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 IB Fires First Bullet Against Protest

IB Fires First Bullet Against Protest, Submits Report To PMO Linking Anti-Nuclear, Posco, Vedanta Protests To Foreign Conspiracy

NEW DELHI: The Intelligence Bureau, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has prepared a detailed dossier under the title “concerted efforts by select foreign funded NGOs to “take down” Indian development projects” for the top echelons of the central government.

In an increasingly global world, the report is an interesting outdated attempt to ring alarm bells about foreign funding and foreign efforts to “take down” development projects in the country despite the large scale local protest and involvement against the POSCO project and nuclear plants like Kudankulam because of environmental hazards, safety fears, and land acquisition.

The IB report targets anti nuclear, ‘anti coal’, and ‘anti-genetically modified organisms’ activism, and goes on to bring in human rights violations as well by maintaining that the Dutch government funded NGOs have shifted their attention from Jammu and Kashmir to the Northeast where “violence against women and prevention of extractive industries” is the new agenda. The US, Germany, UK are the other countries named in the report.

The UPA government had reportedly started the dossier with foreign funding becoming a major issue under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well,given his interest and commitment to setting up nuclear plants and nuclear parks across India. However, the IB report now names all the various organisations that were involved in specific protests, including those without foreign funding, as well as specific activists many of whom have been working on the ground for decades now on anti-nuclear and pro-people issues.

The report names foreign donors based in “US,UK, Germany and Netherlands” as being behind Indian NGOs raising “people centric issues to create an environment which lends itself to stalling development projects.” The IB thus admits in the opening lines of the report itself that the issues being taken up are central to the people of India, and yet goes on to look upon the protests as part of a sinister design despite the fact that just as multinationals have adopted a global role in nation’s economies that governments endorse, environmental and anti-nuclear movements have acquired global momentum.

The IB report, copies of which are with The Citizen and Times Now that has also run the story, seeks to make linkages and thereby read like a document of foreign aided subversion whereas most of the issues it has raised are part of the global environmental agenda that groups and people have and are agitating against. Donors like Greenpeace and CORDAID are identified as leaders that involve Indian NGOs with all serving as “tools for the strategic foreign policy interests of Western governments.” It goes on to say that these two organisations “focus their efforts entirely on such activities while others such as Action Aid, Amnesty International etc dedicate a small portion of their annual donations to such projects under varied veils such as ‘democratic and accountable government’, ‘economic fairness’ etc.

The report refers specifically to “anti nuclear activism” where it says that the agitation that “stalled” the Russian assistant Koodankulam Nuclear plants in Tamil Nadu were spearheaded by “Ohio State University funded S.P.Udayakumar and a host of western-funded NGOs.” It speaks of a map of India with nuclear and mining locations in India, and the contact details of 50 Indian anti-nuclear activists that the IB insists in a strange interpretation, revealed “an intricate network aimed to “take down” India’s nuclear program through NGO activism.” In this connect, the report later names prominent activists including India’s former Naval chief Admiral Ramadoss, Praful Bidwai, Achin Vanaik and others who are all part of the recognised and well established Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace that has been working, sometimes with activists across countries who all believe in an anti-nuclear world.

The IB document has also flagged in some detail “anti-coal activism” which it says is being “spearheaded by US based ‘green’organisations and Greenpeace which have formed a coal network to take down India’s 455 proposed CFPPs (520GW) amongst 999 globally. NTPC is ranked as the first offender with 47 projects.” Here too Greenpeace is identified as having initiated protests in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat through “front” organisations.

The report further flags anti-genetically modified organism activism led by “five Indian activists and six NGOs including Greenpeace.” This includes the protests against POSCO and Vedanta, which the report says is “well documented” although it does not mention the eminent persons and the political leaders who also participated in these protests, but lists instead the UK/European NGOs like Amnesty, Action Aid and Survival International.

The Narmada Bachao Andolan and its movement is also listed specifically in the report.

IB has also identified a modus operandi based on its perception that “a small group of activists and NGOs have at times succeeded in shaping policy debates in India.” It says that “first a NGO is set up, then funds are obtained from abroad, a few articles are commissioned, a PR firm is recruited and slowly with the help of the media an image is created. And then awards are procured from foreign countries to enhance the image, after which government machinery finds it that more difficult (sic) to act against the awardee.”

Interestingly the IB report that establishes the existence of a “map” then later goes on to say that the “50 activists” were all scrutinised and it was found that 28 of them were anti-nuclear campaigners, and 22 were social activists, journalists or academics and “all were focused on most of the 21 sites marked on Sonntags map” which by the way are all in the public domain. The IB also spoke of foreign travel by “at least 11 activists” as if this is now only a preserve for government officials, corporates and politicians.

Interestingly almost all known organisations working on the above agenda’s for years in India have been named in the report leading to expectations of a major crackdown by the central government on the groups as well as individuals associated with these major protests across the country.

