHANT, Ahmedabad, India175. Prayaas Production, Delhi, India176. Railways, New Delhi, India177. Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, NJ178. Rashtriya Seva Samithi, Tirupati, AP, India179. RIM—Rejuvenate India Movement, All India180. RLSS—Rashtriya Life Saving Society, Pune, Maharashtra,India181. SAATH, Ahmedabad, India182. SAF—South Asian Forum, Madison, WI183. SAGAR—South Asia Group for Action & Reflection,Chicago, IL184. Sahid Laxman Jubak Sangh, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India185. SAHR WARU—Women’s Action & Resource Unit,Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India186. SAKRIYA, Delhi, India187. SALAAM Theatre, New York188. Sambhava Foundation, New Delhi, India189. SANCHETANA, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India190. SANLAAP, Kolkata, West Bengal, India191. SANSAD—South Asian Network for Secularism andDemocracy, Coquitlam, B.C., Canada192. SAPAC—South Asian Progressive Action Collective,Chicago, IL193. Sarvadharma, Fremont, CA194. Sarvodaya International Trust, Tamil Nadu Chapter, India195. Satyajeet Trust, Ahmedabad, India196. Save India Campaign, Atlanta, GA197. Scream Studios, Van Nuys, CA198. Seva International, East Lansing, MI199. Shakti, Mumbai, India200. Sharp PCG, Vadodara, Gujarat, India

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 343201. Shree Hanuman Vyayan Pracharak Mandal, Amaravathi,Maharashtra, India202. Singh Foundation, New York203. SIPA—Silicon Valley Indian Professional Association,Santa Clara, CA204. Society for Civic Initiatives, Delhi, India205. Source International Corporation, San Francisco, CA206. South Asia Center, Cambridge, MA207. South Asian Citizens Web, Herault, France208. SPRAT—Society for the Promotion of Rational Thinking,Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India209. SPS—Samaj Parivartana Sumudaya, Dharwad, Karnataka,India210. Sri Satya Sai Organisation, Buenos Aires, Argentina211. St. Xavier’s Social Service Society, Ahmedabad, India212. St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India213. Sunray Harvesters, MP, India214. SVYM—Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement,Karnataka, India215. SWATI—Society for Women’s Action and Training,Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India216. The Ant, Bongaigaon, Assam, India217. The Banyan, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India218. The Champa Foundation, Delhi, India219. The Federation of Aligarh Muslim University AlumniAssociations, Foster City, CA220. The Five Families Productions, Berkeley, CA221. The India Peace Organisation, Hyderabad, AP, India222. The Indian Radical Humanist Association, Delhi, India223. The Radical Humanist, Thane, Maharashtra, India224. The Second Chance Foundation, New York225. TIE—The Indus Entrepreneurs226. TNSF—Tamil Nadu Science Forum, Chennai, India227. TRACI—Theological Research & Communication Institute,New Delhi, India228. Trade Studios, Van Nuys, CA229. Transvivo Inc., Germany230. Trust for Secular and Democratic Values, New Delhi, India

344 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds231. Trust for Village Self-Governance, Kuthambakkam, TN,India232. Udayan Care, Delhi, India233. Universal Association for Spiritual Awareness, New Delhi,India234. UP Rabita Committee, Aligarh, UP, India235. Uttar Pradesh Association in North America, Orange, NJ236. UTTHAN—A Development Action Planning Team,Ahmedabad, India237. Vaishnava Center of Enlightenment, East Lansing, MI238. Vidya Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, London, UnitedKingdom239. VinayRas Infotech, Nagpur, Maharashtra240. Washington Watch, East Lansing, MI241. Women’s Initiative for Peace, New Delhi, India242. Work for Harmony, New Delhi, India243. World Constitution and Parliament Association, Mumbai,Maharashtra, India244. World Council of Arya Samaj, New Delhi, India245. World Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, New Delhi, India246. YESD Consultants (Europe) Ltd., Great Britain, UK247. Youth Forum for Gandian Studies, Chennai, Tamil Nadu,India248. Youth-4-Peace, Ahmedabad, India249. YUVA—Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action, Mumbai,India250. Yuva Bharat, Mumbai, IndiaNotable Endorsers of the Appeal. Note that the list includes anumber of Indian government employees.1. Mr Rajesh Srivastava, President, actiSwitch, Inc. PastPresident Silicon Valley Indian Professionals Association(SIPA), Santa Clara, CA, United States2. Dr L.M. Singhvi, Member of Parliament and Chairmanof Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, New Delhi, India3. Mr Paramjit Sahai, Ambassador (Retd.), Faculty MemberCRRID, Chandigarh, Punjab, India4. Rear Admiral Purushottam D. Sharma, Retd , Rashtriya

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 345Life Saving Society (India) RLSS, Pune, Maharashtra, India5. Dr S.N. Subba Rao, National Youth Project, India, NewDelhi, India6. H.H. Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami ShriAdhokshjananad Dev Tirathji Maharaj, Aat ShankarachariDharmosthan Sansad, Puri, Orissa, India7. Mr Srivats Sampath, ex-CEO & President, Founder,McAfee.Com, San Jose, CA, United States8. Mr Saiyid Hamid, Secretary, Hamdard Education Society,Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India9. Prof. Michael Atchia, Bureau of Catholic Education,Diocese of Port Louis, Rose-Hill, Mauritius10. Mrs Premila Ashok, Principal, Ministry of Education,Republic of Maldives, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India11. Prof. Mumtaz Ali Khan, Executive Director, Center forResearch and Development of Dalits, Bangalore,Karnataka, India12. Justice P.K. Shamsuddin, President, World Fellowship ofInter Religious Councils; Chairman, Gandhi PeaceFoundation, Kochi, Kerala, India13. Dr Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, Founder, Al-AmeenEducational Society, Bangalore, Karnataka, India14. Mr Ramachandra N. Galla, Executive Chairman, AmaraRaja Batteries, Ltd., Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh, India15. Mrs. Anu Aga, Pune, Maharashtra, India16. Prof. Kris Venkat, Chairman, MorphoChem; JEP GmBH;Accentua Pharma; Thar Technolgies; Indus Biotech; ProvidPharma, Princeton, NJ, United States17. Mr S.R. Hiremath, Executive Director, Samaj ParivartanaSumudaya (SPS), Dharwar, Karnataka, India18. Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, National Coordinator, Lok Satta,Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India19. Dr Sandeep Pandey, Co-Founder of Asha for Educationand Activist, Lucknow, UP, India20. Mr Paul Zacharia, Writer and Columnist in Malayalam,Kerala, India21. Prof. Dilip Basu, University of California at Santa Cruz,Santa Cruz, CA, United States

346 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds22. Ms Aparna Sen, Film-maker, Kolkata, West Bengal, India23. Ms Sharmila Tagore, Actress, Kolkata, West Bengal, India24. Prof. Amartya Sen, Lamont University Professor ofEconomics and Philosophy, Harvard University,Cambridge, MA, United States25. Prof. Dr Leo Rebello, World Peace Envoy & Co-Presidentof World Constitution and Parliament Association,Mumbai, Maharashtra, India26. Mr Syed Shahabuddin, Ex-MP, Ex-Ambassador, President,All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, New Delhi, India27. Mr Natwar Singh, Former Union Minister, New Delhi,India28. Mr Rajvir Singh, General Partner, Redwood Ventures, LosAltos, United States29. Ms Meena Gupta, Addl Secy, Ministry of Environment& Forests, New Delhi, India30. Dr Venkatesh Athreya, Professor and Head, Departmentof Economics, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli,Tamil Nadu, India31. Mr Siraj Hussain, Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard, NewDelhi, India32. Mrs. Fatema Begum, Teacher, Jahangirnagar University,Dhaka, Bangladesh33. Mrs. Aditi Desai, First Officer, United Nations Fund forInternational Partnerships, United Nations, New York,United States34. Maj. Gen. S.G. Vombatkere, Mysore, Karnataka, India35. Ms Ela Gandhi, Adjunct Professor, University of Kwa ZuluNatal, Durban, South Africa36. Justice Aziz Ahmadi, Former Chief Justice of India, NewDelhi, India37. Shri K.R. Narayanan, former President of India, New Delhi,India38. Prof. Dinesh Verma, Author, Los Angeles, California,United States39. Ms Rupsa Mallik, Program Director, South Asia, Centerfor Health and Gender Equity, Washington DC, UnitedStates

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 34740. Dr Arunan M.C., Head, Department of Life Sciences,Sophia College & Member, senate, University of Mumbai,Mumbai, India41. Dr Delia Maria, Centre for Progressive Studies andResearch, Pune, India42. Mr M.A. Vellodi I.F.S., Chennai, India43. Prof. Mohibullah Mohammad, Dept. of Elect. Eng., UnivPutra Malaysia, Darul Ehsan, Malaysia44. Ms Sucheta Dalal, Columnist, Mumbai, Maharashtra, IndiaAdmiral Vishnu Bhagwat, former Chief of the Naval Staff,Mumbai, India45. Prof. T. Wignesan, American Graduate School ofInternational Relations & Diplomacy, American Universityof Paris, Paris, France46. Dr Frazer Mascarenhas, Principal, St. Xavier’s College,Mumbai, Maharashtra, India47. Mr Govind Acharya, India Country Specialist, AmnestyInternational USA, Ithaca, New York, United States48. Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao (comments pending furtherreview), former Prime Minister of India, New Delhi, India49. Shri V.P. Singh, former Prime Minister of India, New Delhi,India50. Mr B.G. Verghese, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi,India51. Dr Hanif Lakdawala, Director SANCHETANA,Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India52. Dr A.R. Kidwai, MP, Rajya Sabha, New Delhi, India53. Mr Shahid Abbas, COO, Ash Group, Eagan, MN, UnitedStates54. Saloni Puri, Managing Editor BBCWST, New Delhi, India55. Mr Adit Abhyankar, Founder, Gadgetworks LLC, SanFrancisco, California, United States56. Mr Shankar Venkateswaran, American India Foundation,New Delhi, India57. Mr Asghar Ali Engineer, Center for Study of Society andSecularism, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India58. Dr Devendra Verma, Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist,Santa Clara, CA, United States

348 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds59. Swami Agnivesh, World Council of Arya Samaj, NewDelhi, India60. Rev. Valson Thampu, Executive Secretary, TheologicalResearch & Communication Institute (TRACI), New Delhi,India61. Mrs. Alaknanda Patel, Musician, Musicologist, SocialActivist, Vadodara, Gujarat, India62. Mr I.G. Patel, former Governor of Reserve Bank of Indiaand former Director of London School of Economics,Vadodara, Gujarat, India63. Ms Shabana Azmi, Actress & Social Activist, Mumbai,Maharashtra, India64. Mr Paul Divakar, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India65. Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, UNESCO Cousteau Chair ofEcotechnology & Chairman M.S. Swaminathan ResearchFoundation, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India66. Swami Gautamananda (personal endorsement), President,Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India67. Mr Sunil Raghunathan, Executive Member of KeralaCultural Welfare Association (UK), England, UnitedKingdom68. Dr Desh Deshpande, Chairman, TIE, Andover, MA, UnitedStates69. Mr Apurv Bagri, TIE, London, United KingdomAVM Hamid Shahul, former Chairman Airports Authoriyof India., Tamil Nadu, India70. Mr P.M. Tripathi, AVARD, Delhi, India71. Mr Harsh Kapoor, South Asia Citizens Web, (nearMontpellier) Herault, France72. Mr Martin Macwan, Managing Trustee, Navsarjan Trust,Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India73. Mr Tushar A. Gandhi, Managing Trustee, MahatmaGandhi Foundation India, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India74. Mr Mahesh Murthy, CEO Passionfund, President TIEMumbai, India75. Mr Elango Rangasamy, Trust for Village Self-Governance,Kuthambakkam, Tamil Nadu, India76. Mr Shailendra Agarwal, MD of Veena Industries Pvt. Ltd.,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 349Pune, India77. Dr Thomas Abraham, Chairman, Indian American KeralaCenter and President, GOPIO International, Stamford, CT,United States78. Mrs. Rama Lakshmi, Spl. Corresp., The Washington Post,New Delhi, India79. Mrs. Lalita Ramdas, Educator and Activist, Alibag,Maharashtra, India80. Admiral Ramu L. Ramdas, former Chief of Indian Navy,Alibag, Maharashtra, India81. Mr I.K. Gujral, Former Prime Minister of India, New Delhi,India82. Mr Ajay Shah, General Partner, Shah Management LLC,and AIF Trustee, Fremont, CA, United States83. Prof. Thomas Kailath, Hitachi America, Prof. ofEngineering, Emeritus. at Stanford University, Stanford,CA, United States84. Mr Pradeep Kashyap, Executive Director, American IndiaFoundation, Rye, New York, United States85. Mr Narasimhan Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu andFrontline, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India86. Ms Pervin Varma, Chief Executive, CRY—Child Relief andYou, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India87. Professor Tahir Mahmood, Chairman, Amity UniversityInstitute of Advanced Legal Studies, New Delhi, India88. Prof. Hari P. Sharma, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby,BC, Canada89. Maj. Gen. Vinod Saighal, Convenor, MRGG—Movementfor Restoration of Good Government, New Delhi, India90. Dr Rajkumar Hans, PUCL-Shanti Abhiyan, Vadodara,Gujarat, India91. Mr Minar Pimple, Founder, YUVA, Mumbai, India92. Dr Mira Kamdar, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute,Vancouver, WA, United States93. Prof. Arvind Rajagopal, Professor, New York University,New York, United States94. Swati and Ramesh Ramanathan, Bangalore, India95. Ms Nafisa Barot, Executive Trustee, Utthan—a

350 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsdevelopment action planning team, Ahmedabad, Gujarat,India96. Mr Shahid Malik, Managing Editor, www.asianoutlook.com,London, United Kingdom97. Dr Beheruz N. Sethna, President & Professor, Universityof West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, United States98. Mr Ahmad Patel, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha,New Delhi, India99. Prof. Ram Puniyani, EKTA, Committee for CommunalAmity, Mumbai, India100. Dr Swagato Ganguly, Assistant Editor, The Statesman,Kolkata, India101. Ms Manisha Nayak, Editor, Times Publishing Group,Singapore102. Prof. Ghanshyam Shah, NIAS, Wassenaar, Netherlands103. Mr Gauhar Raza, Filmmaker, Poet, Scientist, New Delhi,India104. Mr Harsh Mander, Writer, Activist, new Delhi, India105. Ms Shabnam Hashmi, Anhad (Act Now for Harmony andDemocracy), New Delhi, India106. Fr. Cedric Prakash, Director, ‘PRASHANT‘, Ahmedabad,Gujarat, India107. Prof. Raka Ray, Dept. of Sociology, U of CA at Berkeley,Berkeley, CA, United States108. Prof. Rafiq Dossani, South Asian Institute, Asia PacificResearch Centre, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, UnitedStates109. Prof. Pravin Varaiya, Dept. of electrical engineeringUniversity of CA at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States110. Prof. Pranab Bardhan, Dept. of Economics, Univ. of CAat Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States111. Mr Navneet Chugh, Attorney, CPA, The Chugh Firm,Cerritos, CA, United States112. Mr Naren Bakshi, FDRI and India Community Center,CA, United States113. Ms Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai, Darpana Academy,Sarvodaya International Trust, Ahmedabad, India114. Prof. Manu Bhagavan, Dept of History & Political Science,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 351Manchester College, Fort Wayne, IN, United States115. Ms Mallika Sarabhai, Darpana Academy, Dancer/SocialActivist, Ahmedabad, India116. Mr Mahesh Nagarajiah, President, Silicon Valley IndianProfessional Association – SIPA, Santa Clara, CA, UnitedStates117. Prof. Krishna Saraswat, Professor, Stanford University,Saratoga, CA, United States118. Prof. Kamala Visweswaran, Dept. of Anth & Asian Studies,U of Texas, Austin, TX, United States119. Mr Kaleem Kawaja, Assoc. of Indian Muslims of America– AIM, Silver Spring, MD, United States120. Prof. Jitendera Malik, Dept. of Computer Science, Univ.of CA at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States121. Prof. Isha Ray, Dept of Energy & Resources, U of CA atBerkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States122. Mr I.K. Shukla, Writer, Coalition for an Egalitarian andPluralistic India, Los Angeles, CA, United States123. Dr Arjun Makhijani, President, Institute for Energy andEnvironment Research, Takoma Park, MD, United States124. Mr Anil Godhwani, President, India Community Center,CA, United States125. Prof. Amarjit Singh, Padma Bhushan, Inter-Faith ProgramConvenor, Vernon Hills, IL, United States126. Mr Harinder S. Lamba, South Asian Group for Action &Reflection – SAGAR, Chicago, IL, United States127. Mr Samir Shah, President/GOPIO ChicagolandNFP,Chicago, IL, United States128. Prof. Ashutosh Varshney, Dept. of Political Science &Director, Center for South Asian Studies, U of Michigan,Ann Arbor, MI, United States129. Dr H. Sudarshan, Vivekananada Girijana Kalyana Kendra– VGKK, Bangalore, India130. Mr Gagan Sethi, Managing Trustee, Jan Vikas,Ahmedabad, India131. Ms Nishrin Hussain, daughter of ex—MP Ahsan Jafri,victim in Gujarat, Newark, Delaware, United States132. Mr Najid Hussain, Dept. of Marine Studies, Univ. of