THE CITIZEN BUREAU

* From The Citizen. Thu June 12, 2014:
http://www.thecitizen.in/ib-fires-first-bullet-against-protest-submits-report-to-pmo-linking-anti-nuclearposco-vedanta-protests-to-foreign-conspiracy/

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 Six Delhi NGOs in IB watchlist say thank you for noticing us

Six non-governmental organisations, which figure in an Intelligence Bureau report on NGOs stalling development projects, operate out of a single building in Katwaria Sarai in South Delhi.

The IB report on the ‘Impact of NGOs on Development’ said inquiries into “pattern, design and funding of protests at nuclear plants and uranium mines” revealed a “superior network” of pan-India organisations closely linked to territorial outfits that were also indulging in agitation against GM foods and the POSCO steel plant in Orissa.

“The manner of free-funding for these NGOs is observed from the fact that ASHA and its IFSF campaign are headquartered with four prominent anti-nuclear NGOs at a single address — A-124/6, Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi — which is an unmarked, small, two-room flat,” the report stated.

“These four NGOs are Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament & Peace (CNDP), Popular Education & Action Centre (PEACE) and Jan Sangharsh Samanvaya Samiti, the latter being the focal point for anti-Fatehabad nuclear power plant,” it added.

Its section on anti-nuclear activism said CNDP, INSAF and PEACE were at the forefront of protests against building of nuclear energy plants in India and accused them of coordinating radiation leak studies and instigating protests to stall construction work at nuclear sites.

ASHA (Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture) and IFSF (India For Safe Food) have been identified in the IB report as among the four NGOs — the other two being Navdanya and Gene Campaign — which have been leading anti-GM food activism in India.

“The above NGOs were active facilitators of news articles, liaison with other activists and social media activism which contributed to the four-year old moratorium on Bt Brinjal and the ban regimes recommended by parliamentary standing committee (August 2012), Technical Expert Committee appointed by the Supreme Court in October 2012,” the IB said.

INSAF, involved in the anti-Jaitapur nuclear plant activism, was accused of organising and paying for anti-POSCO events “with active participation of most NGOs headquartered with it at Katwaria Sarai”. The IB cautioned that INSAF was now opposing the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, asking activists to warn farmers that they would become landless owing to government acquisition of land for the project. The document claimed INSAF used foreign funds during 2009-12 to pay “at least 15 non-FCRA and 26 FCRA organisations”, including an individual to protest against the extra-judicial executions in Manipur. Its FCRA registration was frozen in 2013 as transfers by an FCRA NGO to non-FCRA NGOs violated Section 7 of FCRA 2010.

When The Indian Express visited the Katwaria Sarai building on Thursday, it found that two of the three floors there are occupied by the four NGOs mentioned in the report — INSAF, CNDP, PEACE and Jan Sangharsh Samanvaya Samiti.

Anil Chaudhary, convenor of PEACE, said there was nothing wrong if they were all operating out of the same address since “we are all like-minded organisations and there is no harm in allowing cost-cuts for infrastructure, especially when we are fighting for a common cause”. He said a monthly rental of Rs 15,000 was being paid for each floor.

Chaudhary, who is also a member of INSAF, said the CNDP was not a registered NGO but “a campaign by individuals with no foreign funding, no membership record… the primary focus of the campaign is nuclear disarmament and its financial repercussions”.

“CNDP was formed in 2000 after Pokhran and became part of PEACE which was formed in 1995. My only question is how has a document of national security been leaked? And if there is a ban on NGOs going against government policy, why aren’t such rules specified in the FCRA?”

“PEACE and INSAF are registered under FCRA. The IB report has not been formulated overnight. It has involved years of investigation. IB personnel have visited us every time there has been a campaign or an awareness programme. During President Clinton’s visit to India in 2000, the IB personnel visited our office to inquire what we were up to,” he said.

PEACE has 16 members and five trainers who deal with various issues relating to displacement, water, NREGA. They also train field workers of smaller NGOs. Nuclear disarmament, Chaudhary said, is only one of the many issues they raise.

The INSAF, he said, is an umbrella body comprising 750 organisations, including PEACE. “INSAF cannot have individuals as its members. Only organisations can be part of it. Elections are held to top posts every two years. INSAF and PEACE each receive funding of Rs one crore a year, the main foreign contributor being Germany. All this has been submitted in our annual report to the FCRA. Why are they creating a problem now,” Chaudhary said.

Last year, the registration of INSAF was suspended for 180 days in “public interest” and its bank accounts frozen. This order was challenged in the Delhi High Court and the suspension order was subsequently withdrawn.

“We learnt of the IB report only through the newspaper, we never received any official correspondence from the department. We entertain the personnel the same way we entertain any and every visitor who comes here. We are very clear on what we are fighting for. The IB may say what they want. But as a small organisation, we can’t be behind a mass movement. Our only way to spread awareness is through small competitions in schools and workshops. If there are rules, we are following them. In fact, we are glad the IB has named us. At least now our voices will be heard,” Chaudhary said.