352 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsDelaware, Newark, Delaware, United States133. Mr Shrikumar Poddar, Acharya, Vaishnava Center forEnlightenment, East Lansing, MI, United States134. Mr Jagdish Hiremath, ex-Ambassador, Member High LevelDiaspora Committee, New Delhi, India135. Dr Ganesh Devy, Tribal Academy, Tejgarh, Vadodara,Gujarat, India136. Prof. J.S. Bandukwala, MS University of Baroda, Vadodara,Gujarat, India137. Dr R. Balasubramaniam, President, SVYM Hospitals andH/C for tribals, HD Kote, Karnataka, India138. Mr Kamil Hasan, General Partner, Hitek Ventures,Saratoga, CA, United States139. Ms Talat Hasan, Chair, Board of Trustees, IndiaCommunity Center – ICC, Saratoga, CA, United States140. Ms Vinita Gupta, Chairperson/CEO, Quick EagleNetworks, Sunnyvale, CA, United States141. Ms Nirmala Deshpande, President, Association of Peoplesof Asia, Gandhian, New Delhi, India142. Mr Victor Menezes, Co-Chair, American India Foundation– AIF, New York, NY, United States143. Mr Naren K. Gupta, President/CEO, Wind River Systems,Alameda, CA, United States144. Ms Lata Krishnan, President, American, India Foundation,Milpitas, CA, United States145. Mr Sridar Iyengar, TIE- The IndUS Entreprenuers, SiliconValley, Sunnyvale, CA, United States146. Mr Kailash Joshi, Global Vice-Chair TIE, Co-PresidentIndia Community Center, Sunnyvale, CA, United States

APPENDIX 5Indian Muslim Council’s First National Convention—a HugeSuccess(http://www.imc-usa.org/cgi-bin/cfm/PressRelease.cfm?PRID=58)(excerpts)For Immediate ReleaseSanta Clara, CA, June 30th, 2003: The first annual conventionof the Indian Muslim Council-USA held on June 28th, 2003 in SantaClara, CA. The convention, held at the Santa Clara Marriott, wasattended by over 500 people.Human Rights update:Smita Narula, ‘India Expert’ and Senior Researcher at HumanRights Watch, previewed an advance copy of HRW report on Indiatitled ‘Compounding Injustice’ at the convention.Govind Acharya, India Director at Amnesty Internationalhighlighted the plight of the religious minorities in Gujarat andsuggested actions to bring relief and justice to the victims.Experiences in Multi-culturalism:The session titled ‘Experiences in Multi-culturalism’ hosteda panel of speakers representing all major religious communitiesof India and was a major attraction.Raju Rajagopal, President of Coalition AgainstCommunalism, elaborated on the distinction between Hindutvaand Hinduism.

354 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsRev. Jaswant Singha highlighted the plight of the IndianChristians and expressed solidarity with the Muslim victims ofthe Gujarat pogrom. Kulmeet Singh, National Coordinator of theSikh Coalition, addressed the issue of the persecution of Sikhs inIndia.Dr K.P. Singh, convener of the International Association ofthe Advancement of Dalit people explained Gujarat pogrom inthe context of the 2000 years of persecution of Dalits.Dr Rahul Deepankar, International President, Indian BuddhistAssociation of America spoke of the dalitisation of Muslims.’John Prabhudoss, Executive Director of the Policy Institutefor Religion & State, a Washington DC based think tank, spokeabout the need for joint efforts to counter the growing influenceof the Hindu extremists on the Capitol Hill and establishment ofa framework of cooperation among secular & plural minded groups.Shri Shrikumar Poddar, of the Vaishnava Center forEnlightenment, who was unable to attend the convention due toa prior commitment in Germany send a letter of support stating,“I am wholeheartedly with you in the success of our mission.”The Banquet Address:Father Cedric Prakash, Director of PRASHANT, the JesuitCenter of Human Rights, Justice and Peace in the State of Gujarat,spokesperson forewarned the people not to develop amnesia aboutthe Gujarat pogrom and detailed the ongoing persecution of theMuslims and Christians in Gujarat.Praful Bidwai, one of the most respected and widely readjournalist and political commentator in India, presented a detailedanalysis of the political and economic strategy of the Hindutvagroup and called the battle for the soul of India as not over yet.Dr Shaik Ubaid, President of IMC-USA, reassuredFr. Prakash that IMC-USA will never forget the Gujarat pogromand will continue to work to bring all religious and secular groupstogether to promote pluralism in India.Jameel Johnson, Chief of Staff of Congressman Gregory Meeks(D-NY 6th) addressed the overflowing banquet session on theimportance of guarding the civil rights vigilantly whileCongressman Mike Honda of Santa Clara (D-CA 15th)

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 355congratulated the Indian Muslim Council-USA for its holding ofthe inter-faith convention.Participation of organisations:A number of organisations espousing pluralism, toleranceand progressive development participated in the convention atvarious levels. The list of participating organisations includedAlliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA), Association ofIndia’s Development (AID), ASHA-Stanford, Coalition AgainstCommunalism (CAC), Council on American Islamic Relations(CAIR-CA), EKTA, Indian Muslim Relief Committee (IMRC), ICNA,The Sikh Coalition, Policy Institute For Religion & State (PIFRAS),Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment and Voice of Asia amongothers.

APPENDIX 6The Peshawar Declaration of Pakistan India People’s Forum forPeace and Democracy (PIPFPD)(http://www.pipfpd.org/decla/pesha_decla.htm)(excerpts)The Fourth Convention of Pakistan-India People’s Forum forPeace and Democracy was held in Peshawar, Pakistan, on 21-22November 1998.Over three hundred Pakistanis and Indians participated inthis convention. The delegates noted that a significant change hadtaken place between the third and fourth conventions—theworsening of peace prospects in the region as a result of the nucleartests conducted by both India and Pakistan.The convention held that the interests of the people of Pakistanand India cannot be served by the continuation of policies ofexternal and internal militarisation, systematic violation of humanrights, resort to authoritarian and draconian laws against legitimatedemocratic interests and activities of citizens, discrimination againstwomen and children in the name of culture or religion andunjustifiable interference with movement of people, informationand goods across national boundaries.Ultimately, peace and democracy in Pakistan and India, andin the subcontinent, cannot become a reality unless the Kashmirquestion and other political issues are resolved to the satisfactionof all the parties involved and the people affected by them.The following resolutions and recommendations were adoptedin the different sessions of the convention:

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 357Resolution on KashmirWe, the members of Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peaceand Democracy (PIPFPD), are deeply concerned at and condemnthe atrocities committed in Kashmir by the Indian security forcesagainst women, including rape and molestation in a systematicway, and on un-armed civilians through the use of arrest, detention,and torture. We, similarly, condemn violations by sections of themilitants.We demand that the Government of India pull back its troopsfrom the civilian areas and that the Pakistan Government shouldmake efforts to stop armed activities of militants in order to putan end to military and armed actions which have led to violenceand violations of human rights.We also ask the Governments of India and Pakistan to pullback their troops immediately from Siachen since the conflict therehas caused loss of human lives and proved to be a burden on theexchequers of the two countries which runs into thousands ofmillions of rupees every year.Resolution on demilitarisation and peaceWe, the members of PIPFPD, reaffirm our commitment to anuclear-weapon-free world, including South Asia. Weunequivocally denounce the nuclear explosions by Indian andPakistan and the jingoism that followed, and express our solidaritywith the anti-nuclear movements.The Forum expresses deep concern over increasing internalmilitarisation of the two nations, and the use of armed force bythe state against its own people as well as on various ethnic andreligious groups to resolve disputes.In pursuance of the Forums commitment to the outlawingof the use of force in the settlement of any bilateral dispute, theForum urges the Governments of India and Pakistan to sign amutual peace treaty.Resolution on governanceRepresentation be given to women and minorities at all levelsof political parties, in legislatures and other organs of Government,and it should be done in direct proportion to their share of thepopulation.

APPENDIX 7USCIRF Special Hearing on the Gujarat RiotsHEARING ON COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN GUJARAT,INDIA AND THE U.S. RESPONSEMonday, June 10, 2002 9:12 a.m.Room 1302 Longworth House Office Building Washington,D.C.PARTICIPANTSPresiding:FELICE GAER, ChairmanTAD STAHNKE, Acting Executive DirectorNINA SHEA, CommissionerSHIRIN TAHIR-KHELI, CommissionerFIRUZ KAZEMZADEH, CommissionerGuests:TEESTA SETALVADCEDRIC PRAKASHPanel I: Events on the Ground in GujaratNAJID HUSSAIN, University of DelawareKAMAL MITRA CHENOY, Jawaharlal Nehru University,New DelhiPanel II: The Future of Communal Relations in India and theU.S. Policy ResponseSUMIT GANGULY, University of TexasROBERT HATHAWAY, Woodrow Wilson InternationalCenter(http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:BSOTWoK00AwJ:www.coalitionagainstgenocide.org/reports/2002/uscirf.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 35910jun2002.transcript.pdf+USCIRF+special+hearing+on+Gujarat&hl=en&gl=in&ct=clnk&cd=2)* * * * * * *Terrorism Nurtured by Communal DisharmonyExcerpt from ‘Facts Speak For Themselves: Godhra and After’,report of Justice DS Tewatia and others, April 26, 2002, availablefrom the Council for International Affairs and Human Rights, A-208 Surajmal Vihar, Delhi 110 092:The Godhra carnage and related incidents make a typical casestudy of international designs and conspiracies to weaken Indiaas an emerging world power. Analysts and professional strategistsof all ideological inclinations converge on one forecast that Indiais going to be a major player on the international scene soonerrather than later. The global community also realises theinevitability of India becoming an important economic and militarypower. In such a situation it is but natural that nations hostile toIndia or its adversaries make all out efforts to create impedimentsin this process. Their strategy is to keep India engaged in communaland caste strife so that the nation’s focus on development is defusedand its endeavour to emerge as a super-power is thwarted. It wouldsurprise no one if Pakistan with the tacit support of not-so-friendlyneighbours and world powers hatches conspiracies to destabliseand weaken the Indian State.A careful and in-depth analysis, if carried out with an openmind, would throw open an action plan where terrorist activitiesappear to be merging with the already existing strong antagonismbetween Muslims and Hindus. Our hostile neighbour, sometimesin the guise of a friend, keeps on creating wounds on the bodypolity of our nation. Creation and perpetuation of Kashmir problemis one such example. The support to the authoritarian regimes inPakistan by USA and European countries speaks volumes aboutthe super power’s commitment, or lack of it, to democratic values.Godhra and the widespread communal violence in Gujarat in recentweeks is a part of this nefarious design. The Study Team concludes:Burning of 58 Hindu pilgrims at Godhra on 27th February,

360 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds2002 was an act of international terrorism carried out with theevil objective of pushing the country into a communal cauldron.The plan was to burn the entire train with more than twothousand passengers in the wee hours of 27th April, 2002. It wasa terrorist action plan that partly failed. The perpetrators of theterrorist acts received support from jehadi elements operating fromGodhra. These included some Congress members of theNagarpalika.

APPENDIX 8Two Contrasting Approaches to the USCIRF and the US StateDepartmentPart I – Teesta Setalvad before the USCIRF“Communal Violence in Gujarat, India, and the US Response”:Teesta Setalvad TestimonyJUNE 10, 2002India, a large, and until recently a stable democracy has beenexperiencing dangerous schisms carefully implanted by politicalforces committed to manipulating religion in the pursuit of power.Guided and inspired by the politics of the party in power,the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) inspired by it’s political mentorthe Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and it’s outfits like the VishwaHindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal (BD), have been throughpublic statements and actual action leading successful pogromsand attacks against the countries religious minorities, especiallyMuslims and Christians….”(http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:TddWD1Nt7isJ:www.coalitionagainstgenocide.org/reports/2002/uscirf.10jun2002.teesta.pdf+teesta+setalvad+before+USCIRF&hl=en&gl=in&ct=clnk&cd=1)Part II – Editor, Vigilonline meeting an official of the US StateDepartmentPlainspeaking the US State DepartmentThe US State Department issues two significant reportsannually – one on international religious freedom and the other

362 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundson global terrorism. The report on terrorism is titled ‘Patterns onglobal terrorism’ and is issued normally in the first week of May.The report on International Religious Freedom is issued inSeptember of each year by the Office of International ReligiousFreedom of the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy,Human Rights and Labor. This report is besides the other reporton International Religious Freedom issued by the more infamousUSCIRF in May of every year. Both the USCIRF and the Office ofInternational Freedom were constituted by an Act of Congress,the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.If the Office of the IRF is Tweedledum then the Commissionfor IRF is Tweedledee. ‘Vigil’ public opinion forum received aninvitation last week to participate in a discussion on religiousfreedom with the visiting ‘Foreign Officer’ of the Office of theIRF. It was the VHP which had been invited first but because theVHP office-bearer had to travel outside Chennai, he had suggestedto the US embassy official coordinating the meeting, that theinvitation be extended to Vigil in its stead.Besides ‘Vigil’, those present at the meeting included the USConsul General, Ms.Joanella Morales the US State Departmentofficial, Ms.Anjana Chatterjee, political analyst in the US embassy,Habibulla Badsha, Senior Advocate, Madras High Court, the Nawabof Arcot, Zafar Ahmed and wife Fathima Zafar Ahmed, Kumaravelufrom the state BJP, Dilip Chand Jain and Swami Gautamanandaof the Ramakrishna Math. Considering that the State Departmentofficial had come with the specific purpose of discussing the TamilNadu anti-conversion law it was strange that not one Christianreligious leader or intellectual was present at the meeting. To saythat their absence was fishy was an understatement.Opening RemarksThe meeting on religious freedom with the US StateDepartment official took place on Sunday the 10th October. Inher opening remarks Ms Joanella Morales, Ph.D., Foreign AffairsOfficer as her card described her, stated that she was here to discussreligious freedom, inter-religious dialogue & relations in India andthe Tamil Nadu anti-conversion law that had been recentlyrepealed. That she wanted to discuss the anti-conversion law was

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 363re-iterated by the official more than once in her opening remarks.Expanding upon her opening remarks the US official told us thatthe US had made religious freedom an integral part of its foreignpolicy and that religious freedom was a basic human right. Thatbeing so, imposition of religious freedom could not be deemedUS intervention or interference because religious freedom andhuman rights were not US values but universal values as reflectedby the UN charter on human rights and the Geneva Convention.And that is why the United States Government monitored religiousfreedom in all countries of the world using their embassies anddiplomatic missions for monitoring and informing the USGovernment on the state of religious freedom in the countries thatthey were located. (The official used the word ‘monitoring’ andexplicitly stated that embassies and diplomatic missions were usedfor the purpose)I have just completed a visit to Pakistan and after a coupleof days in India, I will proceed to Bangladesh.Habibulla Badsha: We are very happy to have Joanella hereand I am sure this meeting will be as purposeful as the one thatwe had last year with your predecessor.Zafar Ahmed: I run two travel agencies, you may say I am abusinessman but I call myself a political activist.Fathima Zafar Ahmed: I am an office bearer of the Women’swing of the Muslim League and I am just come back from a visitto the US where I attended a conference on terrorism. I am veryhappy to be here again. Swami ji and I were both present at asimilar meeting held last year in Chennai with another officialfrom your Bureau.Nawab of Arcot: I am Mohammad Ali, the Nawab of Arcot.Fathima Ahmed: He is the only Nawab of India.Habibulla Badsha: The only ‘official’ Nawab.Swami Gautamananda: What really is religious freedom? Itreally means that every individual who is a child of God and whotherefore has an element of divinity in him should have the freedomto pursue any path to help him realise his divinity. And that iswhy Hinduism believes that all religions are true and legitimate.If you can accept too that all religions are true and that no onereligion is the only true religion then there would be no need to

364 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsconvert people to other religions. If some religions did not insiston conversion, there would be no need for an anti-conversion law.‘Vigil’: It is in the nature of my work to be well-informed. Iam an office bearer of a public opinion forum which informs andinfluences public opinion in the city on important issues. I haveclosely monitored the US State Department reports on religiousfreedom and global terrorism and have been struck by the doublestandards and inaccuracies in these reports. And while religiousfreedom and human rights may not be American values, the factthat the US has made religious freedom an integral part of its foreignpolicy and issues annual reports on the state of religious freedomin the countries of the world, it is obvious that it is a politicalagenda.I am also struck by the fact that the US State Department isactually inviting Indians to submit an account of their countryand their people before you. While I would like to discuss theState Department reports on religious freedom and the biasedlanguage of its report, and why we feel the need for an anticonversionlaw, I for one, will not audit my country or my peoplebefore you. I will discuss inter-religious relations and problemswith members of other religions if they also so desire but not inthis meeting and not with the US Government.The DiscussionMs Joanella Morales: We are not interfering. Your own peoplehave written and spoken to us, asking us to do something aboutthe state of religious freedom in this country. And we have graveconcerns about the anti-conversion law, because the law has scopefor abuse and we were told it was abused.Vigil: I know who must have spoken or written to you. Butit is strange that they are not around today to respond to what Iam about to say about religious conversion. Laws will be abused.I am sure they are abused in your country as they are abused inmine. But just because laws are abused I am sure you do not meanto say we must have no laws at all. Democracies function by ruleof law and this means we have laws. You are concerned aboutthe anti-conversion law being abused. I am more concerned aboutthe freedom to practice one’s religion as guaranteed by our

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 365Constitution being repeatedly abused. Our Constitution guaranteesthe minorities the right to practice, preach and propagate theirreligions; our Supreme Court has also interpreted the law to stateunambiguously that the right to propagate does not mean the rightto convert. And not only is this freedom being abused but alsothe Supreme Court order.I can produce before you any number of Indians who havebeen converted by offer of money – 30,000, 40,000 rupees, sometimeseven more. I can also show you foreigners, even Americans whoabuse our visa regulations and enter the country under false pretextsciting tourism or business as reasons and then extending theirstay repeatedly to carry on missionary and proselytising activities.They go back to the US every year for five or six weeks and thencome back with more money. There is no way I or anybody elsecan prove where that money is going. There is rampant abuse ofour freedoms and of our law. And that is why the Tamil NaduGovernment felt the need to put in place the anti-conversion law;to protect the vulnerable sections of our society. Do you knowthere is a similar law in Israel too, much more stringent with theexpress warning that converting minors will be viewed veryseriously by the Government.In Defence Of Religious ConversionHabibulla Badsha: It is not fair to discuss the Christians intheir absence particularly when they cannot defend themselves.Very large sections of society are oppressed and live in deprivation.In this context, I would like to commend the work of Christianmissionaries who have provided selfless charity for the needy. Itis also up to world organisations to deal with this oppression.Fathima Zafar Ahmed: I would like particularly commendthe work of Mother Teresa, someone whom the whole world reveresfor her work in Calcutta, for her care for those afflicted with leprosyand for the orphans. In this context I must also point out that theBritish colonial administration handed over large tracts of landto Christian groups and missions, even in remote villages. In theseremote villages it was these Christian missions which set up schoolsand hospitals and cared for the poor and the oppressed.Zafar Ahmed: it is a shame that the two tumbler systemcontinues to operate in our country even today. These oppressed

366 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundspeople have no access to education too. They are deliberatelydeprived of education so that two percent of the people who arein a minority can continue to occupy 85 per cent of the top positionsin this country.The Nawab of Arcot: I would like to discuss the Babri Masjiddemolition. Tell me who is responsible?Statistics And More StatisticsVigil: We can definitely discuss the Babri Masjid demolitionbut not here, not in this forum. And since my friends here havein fact indirectly supported religious conversion, and my friendhere has spoken about two per cent of people in the minority, Iwould like to raise a few statistics myself. Mr Ahmed I supposeyou are referring to Brahmins, please don’t hesitate to name themSir. And as for religious conversion, charity and the oppressed,do you know that 70 per cent of the Christian population in SouthIndia is comprised of dalits? There are over a 150 Bishops in Indiaand 15 in Tamil Nadu alone. Except for Ezra Sargunam, there areno other dalit or backward caste bishops in Tamil Nadu. And howmany dalit or tribal bishops in the all India tally? Ten, fewer than10? And how many Archbishops from among the dalit, backwardcaste and tribal communities?How many dalit Christians have risen to the highest positionsin Christian medical and other educational, social or culturalinstitutions? How many parishes are under dalit priests? Will uppercaste Christians accept holy water from a dalit priest and howmany upper caste Christians marry into families of dalit Christians?Has there been any real empowerment or social mobility becauseof conversion or because of Christian charity?Ms Morales, I would now like to speak specifically about yourmission to India. How does it help ma’m to have the US monitoringreligious freedom in India? Religious freedom is only one of theseveral freedoms guaranteed in any democracy. Political freedomis as important as religious freedom, I am sure you would agree.And the US prides itself on being the oldest democracy and alongwith human rights and religious freedom the US wants to promotedemocracy too in those parts of the world where they have otherkinds of Government. And would you agree ma’m that the electoralprocess by which democratic governments are put in place is very

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 367important too? Then how can the US which has kept large sectionsof its own citizens out of the White House-women, African-Americans, racial and religious minorities, where democracy isso flawed and political freedom denied to all, how can the UScome to India to monitor and implement religious freedom?Let us assume that our External Affairs ministry which isthe Indian equivalent to the US State Department or the IndianParliament constitutes a Commission and an Office to monitorpolitical freedom and the state of your country’s democracy andused our embassies and diplomatic missions to gather informationand to interact with Americans and American NGOs, how do youthink your Government will react ma’m?All countries have their internal difficulties and problems.Outside interference can prove costly and even counter-productive.Just as we have to wait for American democracy to mature so asto ensure political freedom for all, the US must have faith in theIndian people to bring about communal harmony and improveinter-religious relations. Writing reports does not help and cando very little. I thank you very much for having invited me tothis meeting. Whatever I said needed to be said. In conclusion, Iwould request you to approach the spokesperson for the RSS toget the Hindu point of view in any situation. Your reports have abiased slant.Ms Joanella Morales: I would like to state that our reportsare very fair and very accurate. We are constrained to use certainphrases in our reports as mandated by Congress. The highest gradethat a country can get with regard to religious freedom is ‘generallyrespects’. And this year, India’s report is much better whencompared to previous years. We have stated in our report thisSeptember that India ‘generally respects’ religious freedom.In ConclusionVigil: I did not have the heart to tell her that I know whythe report is better this year. And I am sure that now that Indiahas received the highest grade possible in the US State Departmentreport on religious freedom, we must all feel ‘knighted’. Or do Imean canonised? The last paragraph of this year’s report statesthat US embassy officials had been interacting regularly with state

368 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsofficials on the anti-conversion law and its reversal. If themischievous allusion is that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister repealedthe law under US pressure then I can only hope that she will dispelthis impression publicly. And when the meeting concluded, noone told me they were glad I came or that they would like to meetwith me soon or that how useful the meeting had been. No oneshook my hand and no one bid me adieu. I suppose that is natural.(The dialogue between the Muslims and the US official whichconcerned the US war in Iraq and the image of the Muslims bythe constant reference to ‘Islamic terrorism’ in the main, has notbeen included in this note)13th October, 2004(http://www.vigilonline.com/news/plain_speak/ps_view.asp?plainSpeakId=65)

APPENDIX 9Important Data on Terrorist Atrocities in Jammu and KashmirTerrorist Atrocities on Women and Children in Jammu andKashmir, 1990-2004: Akhila Raman, Arundhati Roy and all otherbleeding-heart ‘peace’ and human rights activists, who have madea profitable and commercial enterprise out of peddling untruthsabout human rights violations of the Indian security forces inJammu and Kashmir, have never dared to confront the ugly truthabout the numbers of women and children victims of Islamic jihad.We present readers with the heartrending data of these victimsfrom the South Asia Terrorism Portal.2003January 1 Gahend, Pulwama Unidentified terrorists killdistricta woman when she resistsan abduction attempt.January 5 Daram village, Gool A woman trapped in anarea of Udhampur exchange of fire betweendistrict Special Forces andterrorists is, killed.January 10 Hari Budha village The wife and son of ain Surankote area civilian are killed inof Poonch district indiscriminate firing byterrorists at theirresidence.

370 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsJanuary 14 Jawalapura Bounjwa, A woman is injured in anKishtwar area of exchange of fire betweenDoda districtterrorists and SFs.January 15 Patta Dhar village Two unidentifiedof Doda district terrorists kill a SpecialTask Force (STF) constableand injure three otherpersons, including twowomen, at their residence.January 16 Warnau village, A woman is killed in anLolab valley of encounter between SFsKupwara district and terrorists.January 21 Sadgi Bhatta, A woman is abductedKishtwar from her brother’sresidence and later killedby unidentified terrorists.January 31 Anantnag One civilian is killed and15 others, includingseveral women andchildren, injured in agrenade blast near theDeputy Commissioner’soffice in Anantnag.February 12 Surankote, Poonch A woman is killed in thedistrictcross-firing between agroup of terrorists andsecurity forces.February 21 Bandipore, A young boy is killed inBaramulla district a landmine blast.March 4 Kulgam, Anantnag A group of suspecteddistrictHizb terrorists force theirentry into the residence ofa person in Yariporavillage and openindiscriminate gunfirekilling two women.March 13 Rajouri district Six-year-old child among

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 371two persons killed in apowerful explosion insidea passenger bus.March 19 Satoora, Tral A woman sustains injuriesin an unsuccessfulterrorist attack on a BSFCamp.March 22 Surankote, A young woman is killedPoonch district and another womaninjured in an attack bysuspected LeT terroristson the house of a SpecialPolice Officer.March 23 Nandimarg village in 11 women and twoShopian, Pulwama children are among 24districtPandits massacred.March 25 Chasana area of A group of terrorists killMahorea woman at her residence.Muslala Udhyanpur Terrorists enter thevillage, Dodaresidence of a civilian anddistrictinjure three members ofhis family, including hisHari Budha,daughter and wife.Poonch district. Terrorists assault awoman at her residencewhile accusing her son ofbeing an informer ofsecurity forces.March 27 Banihal area, Doda A young girl is shot deaddistrict,Vilgam, by unidentified terroristsKupwara district. at her residence.A groupof terrorists enter theresidence of a civilian andabducted him and hiswife. Both of them arelater killed outside thepremises.

372 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsMarch 28 Surankote, Poonch In separate incidents,district and Darhal unidentified terroristsshoot dead a civilian andhis son and chop off thenoses of six civilians,including a woman.April 1 Handwara, Unidentified terroristsKupwara district attack the residence of acivilian and kill his 14-year-old niece.April 2 Beerwah, A woman is killed and aBudgam district girl injured in anencounter between SFsand a group ofunidentified terrorists.April 3 Dolipora, Handwara A group of unidentifiedarea, Kupwara terrorists intrude into thedistrictresidence of a formermilitant and after a failedabduction attempt theykill him, his wife and theirtwo-year-old daughter.April 6 Lassipora, Pulwama A Hizb-ul-Mujahideendistrict terrorist enters theresidence of a civilian andkills his daughter, a ladySpecial Police Officer.April 8 Surankote, Poonch A woman is killed and herdistrictone-and-a-half year-olddaughter injured duringan exchange of firebetween unidentifiedterrorists and SFpersonnel.April 11 Mendhar, Pooch Two Hizb-ul-Mujahideendistrictterrorists force their entryinto the residence of acivilian and kill his wife.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 373April 25 Pattan on the Three civilians, includingSrinagar-Baramulla two women, are killedroadand at least 38 personsinjured in a bomb blastinside the premises of thecourt of Chief JudicialMagistrate.April 30 Kala Wachi village, Five Doda district.children are injured in agrenade explosion.May 13 Dardpora, Kupwara Unidentified terroristsforce their way into theresidence of a civilian andshot dead his daughter.May 17 Bhadoon village, Three unidentifiedRajouri district. terrorists force their entryinto the residence of acivilian and kill his wifeand injure him.May 19 Chowkian village Four women and twoin the Kot Dhara children are beheadedby area of Rajouri suspectedJaish-e- Mohammed (JeM)district.terrorists.May 20 Gujjarpati Aargam, Unidentified terroristsBaramulla district force their entry into theresidence of a widow andkill her and her daughterby slitting their throats.May 26 Seri Khwas village A group of sevenin the Koteranka unidentified terroristsarea of Rajouri intrude into the house ofdistrict a Village DefenceCommittee (VDC)member and kill all fivemembers of the family,including three children,

374 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsand later set ablaze theirhouse.June 8 Machipora- Unidentified terroristsHandwara, intruded into theKupwara district residence of a widow andshoot her dead.June 13 Handwara area of Three civilians, includingKupwara district the mother and wife of acounter-insurgent, areshot dead by unidentifiedterrorists.June 16 Marmat area of Two unidentifiedDoda districtterrorists intruded into theresidence of a woman atvillage Mangota and shother dead.June 20 Dodi village, Unidentified terroristsPoonch district abduct a woman, wife ofa former Congress leader,and kill her by injecting apoisonous substance inher vein.June 20 Samot village in A woman is shot deadBudhal area,and her minor daughterRajouri district injured by terrorists intheir house.June 22 Shopian, Pulwama Unidentified terroristsdistrictabduct and later shot deada woman.June 23 Lassipora in the A group of unidentifiedLolab valley of terrorists intrude into theKupwara district residence of an 80-yearoldcivilian and openindiscriminate fire killingthe civilian, his son anddaughter.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 375June 23 Sam Samad village, Three terrorists force theirunder Rajouri Police entry into a house and killStation-limitsa woman after sexuallyassaulting her.June 30 Village Swara Chalil Unidentified terroristsunder the jurisdiction shot dead a 19-year oldof Gandoh police girl after reportedlystation in Doda dragging her out of herdistrictresidence.July 7 Village Dandhok Three unidentifiednear the Line of terrorists shoot dead fiveControl (LoC) in civilians, including twoNowshera sector of women, and injureRajouri district another woman.Intervening Surankote and Unidentified terroristsnight of July Mendhar kill three civilians,12 and 13 including a woman, attheir houses.July 16 Guzarbal Bonkoot in Terrorists abduct aBandipore woman and anotherperson and later kill them.July 17 Village Harong under Suspected Hizb-ulthejurisdiction of Mujahideen terroristsRamban police shot dead two VDCdistrictmembers and a womanand set ablaze threehouses.July 18 Shopian, Pulwama A group of unidentifieddistrictterrorists intrude into theresidence of a civilian andshoot dead his daughter.July 18 Tral, Pulwama Unidentified terrorists killdistricta woman Constable of theJammu & Kashmir Police.July 21 Village Marha in the Unidentified terrorists killSurankote area of a civilian and his sister.Poonch district.

376 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsJuly 22 Doolipora. Terrorists intrude into theresidence of a villageheadman and shoot deadhis daughter.July 29 Ajar in Bandipore Unidentified terroristsintrude into the residenceof a civilian and openindiscriminate gunfirekilling one of daughtersand injuring the other.August 1 Village Khablan in Three terrorists intrudethe Thannamandi into the residence of aarea of Rajouri civilian and beat a minordistrictgirl to death and seriouslyinjure her minor sister.August 8 Village Dhanwakote A woman who wasin Rajouri district trapped in an encounterbetween terrorists and SFpersonnel is killed.September 4 Poonch town, Security forces foil aPoonch district Fidayeen (suicide squad)attack on their campkilling two foreignmercenaries. A woman iskilled while three persons,including two infants, areinjured in the firing by theterrorists.September 6 Village Dandian in Three terrorists attacked athe Surankote area house and behead twoof Poonch district. women inmates.September 8 Sarmarg in the Unidentified terroristsHandwara area. shot dead a woman.September 9 District Police Lines A ten-year-old girl isin Dodakilled and 9 persons,including 3 SF Personnel,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 377are injured when anunidentified terroristlobbed a grenade outsidethe District Police Lines.September 11 Lalchowk area of A girl student is killed andcapital Srinagar. 20 persons are injuredwhen an unidentifiedterrorist lobbed a handgrenade towards a BSFpillbox in the Lalchowkarea of capital Srinagar.September 21 Thannamandi area A group of unidentifiedof Rajouri district. terrorists intrude into theresidence of a civilian andlater hang him and hiswife to death.September 27 Mahore area of Unidentified terrorists killUdhampur district four members of a family,including a two-year oldchild.October 7 Lancha under the A woman is shot dead atjurisdiction of Mahore her residence byPolice Station in unidentified terrorists.Udhampur districtOctober 13 Border Security Force A woman and her child(BSF) camp at are killed and fourChaklas in the persons sustain injuriesGool area ofsustain injuries whenUdhampur district suspected Lashkarterrorists fire rocketlaunchers on a BSF camp.October 17 Hayan-Palpora in Suspected Hizb intrudethe Kangan area into the residence of awoman Special PoliceOfficer and kill herbrother and his wife andinjure her father.

378 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsNovember 3 Special Operations A woman is injured whenGroup (SOG) camp terrorists fire three rifleat Aloosa Bandipora grenades.in Baramulla districtNovember 6 Kunzar-Tangmarg Three civilians, includingarea of Baramulla a woman, are shot deaddistrictby unidentified terroristsin two separate incidents.November 8 Ghambir Moghala in Terrorists abduct andthe Rajouri district later shot dead a woman.November 14 Chak-e-Pohroo in the Terrorists kill a youngNowgam area woman for allegedlybeing an informer for theSFs.November 15 Kanthpora in A boy is killed while hisKupwara district mother sustains injuries inan Improvised ExplosiveDevice (IED) explosion.November 17 Village Tatagaon in A young girl is torturedthe Gandoh area of by two terrorists in herDoda districthouse and later killed.December 11 Kallar Mohra in the Unidentified terroristsMendhar area of shot dead a couple in theirPoonch district residence.2004January 10 Lurgam in the Tral A group of unidentifiedarea of Pulwama terrorists kill a civilian,districtFarooq Ahmed Mirza, andhis wife.January 24 Village Gounthal in Two terrorists kill a 45the Surankote area year old woman Gulfamof Poonch district Begum at her residenceand also injure her son-inlaw.January 26 Ichhgooza village in Terrorists force their entryPulwama district into the house of Abdur

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 379Rehman Mir and kill his24-year-old daughterHafeeza.February 3 Chewdara village Three terrorists attack ain Budgam district civilian’s house and shotdead three persons,including a couple.February 11 Village Bunpushnari- Two girls are injuredAchabal in when terrorists andAnantnag district security forces exchangefire.February 18 Beerwah locality of Terrorists shoot dead anBudgam district 18-year-old girl.February 27 Beerwah, Budgam A woman is killed anddistrictfour persons, includingtwo children, sustaininjuries when terroristsfire rifle grenades at apublic rally beingaddressed by ChiefMinister Mufti MohmmadSayeed.This is the truth graphically presented for the year 2003 alonewith partial data for 2004. For the complete picture of Islamic jihadiatrocities on women and children in Jammu and Kashmir, referto the following URL:http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/data_sheets/atrocities_women.htm

APPENDIX 10Getting it right on Jammu & Kashmir by Arvind LavakareA conspicuous area where anti-national and pro-Muslimsentiments have been articulated concerns the status of Jammuand Kashmir State which, in its entirety, was legally acceded toIndia on 26th October, 1947 under the British Parliament’s IndiaIndependence Act, 1947. This is a fact of history that successivePakistan regimes have cussedly refused to accept and, instead,have engaged in all sorts of ploys, including wars and sustainedterrorist killings, to resolve the so-called Kashmir problem.Pakistan’s aim has been unambiguous all along: it wants possessionof the Kashmir Valley where Muslims outnumber all othercommunities.However, this section of ‘peace’ and human rights groupsand activists profiled in this book have simply turned a blind eyeto this Pakistani intent and treated Pakistan’s interest in Kashmiras only a measure to bring about the long-desired peace betweenthe two countries. They have also come to believe that India todaymust be willing to make sacrifices to ensure peace with Pakistan.This twisted, tragic attitude of motley of our opinion-makersin the media has created around Jammu and Kashmir a thoughtprocess, the like of which would be blasphemy in other nationstates where the overriding spirit has always been ‘nation firstand last.’Prem Shankar Jha and Kuldip Nayyar, both veteran journalists,Rajinder Sachar, a retired High Court judge, Muchkund Dubey,a former foreign secretary of the country, Prannoy Roy and BarkhaDutt, two celebrities of NDTV, Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN, and,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 381lately, Ram Jethmalani, the well-known lawyer-politician, andGautam Navlakha of the Economic & Political Weekly—all havewritten/spoken often enough of the so-called ‘Kashmir problem’with one focal point: it’s somehow India which is adamant anduncompromising, the villain of the piece, while the ‘Kashmiris’have been victims of traumatic injustice which must now beredressed by some sort of a pact that will bring Pakistan on board.Some of the issues which one or the other of the above grouppicks upon to embarrass the Indian position are:‣ The denial of ‘free and fair’ polls and the efforts to runthe state from Delhi, resulting in the ‘alienation’ of the‘Kashmiris’ (a.k.a. the Muslims of the Kashmir Valley)whose ‘Kashmiriyat’ demands a unique treatment.‣ The heavy deployment of security forces in Jammu andKashmir which stymies civilians and results in humanrights violations of ‘innocents’.‣ The need for ‘self-determination’ for Kashmiris and forsuch autonomy to the whole state as is short of azadi.‣ The primacy of ‘self-governance’ traceable to Jawaharlal’sNehru’s naïve old promise of a plebiscite that contradictedthe British Parliament’s Act of 1947.‣ The urgency of a negotiated settlement to assuage Pakistanand avoid the horrible possibilities of a ‘nuclear flashpoint’.From January 2006, one or the other of the above group ofopinion-makers has also shown a strong inclination to bite GeneralMusharraf’s bait of ‘an out of the box’ solution of self-governance,demilitarisation and joint supervision by India and Pakistan ofJammu and Kashmir State’s external affairs, defence,communications and currency matters.At the micro level, two examples of how overall sympathyis sought to be evoked for ‘Kashmiris’ are Gautam Navlakha, awriter on economic/financial matters, moaning that the MuftiMuhammed Sayyed Government’s first financial budget aimingat fiscal autonomy had to contend with abnormal expenditure onsecurity forces, and Dubey pointing to the large numbers ofunemployed youth in Jammu and Kashmir as one reason forsupporting its demand for greater autonomy.

382 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsIgnored, and not even whispered about, by the likes of thosein the above group, are several facts.On the larger canvas vis-à-vis Pakistan’s malevolent interestin the ‘Kashmir issue’, the anti-national stance completely overlooksthe following unassailable record of history:‣ After hordes of tribesmen from the northwest invadedJammu and Kashmir in mid-October 1947 with extensivebacking by Pakistan and occupied large parts of his princelyterritory, the Maharaja of the State legally andconstitutionally acceded his whole State to India.‣ In the bitter war that ensued, Pakistan had control of nearlyone-third of the state when the UN sponsored cease-firecame. In the protracted negotiations held under UNauspices, Pakistan never challenged the legal validity ofthe Maharaja’s act of accession to India.‣ Though a UN resolution declared Pakistan as the aggressorand asked it to withdraw all its armed forces from theState so as to enable a plebiscite to be held to determinewhether the State should go India or Pakistan, Pakistanhasn’t done so for nearly six decades. Hence, it still holdson to that territory of Jammu and Kashmir which it forciblyseized but which legally belongs to India. Hence, too, thepre-requisite for the plebiscite solution has never beenfulfilled by Pakistan.‣ The Indian Parliament resolved in February 1994 to makeall necessary efforts to recover those territories of Jammuand Kashmir lying under Pakistan’s occupation andcontrol. But since then, India, ever the peace-loving nation,has maintained its honourable reputation of not even onceinvading Pakistan to take back what is its own, its veryown. Just which other large nation-state would have actedso soberly despite such grossly unjust deprivation of abig chunk of its territory?‣ Considering the above, India really has absolutely nothingto discuss with Pakistan about Kashmir excepting arrivingat a final verdict on the status of all Pak-occupied territoriesof the original Jammu and Kashmir State. If Pak finallyretains that territory it acquired by theft through naked

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 383aggression, it will be so because we condescend it so. Eitherthat or we tell Pakistan that while the status quo remains,we reserve the right to recover that stolen property of oursin the future. Yet, right from Nehru’s days, we have notbeen bold enough and man enough to deliver that messageto Pakistan right to its face, in public, before the wholeworld.At the micro level, ignored, and not even whispered about,by the likes of those in the above group, are several other realitiessuch as—‣ While some earlier elections to the Jammu and KashmirState Assembly may well not have been as fair and freeas the ideal demands, there is no doubt that the governmentthat came to power each of those times did in essencerepresent the majority of the people; it was not as if aCommunist Government or a Jana Sangh Government wasrammed down the throats of the people.‣ The elections to the Jammu and Kashmir ConstituentAssembly held in August 1951 were certainly free and fairand, besides, were conducted, not by Delhi’s ElectionCommission but that of the State itself. And thisConstituent Assembly enacted its own State Constitutionwherein Section 3 proclaimed that ‘The State of Jammuand Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Unionof India.’ To prevent any future mischief from Pakistanand/or Pakistan-backed ‘Kashmiris’, the Constitution’sSection 147 precluded Section 3 from any amendment. Thatwasn’t done by New Delhi, mind you, but by the allpowerfulNational Conference party of Sheikh Abdullah.So, what’s all the ceaseless subsequent cribbing andgrumbling about ‘self-determination’?‣ Jammu and Kashmir is the only State in India to enjoythe privilege of having its own distinct Constitution withseveral features different from the nation’s Constitution.It is that State Constitution—not the nationalConstitution—to which an MLA, a High Court judge andeven the Chief Minister has to swear allegiance whenassuming office. How many nation states suffer suchhumiliation in silence?

384 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds‣ Under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, Jammu andKashmir State has the right to refuse the application toitself of any law of India’s Parliament; similarly, it hasthe right to refuse the application to itself of any Articleof the Constitution of India that has not been applied toit already. That is why Jammu and Kashmir State hasrefused to describe its Constitution as ‘secular’. This isbecause Nehru not only created Article 370 but because,through a cunning order in 1954 under Article 370, madeit well nigh impossible to amend that Article. What greaterautonomy than that do the Abdullahs and the Sayyedsof the Kashmir Valley want?‣ Nehru’s doing in 1954 under Article 370 also permittedJammu and Kashmir State to create an elite class of citizenson whom the State could confer special rights andprivileges denied to other residents of the state. The StateConstitution promptly incorporated that largesse in its finaldocument of November 1957 so that, since that time,thousands upon thousands of Jammu and Kashmir’sresidents have been denied several rights including theright to vote in the State Assembly elections. What a farcethen that ‘Kashmiris’ should be the ones to complain aboutthe absence of ‘free and fair’ polls.‣ If at all ‘Kashmiris’ feel ‘alienated’, it is they themselveswho are responsible. While they have wanted the Indiangovernment to defend them from Pak’s aggression, andto grant them economic development, they have neverwanted people from outside their State to come and settledown there. They have never argued or agitated for equalrights to those unfortunate fellow residents who are notcategorized as elite ‘Permanent Residents’ under Section6 of the State Constitution. And it is they who, when theymeet Indians from outside the State, refer to them as‘Hindustanis’ while calling themselves as ‘Kashmiris’. Isthat ‘Kashmiriyat’? If so, shame on it. If not that butsomething else that’s mystical, let’s remember that everyState of India is blessed with its cultural traits as distinctand unique as ‘Kashmiriyat’.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 385‣ The Hindu majority in Jammu, a the second largestprovince in Jammu and Kashmir state, has its peculiarDogra character while the Buddhist majority of Ladakh,the largest district of the state, has its Buddhist values.So why do the likes of Jha and Dubey talk only of‘Kashmiriyat’? Indeed, so much are Jammu and Ladakhout of the radar of people like those two that they ignorethe shoddy treatment meted out to those areas by theMuslims who rule the state from the Valley. In fact, thesetwo regions of Jammu and Ladakh have organised groupsdemanding a distinct status for them, separate from theKashmir Valley and without Article 370. Nobody, alas,among our opinion-makers takes up the cause of Jammuand Ladakh just as they don’t take up the cudgels for thelakhs of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) who were terrorisedout from the Valley by Muslim fundamentalists around1989-90.‣ The Abdullahs, the Sayyeds, the Musharrafs et al demandautonomy, self-governance etc. without ever letting outwhat that desired status will do for its financial upkeep.As it is, the Jammu and Kashmir State under India’s federalpolity survives only because of the Central Government’smunificent financial aid since the State lacks its ownresources to pay even the salaries of its employees. Andobviously unknown to edit writers like Gautam Navlakha,even the State’s security expenses are funded by the Centre.Indeed, figures of grants, loans and Tenth Plan outlaysindicate that Jammu and Kashmir State, besides being themost autonomous one in India, is also the most pamperedone. That is why the State as a whole has the lowestproportion of population falling below the poverty-line—only 5 per cent as against the national average of 27 percent or thereabouts. So, what will the scenario be underthe so-called ‘self-governance’ with currency matters beingsupervised by the governments of India and Pakistan? WillPak procure billions for the ‘Kashmiris’ from its pal calledUncle Sam?‣ There is that point regarding deployment of ‘excessive’

386 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundssecurity forces that hampers civilian life in Jammu andKashmir State and results in trampling of the human rightsof theirs as well as of those bystanders caught in firingsresorted to in countering terrorist attacks. Well, if armedterrorists, aided and abetted by Pakistani friends or Indiantraitors, are lurking in unforeseen corners of the State, theGovernment of India is fully justified in providing as mucharmed security as it considers adequate to prevent intrusionthrough the nation’s borders. Complaints are also madeof army/police excesses. Those who lament this aspectforget that when you fire at fleeing armed terrorists, youjust can’t aim like the Arjun of Mahabharat. Further, ourArmy has been very serious about human rights violationsby its personnel and has issued official figures from timeto time of those against whom inquiries have beenconducted and action taken, including dismissal fromservice.An example of how loosely, how indifferently and how antinationallyour influence peddlers discuss Jammu and Kashmir wasavailable in Ram Jethmalani’s op-ed article in The Asian Age,Mumbai edition, 9 th February 2006. He wrote, ‘Gen. Musharraf isabsolutely right that the inhabitants of the state (Jammu andKashmir) must enjoy their basic right’, and went on to advocatethat our proposal to Gen. Musharraf must include, inter alia, theproposition that ‘India and Pakistan must ensure…the (local)Governments of both sides must owe their legitimacy to freeelections and adult franchise, and must fully protect the basic rightsof citizens which in the final analysis must be declared and enforcedby a wholly independent judiciary.’Hey Ram! As a member of the Kashmir Committee formedduring the NDA regime, Jethmalani must surely know that theabove ambience he demands already exists in that part of Jammuand Kashmir State which is under India’s democratic, federal polity.Then why does he act so dumb by involving Pakistan to ensurethe continuance of that political reality? If anything, that ambienceis precisely what is missing in the one-third part of Jammu andKashmir held by Pakistan. Jethmalani should have instead insistedthat Pakistan must first bring about that political ambience in its

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 387own backyard—which we know is a place of tyranny—beforerecommending ‘self-governance’ to India in a package deal withPakistan for resolving the Kashmir issue.Just one more example to close the case against the biasedor indifferent motley opinion makers of our land. In its ‘India-Pakistan Debate’ series telecast by NDTV 24 × 7 in February 2006,a lay woman of Pakistan had the gumption to say, ‘If India hasbeen saying “Jammu and Kashmir is ours”, why is it at all discussingthe Kashmir issue with Pakistan? Clearly, it’s a dispute.’ PrannoyRoy simply watched when he should have said, ‘Ma’am, India isdiscussing the issue because it wants to resolve the status of onethirdof Kashmir that Pakistan has illegally occupied for nearly60 years.’But it’s foolish really to expect such a reaction from thosewho are ignorant or jaundiced anti-nationalists of Hindustan.10th February 2006See also:‘The Truth About Article 370’ by Arvind Lavakere, 2005,(Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, 17 Chanchal Smruti, GD AmbekarMarg, Wadala, Mumbai 400 031).

APPENDIX 11Manderweb Update by Krishen KakThe British so-called charity ActionAid’s politico-communalinterventions are on record. Oxfam, another British so-called charity,is no different.The Oxfam (India) Trust’s Violence Mitigation andAmelioration Project (VMAP) in 2003 published the blatantlycommunal “The impact of violence on the student community inKashmir “, and even in 2006 its “research consultant” and GauharFazili (one of the authors of the publication) were using it to openlyabuse Indian security forces and preach secessionism. 1 Both Oxfamand a Delhi-based “Aman” are identified as important fundgiversto carefully selected Kashmir NGOs to further their donationobjectives, thus possibly evading FCRA scrutiny. 2 In fact, Oxfamwith the Ford Foundation spawned Aman 3 and both still fund it(as do ActionAid, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, and the NationalFoundation for India). 4 Oxfam and Aman published PamelaBhagat’s “Interviews in Kashmir”. No interview of a Hindu wasreported. 5 Likewise, the sponsorship, publication and bias of SahbaHusain’s “The Psychological Impact of Violence (VMAP): Workdone with local NGOs in Kashmir. April 2000-2003”. Husain isthe “research consultant” mentioned above and, of the three “localNGOs” she selected, one is an Aman “partner”.Now, this Aman is Dileep Simeon’s Aman Public CharitableTrust aka the Aman Panchayat. Oxfam and the Ford Foundationalso funded Aman’s Peace and Conflict Studies Course withPakistan’s, yes, Pakistan’s Hamdard University. 6 This latter Aman

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 389was something called The Aman Trust, and had a Delhi addressdifferent from that of the Aman Public Charitable Trust - but,curiously, its contactperson Hassath is a “colleague” in the former(Simeon’s Aman) Trust and, of the six course instructors, threewere Simeon and his fellow-trustees. The Director of The AmanTrust, one Jamal Kidwai, is (like Hassath) a “colleague” in Simeon’sTrust, but it is not stated who is Simeon’s Trust’s Director. Soapparently these are two distinct Trusts but with direct moneyand human resource linkages. And Kidwai and many Simeon“colleagues” have Oxfam backgrounds.Oxfam also joins with the Aman Samudaya to work amongstthe “affected population” in Gujarat. 7 This Aman is Harsh Mander’s,and we already know from Harsh Mander that “affected” meansMuslims only. As it appears to mean for Oxfam too. But noticehow all the Amans are webbed together through Oxfam andActionAid, and note the communally selective interventions inthe Indian polity. And note that, as with ActionAid, the Britishgovernment has a very long, close, financially exceedingly generous(one 2002-2005 grant alone was GBP 20 million) policy andprogramme partnership with Oxfam. The British government itselfstates it uses “civil society organisations with which it has significantworking relationships and shared objectives” in “strategicagreements” linked to “strategic funding”. And it is equally clearthat both ActionAid and Oxfam are two such “civil societyorganizations” that are tools of British foreign policy for India. 8Indeed, further evidence of ActionAid’s communal bias for Indiais its sponsorship in Hindu-majority India of a Bharatiya MuslimMahila Andolan to seed social discord by propagating theblasphemy that “the Quran says men and women have equal rights”(it doesn’t - for example, Koran 4.34 quite explicitly andunambiguously subordinates women to men). Communal bias andsocial discord, because ActionAid in Pakistan and Bangladesh seesno need to sponsor such andolans in those Muslim-majority IslamicStates that are exterminating Hindus. ActionAid with HarshMander’s communal Anhad sponsors a seminar that declaresGujarat a “fascist State” and (for Gujarat’s democratically-electedchief minister Narendra Modi) says, “defeat Modi for the sake ofdemocracy”. Gauhar Fazili (remember, patronised by Oxfam) mocks

390 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsIndia’s Election Commission’s conducted election in Kashmir as“an assault on Kashmir”. ActionAid’s Zakia Jowhar, linked alsoto the Aman Samudaya organisation), repeats the lie of “over 2,000”Muslims killed in Gujarat. 9The Indian government endeavours to tighten regulation offoreign donations because of “internal security concerns...intelligence reports of terrorists using funds received throughforeign contribution and NGOs building assets and disposing themto make a neat margin”. Protests are led by Nobel laureate AmartyaSen “emphasising that foreign NGOs help in developing local ones”;Pooran Chandra Pandey, CEO of the Voluntary Action Networkof India (VANI) who “emphasised that it was important to allowNGOs to invest in say, approved mutual funds”, in other words,“the stock market”; Maja Daruwala of the Commonwealth HumanRights Initiative (CHRI) because “these people are doing fantasticwork to alleviate poverty” 10 and again by Swati Kapoor of the CHRIwho, with VANI, does not believe “the government’s claim thatfunds coming to the voluntary sector are used for anti-nationalactivities”. 11 VANI’s funders are the Ford Foundation, DFID andthe Netherlands-based Interchurch Organisation for DevelopmentCooperation. 12 Of VANI’s eight promoters, at least three areChristians 13 and its chair Rajesh Tandon has a close link with theCommonwealth Foundation UK. 14 Maja Daruwala of CHRI is amember of VANI’s Working Committee. While the website of CHRI,as on 28/1/07, gave no specific information of its financial sources,its “supporters” included the Ford Foundation, the British HighCommission and the Commonwealth Foundation, its executivecommittee included Poonam Muttreja (see endnote 21), and theonly two States in India for which it has special staff are Chhattisgarhand Gujarat. Note that the absence of human rights for Hindus inPakistan, Bangladesh and even in Kashmir does not agitate this“Commonwealth” human rights initiative. The British interest inChhattisgarh goes back a long way (p.133 of this book), and SSBarnala, Governor of Tamil Nadu, appreciated the 22% increasein 2004-2005 of foreign donations over those in 2003-2004 as showing“the growing trust and faith of foreign donors in Indianorganisations” with an exhortation of the “need to effectivelyharness the positive energy and missionary zeal of the NGO

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 391sector” 15 . It is not without irony that Maja Daruwala is the daughterof Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.Can you still believe all these are “charities”, or are they Britishgovernment instruments to destabilise our polity?The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is a jihadienterprise that, notwithstanding the approval of its ban by theSupreme Court of India, continues to enjoy the sympathy of ourNehruvian-secular government.Yet even the Indian government is sometimes forced toacknowledge SIMI’s seditious agenda. As, for example, it did in adeposition before the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal(“SIMI funding: Alms to arms”, The Pioneer, Aug 17, 2006). Thedeposition identified some of SIMI’s foreign “moral and financial”sponsors, including – and this is one of direct interest to us here –the America-based Consultative Committee of Indian Muslims.(Note that, unlike the America-based hate-sponsored campaignagainst the IDRF, there hasn’t been even the whisper of a campaign –in America or Hindustan – against the jihadi “alms to arms”sponsorship accepted by the UPA government itself.)Now scroll about halfway down http://www.mcrg.ac.in/rw%20files/Rw12.doc (Refugee Watch Issue No. 12, December 2000)to the section titled “The Americas” that reports on the AmericanFederation of Muslims from India (AFMI). Refugee Watch goeson to say that “other organizations that have focused on contestingHindutva and funding relief and legal aid to Muslims arrested inthe aftermath of riots of 1992-3 [“about 80%” of the “65,000 TADAdetenus” were Muslims] and in general campaigned for the humanrights of Indian Muslims include the Indian Muslim ReliefCommittee of the Islamic Society of North America (IMRC), theConsultative Committee of Indian Muslims in the U.S. and Canada(CCIM), and the Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIM)”. 16In other words, AFMI, IMRC, AIM and CCIM haveprofessional linkages.The UPA government itself links CCIM to SIMI. Now checkout the list on p.149 of this book.AFMI and IMRC have links to Harsh Mander (as he and theydo to ASHA for Education - http://www.ashanet.org/seattle/events/harshmander/, with “specific interest” from Sonia Gandhi –

392 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundshttp://www.ashanet.org/conferences/asha-12/T118-2.02.pdf), andIMC-USA specifically patronizes Mander (http://www.imcusa.org/cgi-bin/cfm/weeklyDigest.cfm?WDID=52).IMC-USA,IMRC and apparently also AIM pay his bills to, from and in America(http://www.imc-usa.org/cgi-bin/cfm/PressRelease.cfm?PRID=47; http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2005/01-15July05-Print-Edition/011507200536.htm) as those of his wife too(http://infocusnews.net/PDFs/InFocusOnline-Aug05.pdf)!Follow up with p.172 of this book that lists the America-basedso-called Coalition Against Genocide - CAG. In it feature AFMI,AIM and IMRC.Continue to follow through to p.111 of this book for at leastone self-proclaimed SIMI founder sponsored by senior IMCleadership. IMC is the America-based Indian Muslim Council. Itfeatures in the CAG list and in the Vigil listing of sponsors of bothHarsh Mander and Aruna Roy. IMC is connected to the jihadiLashkar-e-Toiba, and the L-e-T is connected to Pakistan’s ISI.Now, Refugee Watch, in its same section, goes on to reportthat “AIM intends to forge links with progressive Indians and hasbeen working on establishing links with Pakistani Americans”.Both Harsh Mander and Aruna Roy, as eminent Nehruviansecularists, are certainly “progressive Indians”.So what do we have here? An extended and devious web of“moral and financial” linkages, that (by the UPA goverment’s ownadmission) includes SIMI.Seems far-fetched? Try this for a clincher:SIMI activists were involved in the Godhra massacre ofHindus. 17 ActionAid, technically a British “charity”, involved itselfin the legal defence of the Godhra accused - and only of the Godhraaccused, all Muslim. Who led this defence initiative? ActionAid’sIndia country director. Who was this country director? HarshMander. 18 Yes, the same Harsh Mander who is a loud supporterof Pakistan (p.155 of this book).And yes, this is the same Harsh Mander linked to AmericabasedMuslim donors linked to jihadi Pakistan and to jihadi SIMIlinked to support of Pakistan and of SIMI jihadis by Harsh Mander.The wheel turned full circle.And it continues to turn.....

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 393Harsh Mander is a fund-raiser for the IMRC.Ah, but it is cleverly done. This IMRC for which he raisesfunds is “Indian Muslim Relief and Charities”. No connection tothe “Indian Muslim Relief Committee” of the jihadi links? You’rewrong. Same organization, with the same American address, butit uses two different names. Why? Why sometimes should it callitself the Indian Muslim Relief Committee and why sometimesIndian Muslim Relief and Charities? Just like all those ActionAidand Oxfam (and ultimately British government) funded Amansappeasing Muslims and promoting Muslim separatism in India.Consider the indisputable polymorphism of jihadi and jihadlinkedindividuals and organizations, with Harsh Mander linkinghimself to one form, and now to another. One paid for him; henow raises money for the other. Ek haath se liya, dusre haath sediya.Proof? 19The IMRC announces its hosting on May 20, 2006, in the IllinoisFrankfort Mosque (yes, in a mosque), of Mr Harsh Mander “toraise awareness in the Chicago community about the rights of streetchildren and minorities in India. Mr. Harsh Mander will speakabout his experiences and the challenges facing his legal justiceproject for the victims of the 2002 state government-sanctionedgenocide in Gujarat and ‘Every Child’, his project to help streetchildren”.The congregation in the mosque is invited to contribute“prayers...followed closely by financial donations”, and “students,particularly, are invited to join Mr. Mandar(sic) and IMRC in theirwork across India”.The IMRC describes Mr Mander as “currently Country Directorfor ‘Action Aid India’. He is also convener of Aman Biradari, apeople’s campaign for communal harmony and justice, foundingmember of Anhad, director of Center for Equity Studies, Delhi,visiting Professor at Jamia Millia University, Delhi, and columnistfor Hindustan Times. He is a Director of Policy Research at theCenter for Equity Studies and an advisor to the supreme court in‘Right To Food’ case.”More proof?For the previous evening, the same IMRC announces its hosting

394 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsof the same Mr Mander, again to solicit “prayers...followed closelyby financial donations”, but this time for “justice for the Gujaratvictims” For this occasion, the IMRC saysMeet Mr. Harsh Mander. The man who stood by hisconvictions. The man who resigned his comfortable post inthe IAS in protest and decided to take the Indian governmentto task over the state-sanctioned Gujarat carnage in 2002. Thatmurderous rampage has been billed by Indians of allbackgrounds and religions as one of the most horrific eventsin the history of free India. Acts of rape and mutilation ofeven pregnant women and children became commonplaceduring the carnage. Today, it’s been four long and gruellingyears since Mr. Mandar began his work. He has raised fundsand successfully petitioned the Indian government to re-open2000 cases filed by victims of the pogrom. Yet, justice for theGujarat victims is a far-fetched notion. Gujarat continues tobe a powder-keg with victims still living in fear and, thosewho returned to the state, facing social and economic boycott.Mr. Mandar, in response, also formed the mostly volunteerrunNGO, Aman Biradari. This is a people’s campaign forpromoting communal harmony. It aspires to build local levelinstitutions mainly of youth and women, of diverse faith, casteand gender, at village and district levels to strengthen mutualbonds of tolerance, fraternity, respect and peace betweenpeople of different backgrounds. It is intended to promoteequal citizenship, justice, communal harmony, peace and thecelebration of our social and cultural diversity. Amongst itsmany initiatives, volunteers are trained as paralegals to assistthe victims of the Gujarat pogrom.Ah, the wonderful Maulana Mander, a man of so many parts,a true Gandhian, actively promoting the Islamic goal for Hindustan,enthusiastically paid for and supported by foreign Islamicorganizations with a trail that leads to Pakistan and its jihad againstus, and equally enthusiastically raising funds for them.And lying through his teeth all the while about himself andwhat really happened in Gujarat.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 395Note that this man has never spoken a word against the IslamicState of Pakistan (nor any other Islamic State) but he publiclywelcomed the end in Nepal of the world’s last Hindu kingdom. 20Nehruvian secularism suborns our nation to hostile foreigninterests. They occupy seats in the very centre of power in ourpolity.Page 144 of this book notes the presence in the country’sNational Advisory Council of a member “who, for well over adecade, is on a foreign payroll - a huge and steady monthly incomedisguised as an advisorship”. He’s still there. Who is this memberwith access to inside data of our government’s plans and policies?Will our Nehruvian-secular government reveal from wherehave been, over the last 10 years, the primary sources of incomeof its NAC member Dr AK Shiva Kumar? 21But why should the government do so? Its prime minister(the de jure one, that is) himself has close foreign links - and thisis not about just his dollar pension worth Rs 2.5 lakhs a month. 22Take the National Foundation for India - NFI 23 that, set up in1992, calls itself “a non-profit making charitable trust”. Its firstlisted aim is “to raise funds both nationally and internationally...”.Donor information is only till 2002-03, and donation amounts onlyfor 2002-2003. We are now in 2006. Its international donors includethe Rockefeller Foundation (amount not stated) and the FordFoundation (USD 100,000); its national donors include a numberof our government departments It has a collaboration since 2002with ASHA - Stanford (donor amount not stated), and had“partnered” the post-Godhra Aman Charitable Trust, Delhi, givingit Rs 3,30,000 in 2002-03 to keep going till, in expectation of FCRAclearance, the latter could receive USD 100,000 from the FordFoundation. The Aman Charitable Trust, notwithstanding all thatmoney, does not appear to have its own website, though the NFItells us it “was set up by a group of eminent peace activists...withthe objective to work proactively towards conflict resolution throughresearch, workshops and advocacy”. The Aman (Public?) CharitableTrust also received USD 6,750 from the America-based Associationfor India’s Development (AID) in the category “Peace Efforts”. 24Now, Dileep Simeon’s Aman Public Charitable Trust alsoreceived NFI and AID aid 25 but it is confusingly unclear whetherthe NFI site’s Aman is the same as Simeon’s is the same asHamdard’s. What remains the same is so much foreign money

396 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsflowing in for so much “peace activism”, a politically correcteuphemism for Muslim appeasement. ActionAid, the FordFoundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, AID, ASHA, the Amansand now Oxfam all illuminate the pages of this 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 listedon the NFI website, Aug 22, 2006:Mr Kiran Karnaik (Chairman)Dr M S SwaminathanMr N RamDr Manmohan Singh MPMs Sayeda HamidMs Patricia MukimMr P SainathMs Anita RampalProf. Andre BeteilleMs Malika SarabaiMr Deepak ParekhRepresentative: The Ford FoundationDr Manmohan Singh, MP. That’s right. Dr Manmohan Singh,PM. In company with other distinguished Nehruvian secularistsand all of them in company with the representative of the FordFoundation. All of them trustees of the National Foundation forIndia. You and I, aam admi, wanting to meet our prime minister,may not even be allowed within hailing distance of him. Therepresentative of the Ford Foundation (a foreign institution activelyengaged in influencing our country’s politics - p.31 of this book)sits with him at the same table, helping him receive foreign moneyto dole it out within the country. 26And, fellow Hindustanis, the NAC and the NFI are just oneinstance each of our country’s de facto prime minister and ourcountry’s de jure prime minister as links in the web of NGOs,activists and foreign funds that is an anti-nation industry. 27The Koranic goal for Islam is a worldwide ummah. Its chiefinstrument, sanctioned by Allah himself, is jihad.Sanjay “Munnabhai” Dutt, in reel life promoting Gandhianahimsa, in real life was comvicted for the illegal possession of anAK-56 rifle and its ammunition that was part of a consignment

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 397for the 1993 Mumbai jihadi serial bomb blasts that killed over 250Hindustanis. He bought this rifle through the Interpol-noted jihadiAbu Salem and he bought it for his “self-defence”.The murderous AK rifle is a favoured jihadi weapon.Jihadis kill.Now meet Harsh “Mandarbhai”, another consummateperformer who, while promoting Gandhian ahimsa through thefacade of “prayers”, actually raises money (“followed closely byfinancial donations”) through a web of linkages of “moral andfinancial” support to jihadis.Jihadis to kill us.NotesThis Appendix in its original form appears as V’mala 105,106 on www.vigilonline.com1. http://www.kashmirgroup.com/kpi/kpi_one.jsp?sino=8862. http://www.ipcs.org/IRP02.pdf3. http://www.amanpanchayat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=544. http://www.amanpanchayat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=685. http://www.amanpanchayat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=606. http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2004-July/004008.html7. http://www.onlinevolunteers.org/gujarat/action/donate/oxfamappeal.pdf8. http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/Oxfam-ppa.pdf9. Hindustan Times (New Delhi), Jan 11, 2007; http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/13/stories/2006111306891000.htm10. Hindustan Times, Dec 21, 2006.11. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060416/mailbag.htm12. http://www.vaniindia.org/funders.asp; all three feature in thisbook ( ICCO in 12 on p.277).13. http://www.vaniindia.org/Download/Memorandum%20of%20VANI.pdf14. http://www.pria.org/about/ceo.htm15. The Hindu, Sept 30, 200616. Note how Refugee Watch claims that 52,000 were Muslims of the65,000 TADA detenus it insinuates for “the aftermath of riots of

398 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds1992-93”. Which riots?? Justice Sujata Manohar, with Justice AMAhmadi, in a March 1996 Supreme Court decision, noted 6,000TADA detenus (www.hri.ca/partners/sahrdc/india/fulltext.shtml). This Vigil book has a number of examples ofmathematical conjuration by Nehruvian secularists.17. http://midday.chalomumbai.com/05-06-2002/city/05-06-2002arrested.txt.htm18. http://esamskriti.com/html/inside.asp?cat=649&subcat=648&cname=hindustan119. http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:TqFJDjUykTwJ: www.mailarchive.com/sapac_chicago%40yahoogroups.com/msg01634.html+%22center+for+equity+studies%22&hl=en&gl=in&ct=clnk&cd=5, as on 11-9-200620. last para, http://www.openspaceindia.org/essays_41.htm21. It’s like money-laundering - one link leads to another leads to athird leads to a fourth, and so on, till the connection between thefirst link and the last is no longer apparent. But the connection isstill very much there, and now there is a recognised link betweenmoney-laundering and jihad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_laundering; http://www.hvk.org/articles/0806/144.html). Likewise, the links between foreign-funded NGOs anddomestic discord - as Russia recognizes (p.51 of this book).Think about the following link: “From 1986 through 2004,the MacArthur Foundation provided 170 grants totaling morethan $28 million to people and organizations in India” (http://www.macfound.org.in/newpage3.htm). Guess who heads thisAmerican foundation’s India office. Poonam Muttreja. Poonamwho? AK Shiva Kumar’s wife! Yup, the same Shiva Kumar withinside access to national data. Must make for interesting pillowtalkbetween husband and wife.22. http://www.hvk.org/articles/0504/104.html. It is not just thathis pension is in dollars; his loyalty is to The Dollar. The storybehind “the surprise appointment of Dr.Manmohan Singh as P.V.Narasimha Rao’s finance minister in 1991" has now been revealed- it is that “the IMF and the World Bank would nominate thefinance minister of the country after consultations with the USauthorities” (http://www.arabnews.com/services/print/print.asp?artid=91723&d=4&m=2&y=2007&hl=A%20Prattler%E2%80%99s%20Rattle). First as finance minister, now asprime minister, M Singh is quite evidently an American lackey.So much becomes clearer now - including the support to fell the

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 399world’s last Hindu kingdom Nepal, the appeasement of ournation’s mortal enemy but America’s preferred ally Pakistan, andour de facto prime minister’s fear that our nationalism isundemocratic (http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/30/stories/2007013018351400.htm).23. http://www.nfi.org.in/ , data from its website as on Aug 22, 200624. http://www.aidprojects.org/ngos-view-1.asp?id=275&login=guest25. http://www.amanpanchayat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=6826. The head of our country’s Planning Commission is on the payrollof two US-based organizations in what is not just a clear conflictof interest and corruption (http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:o8apmNWyZJIJ: www.deccan.com/chennaichronicle/home/homedetails.asp+deccan+chronicle+Montek+Singh&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&lr=lang_en) in the usual sense, but a clearconflict of loyalty - and to any patriot it becomes crystal clearthat Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s loyalty is not to our nation.27. It is not just that we already have IAS officers working for foreigngovernments and their competence is determined by their loyaltyto the foreign government’s interests (pp.130, 134 of this book),but we will now require three American universities to certifythe suitability of IAS officers for promotion. The UPA governmenthas decided that IAS officers will not be empanelled for promotionat 9, 15 and 28 years of service unless they are certified as suitableby Duke, Syracuse and Harvard universities respectively (http://hindustantimes.com/news/181_1918293,0008.htm). This“outsourcing” of IAS certification has rightly been described as“a matter of national disgrace and loss of national honour andnational identity” (http://newstodaynet.com/2007sud/feb07/060207.htm). It is undoubtedly another step to create more antinationaladministrators to rule our nation. Recall Macaulay’snotorious Minute on Indian Education, 1835: “We must at presentdo our best to form a class who may be interpreters between usand the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian inblood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals,and in intellect” (para 34, http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/macaulay/txt_minute_education_1835.html). Then read Vicharamala 68, “The Whitesolution to Brown problems”, http://www.vigilonline.com/reference/columns/columnsList.asp?columnist_id=1.

APPENDIX 12Open Letters to the Deccan Chronicle, Mr Harsh Mander & MrKaran Thapar—— Original Message ——From: Radha RajanTo: info@deccanmail.com; editor@deccanmail.comCc: vsanghvi@hindustantimes.com; vksbc@bgl.vsnl.net.in;vkhbl@sancharnet.in; udayan.namboodiri@gmail.com;tavleen.singh@expressindia.com; swapan55@usa.net;readerseditor@thehindu.co.in; mail2gupta@gmail.com;feedback@hindustantimes.com; letters@deccanherald.co.in;info@newindpress.com; toieditorial@timesgroup.com;editor@expressindia.com; editoped@asianage.com;ttedit@abpmail.com; thehindu@vsnl.com;feedback@dailypioneer.com; newstodaynet@yahoo.com;thestatesman@vsnl.com; pioneerletters@yahoo.co.inSent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 10:46 PMSubject: Sandeep Pandey’s preposterous claimFrom:Radha Rajan,Joint Secretary, Vigil Public Opinion Forum,H 12/3, Pari Street, Kalakshetra Colony,Besant Nagar, Chennai – 600 090To the Editor,The Deccan ChronicleSub: Sandeep Pandey’s preposterous claimThis is with reference to the report in the Deccan Chronicle,Sept 10, 2006, on the release of the book “NGOs, Activists & ForeignFunds: Anti-Nation Industry” (Chennai: Vigil Public Opinion

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 401Forum, 2006). There are a number of mis-statements in the report,some of which have been pointed out by the book’s co-editor KrishenKak in an open letter to Mr Harsh Mander, a copy of which wassent to the Chronicle.In this report Sandeep Pandey is quoted as saying “”First Iam glad to be clubbed in the august company of Aruna Roy, NirmalaDeshpande and Harsh Mander. Now about my activities, In ourorganisation Asha, we always hold open forum meeting so anyonewho is interested can walk in and attend. We do not have anymembership either. Anyone can participate in the activities if theywant to. The trust we have formed has grassroot activists whodecide what programmes we will undertake. The accounts of Ashaare open for scrutiny and our website has details about the fundswe spent and get. As a principle we do not accept foreign fundsand even institutional funds from India. So the criticism that weare being used by foreigners who fund us is baseless.”If Mr. Pandey has been correctly quoted, then both as thebook’s co-editor and as representing the publisher, I would liketo say, first, that given the book’s expose of Aruna Roy, NirmalaDeshpande and Harsh Mander, I appreciate his acknowledginghe is like them. I wish to draw your attention to Mr. SandeepPandey’s claim that “as a principle” he does not accept foreignfunds. The last chapter but one in the Vigil book titled “ASHAprojects: Where does all the money go” is only about receivingforeign funds – the money that Sandeep Pandey’s ASHA raisedfrom across the USA and even Europe.Therefore Mr. Pandey’s statement that “as a principle” he doesnot accept foreign funds, is a lie - Ch.8 of the book scrutinises asample of 1,538 projects all downloaded from ASHA’s website.The chapter gives example after example of foreign funding ofASHA projects - including dollar fellowships to three Pandeys –Sandeep, Mahesh and Vallabhacharya Pandey. As has been pointedout, Sandeep Pandey is himself a beneficiary ( p.266), and substantialdollar donations to Asha Pandey (pp.277, 281). Compare this withwhat the Magsaysay citation has to say about Sandeep Pandeyand his ASHA –With local volunteers in the villages of Reoti and Bhainsaha,Pandey has created schools that instill self-reliance and values fora just society. Asha’s teachers take no pay. Instead, they supportthemselves with sidelines such as making candles and greeting

402 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundscards from handmade paper.Vigil stands by what it has published. I am sending you thechapter titled “ASHA projects: Where does all the money go” sothat you may judge for yourselves the truth or otherwise of SandeepPandey’s preposterous claims.Radha Rajan, Joint Secretary, Vigil Public Opinion Forum,Chennai------------------------------------------------------------------------------------—— Original Message ——From: Krishen KakTo: +Harsh ManderCc: $The Hindustan Times; letters@deccanherald.co.in;info@newindpress.com; toieditorial@timesgroup.com;editor@expressindia.com; editoped@asianage.com;ttedit@abpmail.com; $The Hindu; editor@deccanmail.com;feedback@dailypioneer.com; newstodaynet@yahoo.com;thestatesman@vsnl.com; $The Pioneer;yogesh@gujaratglobal.comSent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:55 PMSubject: An Open Letter to Mr Harsh ManderSept 11, 2006Dear Mr Mander,You are in the forefront of the Right to Information campaignand are on record as requiring “public accountability” from “fundedNGOs” (“NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds: Anti-Nation Industry”,Chennai: Vigil Public Opinion Forum, 2006:143). You also continueto be in the forefront of the “secular” campaign for Muslim rightsin Gujarat. The Deccan Chronicle today published an emotiveresponse to the book, of which I am co-editor, and in the contextof that book, the Chronicle article, and your own stated positionregarding transparency and accountability, I invite you set the publicrecord straight in regard to your public persona, especially -1. Did you apply for retirement from the IAS or did you resignfrom it? On what date did you first write to the government inthis regard? Did the government make any employment stipulationsin regard to your retirement/resignation and have you honouredthose stipulations? If retirement, what would have been your totalentitlement of retirement benefits? If resignation, what would havebeen your total entitlement of resignation benefits? When is the

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 403date you were actually no longer on the IAS rolls?2. What was your full entitlement of pay, allowances andbenefits from ActionAid before you left the IAS? How much ofthis was in foreign currency? How much of this was directly orindirectly from any foreign source, and which ones? And, had youbeen receiving the IAS salary, how much would this have beenon the day you left the IAS?3. While you were formally associated (in any capacity) withActionAid, to which recipients with whom you were also formallyassociated (in any capacity) did ActionAid extend support, whetherin cash or kind? These include Anhad and any of the Amans (seep.136 of the Vigil book).4. You have been described variously as “Director” or“Honorary Director” or “Director of Policy Research” of the Centrefor Equity Studies (see p.142 of the Vigil book). What is the legalpersona of this Centre? What is/has been your formal connectionwith this Centre, and from when? Has this Centre ever receivedforeign support, directly or indirectly, in cash or kind? How muchor what, and from whom?Foreign support in kind includes foreign-based sponsors takingcare of your travel and hospitality expenses to, from and in theforeign country. Indirect foreign support includes an FCRAorganizationreceiving the money and then passing it on, whetheror not in the guise of projects, to other organizations (an exampleis on p.128 of the Vigil book) so that the detailed expenditure accountdoes not appear in the FCRA-organization’s balance sheet but formspart of the accounts of the receiving organization or individual(see, for example, pp.122, 125 of the Vigil book).These are all questions directly related to your public personaand to your credibility in public life. Some of these questions havebeen asked before, but not answered - you will find details in theVigil book. The purpose of (1) is in regard to the veracity of youroft-repeated claim that you had resigned in anguish from the IAS;of (2) in regard to your primary loyalty to your British or to yourIndian employer; of (3) and (4) to what extent “charity” money ofActionAid (and ActionAid technically is “a charity”) was divertedby you to other organizations with which you were connected andthat now support you professionally/financially.The public debate on the Vigil book initiated by the DeccanChronicle (http://www.deccan.com/chennaichronicle/nation/

404 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsNationalnews.asp#Criticism%20doesn’t%20perturb%20NGOs,%20activists) focuses on personalities rather than on the facts aboutthem given in the book - for example, the Chronicle quotes SandeepPandey as saying that “as a principle we do not accept foreignfunds”, yet there is a whole chapter with details of foreign fundingto ASHA that the Chronicle chooses to ignore. It claims that MsAruna Roy resigned from the National Advisory Council. She didnot. Her term ended and she declined renewal/extension. Or, forthat matter, the Indian Express lies that the book was “launchedat the BJP headquarters” (Sept 10, 2006). And Seema Mustafa andVenkatesh Kesari, in the context of the book release, continue tolie about the number of Gujarat dead (Asian Age, Sept 9, 2006),notwithstanding the real figure released by the UPA governmentitself (see p.133 of the Vigil book).The Vigil book is clear, as were Shri George Fernandes andShri Narendra Modi who formally released it, that the crucial issueis not about personalities in their personal capacity, but of theiraccountability and the accountability of foreign-funded NGOs inpublic life.On behalf of my fellow-editor and myself, we await eagerlyyour factual response to the questions above and in the book.Thank you,Krishen Kak------------------------------------------------------------------------------------—— Original Message ——From: Krishen KakTo: $The Hindustan TimesCc: +Binu Samuel Thomas; +Binu Samuel ThomasSent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 11:43 AMSubject: An Open Letter to Mr Karan ThaparDear Mr Thapar,This is with reference to “Harsh Treatment”, your paean toMr Harsh Mander in The Hindustan Times Sunday Magazine, Nov9, 2003, p.2 ( http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/674_451117,003100060005.htm ).Curiously, The Hindu on 10/5/03 published an identicallytitledpaean by Aruna Roy and others. This paean was rebuttedby Mr Binu Thomas in The Hindu and by me elsewhere.You have made a number of laudatory claims on behalf of

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 405Mr Mander. For example:1. You claim Mander “to be able to speak out sought voluntaryretirement and made himself a full time employee of Action Aid.”Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth, and your statementappears typical of the manner in which Harsh Mander’s friendsare re-writing “facts” to save his face. The documented fact is thatabout two years before he left the IAS, Mander had already decidedin principle to quit. He was merely waiting to complete pensionableservice. He then actually applied for voluntary retirement, andthe Gujarat violence occurring, he chose to report - as did the media(including The Hindustan Times) - that he was “resigning” forreasons of “conscience” as you too state he did. For months hecontinued to claim he’d “resigned” till too many people learnedit wasn’t the truth. Then began the exercise to rewrite history, withMander downplaying the difference between “resignation” and“retirement” (a difference he knew is worth to him of upto a millionrupees!), followed by Roy and others in The Hindu ignoring thedamning truth of his “resignation” and converting his act to theneutral “quitting” the IAS. You take it even farther - we now hearnothing of his “resignation” that made him a national andinternational celebrity; we are now told that from the very beginninghe’d “sought voluntary retirement”. If he had, then why did herepeatedly lie, as did the media, that he’d resigned? And wouldyou like to verify, for public information, whether he actually putin his papers from the IAS before or after the Gujarat violence?2. As for leaving the IAS “to be able to speak out”, on thecontrary, Mander while still in the IAS wrote that notorious articlein The Times of India 20/3/02, an article for which the Press Councilof India reprimanded both him and the newspaper for fancifulexpression and irresponsible publication.3(i). Your reference to the Hindustan Times article by Manderappears to be the 28/9/03 one which contains the figures you repeatin yours. You claim Mander’s allegations are based on “fact andproof at hand and because his personal testimony and eyewitnessobservation established how the skulduggery had been done”. SinceMander himself cites no source for his figures, and given yourcertification of his methods, we must presume Mander personallyverified that 4,252 cases had been registered, of which 2,107 havebeen closed, etc., etc. In other words, he is the source of and authorityfor his own data.

406 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds(ii) Now, since we are not told how he set about collectingand verifying this data, the veracity of his claims must be assessedfrom the experience of the veracity of his earlier claims. The PressCouncil of India clearly determined that Mander in his TOI article“at several points reiterated rumours that were being circulated at therelevant time. The truthfulness of the facts mentioned therein had notbeen established at any point of time till then but Shri Mander had chosento base his views and sentiments on them, and put pen to the opinionthus formed by him” (Press Council of India decision 14/106/02-03dt.30/6/2003). In other words, Mander converted rumours intoand spread them as facts.(iii) Then, in a BBC interview, asked repeatedly by TimSebastian for his evidence of State collusion when he first publishedthat allegation, Mander fumbled each time till it emerged he hadsupposed the collusion, and that in fact when he published thatallegation on 20/3/02, an allegation that went all over the world- he had NO evidence in its support.(iv) As for Mander’s interpretation of the Supreme Court obiterdicta in the Best Bakery case, a very different picture emerges fromthe Supreme Court’s own explanation of its remarks (see “12 otherGujarat riot cases in SC focus”, The Pioneer, Oct 18, 2003, p.4 -“The Bench made it clear that it had not made any comment onthe merits of the case and directed that the high court would decidethe case without taking into account whatever observations madeduring the course of the National Human Right Commissionsappeal...”).(v) So much for the creative quality of Mander’s “personaltestimony and eyewitness observation”. The Gujarat governmentmay very well be guilty of skulduggery, but so is Mr Mander.4. Mr Mander and you charge the Gujarat government withcommunal bias. Certainly. But what of Mr Mander’s own admissionin the BBC interview of his own communal bias? And what ofActionAid’s own record in this subcontinent of communal bias?Why the double standards?5. You claim Mander was not rewarded. What about the RajivGandhi Sadbhavana Award? And the MA Thomas Award? Andthe enormous attention, publicity and career-enhancingopportunities he received in the USA and the UK?6(i). As for the sack from ActionAid, would you like to verifywhether, well within the retirement rules, the Indian government

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 407had not stipulated that Mr Mander leave ActionAid’s commercialemployment as a condition of its accepting his retirementapplication? And perhaps it is ActionAid that decided finally tohonour its host country’s regulations that its country directorwouldn’t.(ii) Would you like to verify the charges of ActionAid’s owncorruption - made public by ex-AA senior executive Mr BinuThomas - and the strong circumstantial evidence of its politicocommunalagenda in India - made public by me?(iii) Would you like to verify whether ActionAid, in sackingMander the way it did, merely dealt with Mander as he’d dealtwith others of ActionAid?(iv) ActionAid is a prestigious British charity, one of the crownjewels of the British NGO movement (with the Prince of Wales asits Patron). If pressure had been put on ActionAid, shouldn’t youhave verified whether or not this was pressure by British authorities,fed up with complaints about ActionAid’s shenanigans in India?(v) Would you like to verify whether the real reason for thesack could be that ActionAid in recruiting Mander found a matchbetween its agenda for India and his agenda for himself, till it finallyrealised how successfully he had in fact manipulated it and itsglobal reach and resources to promote himself at its cost? Indeed,your own statements attributing all credit to him individually seemto substantiate this - yet he would have reached nowhere had henot been able to use (misuse?) ActionAid’s enormous money andfacilities.7. There is much more - that even a simple websearch wouldhave revealed. I hold no brief for communal violence anywhereand by anyone, and especially I hold no brief for those with doublestandards in the matter of communal violence. There is enoughmaterial on record to show that Mr Mander and his championsare not overly fond of telling the truth, and your paean to himdoes credit neither to your journalistic impartiality nor to yourinvestigative ability. Rather, it comes across as the services beingused of a (so far!) publicly credible friend in a face-saving endeavourby a man who’s been given the sack because his sins finally caughtup with him.Sincerely,Krishen Kak------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

408 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds—— Original Message ——From: Krishen KakTo: +Harsh Mander; +Harsh ManderCc: +Binu Samuel Thomas; +Binu Samuel Thomas; +ActionAidIndia; +Aman Ekta Manch; +Anhad; +Barbara Harriss; +JeanDreze; +MKSS; +NCPRISent: Friday, July 25, 2003 2:49 PMSubject: An Open Letter to Mr Harsh ManderSir,Your national and international credibility as a champion ofIndian secularism and as a fighter against social injustice is derivedfrom your oft-repeated and much-publicised claim of “resignation”from the IAS on moral grounds after the Gujarat communal violence.This act of yours had you hailed in the mainstream English-language“secular” media as “a man with a conscience”. Subsequently, thiswriter discovered and revealed that you had, in fact, not resignedat all from the IAS and that you knew you were not telling thetruth when you claimed to have done so. You had, in fact, appliedfor early retirement and you were, and are, aware that this is nota mere technical or semantic quibble. You know that a resignation,while crowning you with a halo, brings with it no direct materialadvantage, while a retirement fetches you upto a million rupeesfrom the public exchequer. So you publicly gestured a grand sacrificeof resignation, but covertly you coolly calculated the cash inflowof retirement. That once this fact was made public you yourselfceased making the “resignation” claim confirms your ownconsciousness of your duplicity.It has also been publicly established by this writer that youhad communicated in ActionAid your decision in principle to quitthe IAS at least two years before you actually claimed you’d left -and, therefore, as former AA senior executive Mr Binu Thomasand this writer have shown separately, your leaving the IAS reallyhad its root not in any anguish over the Gujarat violence but inyour cynically and cleverly timing it to secure the greatest advantageto yourself (retirement benefits from the IAS, continued lucrativeemployment with AA, fame and glory in the public eye).A report has now surfaced that even your formal applicationto leave the IAS was, in fact, made before the Gujarat violenceand, the violence occurring, you took advantage of it to make publicpresentations of moral heroism and a resignation on moral grounds.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 409The veracity or not of this report is of significant public interestand concern as directly and further affecting your credibility as asecularist, and the credibility of the social movements you leadand represent.A number of persons (including Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze)on behalf of the National Campaign for People’s Right toInformation publicly proclaimed your integrity. You too are leaderand spokesperson of the NCPRI and so the NCPRI was requestedto make public the date of your first communication to anygovernment or any other agency/authority in regard to your leavingthe IAS, together with a copy of that communication.Not surprisingly, and faithful to its double standards alreadyexposed by this writer and Mr Binu Thomas, the NCPRI and thosewho wrote for you in its behalf, are silent.You are invited to make public the date of your firstcommunication to any government or any other agency/authorityin regard to your formally leaving the IAS, together with a certifiedcopy of that communication, as well as a certified copy of thegovernment communication permitting you to leave including anyattendant stipulations.Please note that you were still in the IAS when you publiclydeclared that you were resigning from it on moral grounds. Youyourself made this a matter of public relevance and concern. Thisis therefore neither a confidential matter nor an invasion of yourprivacy since it concerns the veracity of public claims made byyou yourself as a public servant while still in public service. Youcontinued with these public claims even after claiming you’d leftthe IAS and therefore this issue remains of public relevance.As one in the vanguard of the public right to informationmovement, you must appreciate that you need to apply to yourselfthe same standard of transparency and public accountability thatyou demand of others.Should this not be done within a week, this writer will considerhimself free to act in regard to this report in such manner as heconsiders appropriate.Thank you,Krishen Kak------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Note—page numbers in these letters are of the first editionof this book - Eds

APPENDIX 13The CIA and Disinformation Campaigns by B Raman*We used to have non-governmental organisations even beforethe 2 nd World War. But the world saw the phenomenon of themushrooming of non-governmental organisations after the ColdWar started, particularly when Dwight Eisenhower was thePresident of the United States in the early 1950s, 1952 to 1960. Hehad a Secretary of State called John Foster Dulles, and John FosterDulles’s brother, Allen Dulles, used to be the director of the CentralIntelligence Agency. So John Foster Dulles carried on a vigorouscampaign, at various levels, against the communist states - theUSSR, China, the states of East Europe, etc. He wanted that hiscampaign should also be carried on at the level of disinformation,or opinion management, or perception management as it was called.So he wanted the publicity division of the State Department totake up this job. There was a lot of resistance from the ForeignService officers of the US government to their being used by JohnFoster Dulles for disinformation, for disseminating disinformation,for indulging in this kind of work; they thought their credibilitywould suffer. The State Department, it gives information - it issupposed to give correct information, it is supposed to educatepeople; it is not supposed to confuse people by indulging indisinformation. So then John Foster Dulles asked Allen Dulles, hisbrother, who was head of the CIA, whether the CIA could take*based on his key-note address at the first edition’s release function onSept. 9, 2006 at New Delhi.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 411over this job. And Allen Dulles was only too happy to take it over.And this disinformation division was created in the CIA. And ithas been there, it was very active during the Cold War and it isactive even after the end of the Cold War.The CIA largely used certain instruments; for example, theyused the Voice of America. Voice of America itself is part of theState Department. Even today it is funded from the official budgetof the State Department, voted by the US Congress. So it claims itdoesn’t indulge in disinformation, it largely indulges in moreselective information. Not generally correct information, but notdisinformation!But a number of other things were brought into existence bythe CIA’s disinformation division. One is Radio Free Europe, whichwas then located in Munich in Germany. The decision was thatthe disinformation division deserved to make use ofnongovernmental organizations of other countries for the purposeof what used to be known then as opinion management andsubsequently has come to be known as perception management -to mould the opinion of other countries, to mould perceptions ofthe people of other countries by acting through NGOs, by actingthrough people who are active in the NGO movement. So theseNGOs are of two kinds. Number one, NGOs that were already inexistence - which did not owe their existence to the CIA. Thosewere the best. So, by funding them, by making them agree to carryfurther the agenda of the CIA, they thought that will be an idealthing. Where there were no NGOs already in existence which wouldsuit the purpose of the CIA, they decided to have their own floated(such as the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists).And, similarly, MI6, the external intelligence agency of the UKalso participated in this campaign of perception management oropinion management through NGOs.I would like to mention two instances, which are not verywidely known in India. Amnesty International today is a very wellknownhuman rights organization. But Amnesty International wasfloated in 1964 by MI6, mainly to discredit the Soviet Union, mainlyto discredit the communist states of East Europe, mainly to discreditChina, and it used to carry on a campaign of human rights violationsagainst the communist states.

412 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsIt has brought out reports on Kashmir also. During the post-Watergate US Congressional enquiries which were held, theCongress records specifically said that Amnesty was gettingcontributions from the CIA.On Kashmir, there was a call for regional plebiscites, that is,a separate plebiscite in Jammu, another plebiscite in the Valley,another plebiscite in Ladakh. The report stated that in Jammu itself,all Muslim majority districts should hold a plebiscite. The reportwas lying with the Government of India for six months. Nobodyin the Government of India had read that report. And then a weekbefore they were due to publish it, they sent a message to theGovernment of India saying that since they had not received anycomments on certain districts of Jammu and the Valley remainingwith India, they were going ahead with the call for regionalplebiscites.The other instance I would like to mention is that of RupertMurdoch of Star TV. In 1997, he started his Hindi channel, he startedhis 24-hours news channel. He managed to recruit a number ofgovernment officials, he was very keen to get permission fromthe government of India for direct to home service, DTH service,and he put in a lot of pressure on the government of India. Heorganised seminars in different places, because the security agenciesat that time were advising the government of India against allowingany foreign interest in DTH on security grounds. He organized anumber of seminars in India to convince the Indian public opinionthat there is no security threat, there is no threat to India’s securityby allowing foreign investment, foreign participation in DTH.So three or four American experts, supposedly experts on DTH,were brought in, and then I made a study, and I found these verysame DTH experts had testified before a Congressional committeein the US. At that time, the US itself was worried about DTH,because of the kind of threat which it could pose to them. That’sthe reason why Rupert Murdoch had to take American citizenship,because America brought in a law that only somebody who wasan American could start a TV channel in the United States, aforeigner cannot at that time start a TV channel. So these very samepeople who came to India and told the Indian public that DTHposed no security threat, that they don’t have to worry about DTH,

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 413these very same people had appeared before a US Congressionalcommittee and said that there is a security threat from DTH, andthat they have to be cautious and must have special legislation,special safeguards, etc. At that time, the government appointed ajoint parliamentary committee headed by Mr Sharad Pawar to gointo various aspects of DTH. I brought to their notice that the verysame people who came here and said that there is no threat fromDTH, the very same people had told the US Congressionalcommittee something totally different.These are the kinds of ways in which they operate. So, in allthis, we must not only worry about NGOs but also about otherorganizations that are being used by the Americans, being usedby the Western countries to influence the minds of the people inIndia in a subtle way, through disinformation, selective information,analysis which is not totally correct, etc.

APPENDIX 14NGOs as Non-Accountable Businesses by Narendra Modi*The topics discussed in this book are relevant in the presenttimes not only to India, but even to ‘developed’ countries, wherethe whole business of NGOs started. Sometimes I call these ‘noble’people five-star activists. If you study them closely you willexperience what I am saying. In America they are called limousineliberals. In Europe there is a new word for them – just as there areentrepreneurs in various sectors of business, the social service sectoris called the NGO industry.Many new words are used to describe them but we shouldmake sure we do not measure all NGOs with the same yardstick.As far as Bharat is concerned, this has been a shining tradition,this has been an established strength. Even today, in any part ofBharat, be it a shala, a mahashala, a gaushala, a dharamshala -who runs it? In reality, a group of citizens, drawing strength fromsocial life, and dedicated to society, run these institutions. The termNGO was never used for them, because the basis of their strengthwas society. They drew their strength from society, and offered itback in service to society.Pilgrimage has been for ages a part of our social and culturallives. Yet, has anyone ever seen a a Kali Kamliwala 1 register inany government office? There is no Kali Kamliwala register in anygovernment office. But there has been for centuries a tradition of*based on his speech in Hindi at the first edition’s release function onSept. 9, 2006 at New Delhi.

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 415Kali Kamliwala - of serving pilgrims; taking care of their food,shelter, warm clothing; in effect, of all their needs. I see in Gujarat,especially in the Kachchh Kathiawar region that, within a distanceof 20-25 kilometers, somewhere you will find an annakshetra. Itsattempt is to ensure that no one, not even the poorest of the poor,should sleep hungry. This dharmic tradition continues all overIndia even today. But for this no NGO is registered. These arededicated people who work hard to serve society. I can tell youfrom my experience of Gujarat that it is a leading state of India inblood donation and eye donation. And all these traditions havebeen maintained due to the conscientiousness of these social servicegroups.But, different from these, a new class has emerged, and itneeds to be understood through close scrutiny of its work. It iswealthy and, therefore, it is influential. The time may have comefor political parties to hire PR personnel, but I have seen NGOswho hire PR firms to continually build their image. They spendmoney through PR firms to sustain their image, and the moneyfor this comes from governments, from abroad, and it comes inthe name of social service. We have seminars on poverty alleviation,on rural development, to which these five-star activists are speciallyinvited. They travel business class, stay in five-star hotels, and readfrom the same paper- of which they keep juggling paragraphs –at some new place every other day.Can we take a small collective decision that, to these seminarson development, only those intellectuals should be invited whohave, in a year, stayed at least three days and nights, just threedays and nights, in a village where there is no electricity and wherethey have to go to the jungle to relieve themselves? If such peopletalk there will be substance to what they say. Can those people beinvited to these seminars who have made long journeys at least 5or 7 times a year by public bus transport? How can they, who arenot grassroots people, guide society in solving problems faced byit? Most activists belong to the category which have never beento villages or travelled by public transport.In our country, there was a time when a person wanting toserve the country and society would join politics. At that time politicshad prestige. Due to the freedom movement, a tradition had been

416 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsestablished, and politics was considered an integral part of serviceto country and society. Slowly, within 50 years of independence,the way things changed, political leaders and governmentsthemselves took certain decisions, from which we have somethingto learn in spite of the criticism of politics and politicians. Today,in Hindustan, political parties have to submit their audited accountsto the Election Commission. This was not so 20-25 years ago. Ruleshad to be made. When an institution deteriorates, then there isneed to bring in changes in order to strengthen the institution.When questions were raised about individuals, it was decidedwithin political parties that a candidate would have to submit detailsof any criminal record at the time of nomination. When questionsarose about finance irregularities, a law was made making itmandatory for a candidate seeking nomination to declare hispersonal and family wealth. If he becomes a minister, he has tosubmit details of his property every year. These rules have beenmade in the last 20 years. They did not exist earlier.If, in our country, deterioration crept into political life, andall these restrictions were accepted, then why should we not makeaccountable NGOs that in the name of social service are increasinglydeveloping and spreading as thriving businesses?The accountability of political parties was decided by theparties, the governments themselves. If political parties and electedrepresentatives are held accountable, then our country demandsthat these agencies that receive thousands of crores of rupees shouldalso be held accountable. To win public confidence, any big companyentering the capital share market has to announce the tie-ups ithas with specific banks, with specific financial institutions. Is itnot then necessary that these NGOs on their letterpads should statetheir financial sources? Today, we do not have any idea about thefinancial resources of NGOs. Even governments will have toconsider to what extent the NGOs they are funding draw strengthfrom society - in the form of labour, money, or knowledge - or dothey take only from governments.I belong to a small village. Some people there do seasonalbusinesses. In the banana season, they sell bananas. Iin summer,they sell ice lollies. In the kite-flying season, they sell kites. Asthe season, so their product. In our country, there are NGOs that

NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds • 417likewise do seasonal businesses, who keep shop according to theseason. There are NGOs that work in the field of water resourcesone year, and shift to education the next. When asked why, theysay that the government has stopped funds to water resources andthis year there are funds available in the field of education. Arethey all traders in monkeys? Bandar ke vyapari?Another conspiracy- a vicious cycle is set up. Funds areobtained from abroad; an NGO is set up; a few articles arecommissioned; a PR firm is recruited and, slowly, with the helpof the media, an image is created. And then awards are procuredfrom foreign countries to enhance this image. Such a vicious cycle,a network of finance- activity- award is set up and, once they havesecured an award, no one in Hindustan dares raise a finger, nomatter how many the failings of the awardee.How much of the money meant for the service sector, for thepoor, is spent by NGOs on their own establishment? You will seesenior bureaucrats travelling economy class, but not NGO activists.To bring out these abuses, a plan is necessary; to bring outthe power of good people, an effort is necessary. The common persondoes not even realize that the help reaching them is oftentimespublic money. They believe that the persons who come to themrepresenting a particular NGO are giving them these goods andservices generously from their own resources.Here is a true story from Yugoslavia, from which you canunderstand how these things affect our own society. A young manfell in love with his penfriend. He used to correspond with herregularly and was always eager to do something for her. They nevermet but the friendship grew. The young man joined the army, andspent all his money on sending her a gift every week. Though theynever met, marriage was discussed. Meanwhile, he kept sendingher gifts by post. After two years, a situation arose where the girlmarried the postman, thinking he was the one bringing her thegifts.This is the condition of these NGOs.Note1. “There was a great saint in those days called SwamiVishudanandaji Maharaj, usually called Baba Kala Kamliwale

418 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsbecause of the black blanket that he used to wear.....Pilgrims usedto walk on hard ground with pebbles and stones, with no footpathworth the name, and there was no facility whatsoever, no haltingplace on the way.....Swami Vishudanandaji Maharaj, Baba KalaKamliwale, observed the sorrows of these pilgrims. No water, nofood. It appears that he stood in the middle of that little shamblesof the so-called town of Rishikesh and insisted that somearrangements be made for the poor pilgrims, and he appealed tothe well-to-do seths, marwaris, etc., that a chowkey (halting place)should be built in Rishikesh, and food should be offered and alsofacilities be provided on the way for taking rest at differentstopovers. This is the story behind the founding of what is calledtoday the Baba Kali Kamliwala Kshetra, where hundreds andhundreds of sadhus are given free food” (http://www.swamikrishnananda.org/gurudev/gurudev_4.html).

ABOUT THE AUTHORSRadha Rajan is Joint Secretary, Vigil Public Opinion Forum.She is also a Chennai-based political commentator and Editor,Vigilonline, www.vigilonline. comR Vaidyanathan is Professor of Finance and Control, IndianInstitute of Management, Bangalore.The views are personal anddo not reflect that of his organisation.Veera Vaishnava is an observer and commentator of identitypolitics and forged socio-religious political movements in Indiathat lead to separatism. He is based in the US.Dr Narayanan Menon Komerath is Professor of AerospaceEngineering and a Senior Security Fellow at a major universitybasedstrategic research center. He has published over 250 papersand reports on aerodynamics, propulsion, space and strategyresearch. He also writes on strategic issues relevant to Bharat.He is a co-author of ‘IDRF: Let The Facts Speak’, conclusivelyexposing the false and vicious nature of the anarchists’ attack onthe India Development and Relief Fund in 2002. The viewsexpressed here are his own, and not those of any organisationthat he represents.Arvind Kumar is an Indian immigrant to the USA, and anexpert on that country. He sends out a satirical newsletter calledthe 4M Report and runs the website www.sabha.info where scannedimages of many primary sources going as far back as 1780 areput up.Krishen Kak writes on Macaulayanism and the doublestandards of Nehruvian secularism. He is by birth a Kashmiri

420 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsPandit; by training and experience a cultural anthropologist and(former) civil servant; and by conviction a rationalist enchantedby the symbolism of our pagan idols, and an independent andproud pagan Hindustani.Nirupama Rajan is a student of finance, and is currentlyresiding in India.George Thundiparambil writes on religion and its impacton the human species. He was born and brought up in Cochin(Kochi) city, and after an MA in English and a brief stint as areligious journalist, worked as copywriter for the advertising andPR industry in Cochin and Bangalore for more than 10 years. Atpresent he resides in Germany with his wife and works as anEnglish translator.Vishal Agarwal, 35 years, lives with his family in Santa Rosa,California. A biomedical engineer with graduate degrees inEngineering and Management, he is an independent scholar whohas published on Indian archaeology, history and Hinduism. Vishalis deeply concerned about the politicisation of Indian history byscholars who claim to be ‘secularists’ but in reality are Marxistswith an genocidal hatred for Hindus.B Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat,Govt. of India, New Delhi and, presently, Director, Institute ForTopical Studies, Chennai. He is also one of India’s best-knownexperts on terrorism and counter-terrorism. Raman is a prolificcommentator on terrorism and writes regularly for South AsiaAnalysis Group (SAAG).After 40 years of freelancing in print journalism andbroadcasting in the sports field, Arvind Lavakare, 69, startedwriting on political issues after retiring from service in 1997 as GM(Corporate Relations) of a reputed Birla company. He has been aregular columnist for rediff.com with a published monograph onArticle 370 being evidence that Jammu and Kashmir is his forte.A post-graduate in Economics with professional qualifications inAdvertising and Public Relasions, Lavakare lives a retired life inMumbai with his wife and son’s family.Narendra Modi is the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

VIGIL PUBLIC OPINION FORUMVigil Public Opinion Forum came into being in Chennai, 24years ago, in 1982, as a result of Shri Shivramji Joglekar’s visionaryand persistent effort to bring together persons who wrote regularlyto the ‘Letters to the Editor’ column in the English and the vernacularpress. Shivramji’s life was committed to looking for and thenbringing together people who were committed to public life andwho gave their time to serve a social cause. One such effort wasto bring together people who responded to issues by writing tothe editors of magazines and newspapers. Shivramji had greatrespect for these persons because he thought they were concernedand responsible citizens of our country who responded to issuesthat they considered important to the well-being of the people orthat which affected our national interests.From this modest but significant beginning, Vigil has evolvedtoday into a vibrant and courageous public opinion forum thatinforms the intelligentsia of Chennai through a bimonthly lecture,debate or discussion on issues of national and topical import, anda wider audience through its website www.vigilonline.com .It has always been Vigil’s endeavour to inform and influencepublic opinion on important national events, issues and policies,particularly on those issues where it seems that there has not beenadequate national discussion or when vested interests in the media,academia and the bureaucracy indulge in doublespeak andmisinformation.In the last seven years alone, Vigil has conducted meetingson issues as diverse as ‘The Hawala Scandal’, ‘Judicial Activism’,a day-long seminar on ‘The State of our Nation’, ‘Death of Ideology’(in the context of coalition governments), ‘Annadaanam’, ‘Food

422 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign Fundsand National Security’, ‘Roots of our Nationhood’, ‘Human Rightsvs The War against Terrorism’, ‘The morality of religiousconversions’, a one-day inter-disciplinary meeting and a publicmeeting on Pokharan II, ‘What really happened in Kargil’, ‘TheCivil War of Attrition in Sri Lanka’, and a one-day seminar andseveral public meetings on Jammu and Kashmir and on Ayodhya.Several other issues, besides topical issues such as the nationalbudget and a pre-election analysis of the manifestos of the majornational political parties and formations, have also been discussed.Vigil has presented from its forum to the intelligentsia ofChennai the very best of our experts, intellectuals and persons inpublic life. Reputed political commentators, persons from the media,scientists, influential bureaucrats, police officers, noted membersof the Bar, economists, retired army officers, intelligence officersand politicians have all been invited by Vigil to speak from ourforum in the last five years. Notable among our invitees were DrB Ramamurthi (neurosurgeon), Dr MS Swaminathan, Shri RamJethmalani, Shri Habibullah Badsha (senior advocate), Shri TNSeshan, Shri B Raman (former Addl.Secy, Cabinet Secretariat), DrJN Dixit (former Foreign Secretary), Shri Swapan Dasgupta (ThePioneer), Ms Arundhati Ghose (former Permanent Representativefor India, UN), Shri Arun Shourie, Shri Cho Ramaswamy, and ShriCV Narasimhan, IPS (former Director, CBI). We have also had ShriG Parthasarathy (former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan)speak to us on the role of Pakistan and the international communityin prolonging the tragedy of Jammu and Kashmir, besides ShriID Swamy (former Minister of State for Home Affairs) speakingon the same issue. One of our most successful meetings wasaddressed by His Excellency Salah-al-Muktar, Iraqi Ambassadorto India barely 15 days before the US invasion of Iraq, when theinvasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq by Western nationsseemed inevitable.Vigil believes that this nation’s social and political institutionsare strengthened when organizations like it undertake the dutyof informing the people on important national issues which impactupon our collective thinking and action. It is this belief, inspiredby Shivram Joglekar’s exhortation to be ever vigilant, that inspiredVigil to put this book together.

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424 • NGOs, Activists & Foreign FundsRadha Rajan is JointSecretary, Vigil PublicOpinion Forum. She is also aChennai-based politicalcommentator and Editor,Vigilonline, www.vigilonline.comKrishen Kak writes onMacaulayanism and thedouble standards ofNehruvian secularism. He isby birth a Kashmiri Pandit; bytraining and experience acultural anthropologist and(former) civil servant; and byconviction a rationalistenchanted by the symbolismof our pagan idols, and anindependent and proudpagan Hindustani.