Amitav Ranjan, Shalini Narayan

* From The Indian Express. New Delhi | June 13, 2014 4:41 am:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/six-delhi-ngos-in-ib-watchlist-say-thank-you-for-noticing-us/99/

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 IB’s NGO-scare report to Modi plagiarises from old Modi speech

In its 21-page classified report, Impact of NGOs on Development, first reported by The Indian Express, that identifies certain foreign-funded NGOs as threat to India’s national economic security and the Gujarat model of development, the Intelligence Bureau has cut and pasted from a published speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to describe the modus operandi of certain organizations.

On September 9, 2006, then Gujarat chief minister Modi had lashed out in a speech at a “wealthy” and “influential” class of NGOs that “hire PR firms to continually build their image” with “money coming from abroad.” The occasion was the release of the first edition of NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds: Anti-Nation Industry edited by Radha Rajan and Krishen Kak — a collection of articles on what they called the anti-Hindu agenda and corrupt practices of certain NGOs and activists — at New Delhi.

Modi’s speech at that function was included in the second edition of the collection.

The second paragraph on the fourth page (page number 417 in the book) of Modi’s article, NGOs as Non-Accountable Businesses, reads as follows:

“Another conspiracy — a vicious cycle is set up. Funds are obtained from abroad; an NGO is set up; a few articles are commissioned; a PR firm is recruited and, slowly, with the help of the media, an image is created. And then awards are procured from foreign countries to enhance this image. Such a vicious cycle, a network of finance-activity-award is set up and, once they have secured an award, no one in Hindustan dares raise a finger, no matter how many the failings of the awardee.”

The second paragraph on the third page (Part A) of the IB report on NGOs reads:

“A small group of activists and NGOs at times have succeeded in shaping policy debates in India. Apart from that, in some cases it is observed that in a cyclical process, an NGO is set up, funds are obtained from abroad, a few articles are commissioned, a PR firm is recruited and, slowly, with the help of the media an image is created. And then awards are procured from foreign countries to enhance the image, after which Government machinery finds it more difficult to act against the awardee.”

When asked of the IB had asked for permission to use the paragraph from the book she edited, Radha Rajan of Vigilonline said she stood vindicated. “No, the IB did not contact me. But probably they were present at the high-profile book release next to the BJP office on Delhi’s Ashoka Road in 2006,” she told The Indian Express.

Contacted by The Indian Express, a senior IB official closely associated with the report declined to comment.

Jay Mazoomdaar

(Mazoomdaar is a former staffer of The Indian Express)

* From The Indian Express. New Delhi | June 13, 2014 9:10 am:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/ibs-ngo-scare-report-to-modi-plagiarises-from-old-modi-speech/

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 Intelligence Bureau report raises fears of repression

A report by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), targeting non-Governmental organisations, is raising fears among activists that attempts are being made to muzzle dissent.

“We are very much concerned that the ground is being prepared to oppose and to justify discrediting a whole range of popular activities and resistances and to weaken them by highlighting and taking out supposed fallacies of NGOs,” Achin Vanaik, member of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (India) said.

Vanaik has been named in the report, along with many well known activists, such as political analyst and anti-nuclear activist Praful Bidwai, MG Devasahayam, SP Uday Kumar, Medha Patkar and Karuna Raina. The IB report has reportedly been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office. Uday Kumar, an anti-nuclear activist, said the report has undermined not just his integrity, but also his safety and he could take legal recourse against the IB.

‘Anti-national’

The report, which Business Line has access to, mentions several international organisations such as Greenpeace, Action Aid and even Amnesty, besides Indian groups as well as individuals, has alleged that NGOs, which have been termed “anti-national”, are effecting India’s GDP growth by two to three per cent. However, Bidwai countered this by saying research has shown that the cost of environmental degradation, which is the agenda for most of the NGOs mentioned, is costing India 5-7 per cent of its GDP.

Devasahayam, a retired IAS officer and power policy expert, who was involved in protests against the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu, said the report was baseless and the NGOs were actually carrying out the agenda of the Government itself.

The report alleges that these NGOs are being funded by foreign entities and are derailing the country’s “economic security” with their campaigns against developmental projects such as nuclear energy, coal mining, power plants, hydel projects and others, which have been criticised for not being in line with the agenda for sustainable development.

However, Bidwai refuted the allegation of foreign funding and said CNDP and most other NGOs named in the report are funded through domestic sources only.

The report also says Greenpeace plans to campaign against import of palm oil from Indonesia and dumping of e-waste by IT firms, both of which are seen as major environmental concerns globally.

OUR BUREAU

(This article was published on June 13, 2014)

* The Hindu Business Line:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/policy/ib-report-on-ngos-comes-under-attack-from-activists/article6112015.ece

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 IB Report on NGOs a Cock and Bull Story: Praful Bidwai

A number of prominent citizens and activists today rubbished an Intelligence Bureau report which had said funding of several NGOs was “cleverly disguised” as donations for issues like human rights, but instead they were involved in stalling developmental projects.

Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas, former Director General of Tripura Police K S Subramanian, senior columnist Praful Bidwai, anti-nuclear activist S P Udayakumar and number of other activists debunked the IB report, terming it “baseless” and aimed at “discrediting popular protests”.

Ramdas, a Magsaysay award winner, said the IB report was leaked to “demean the individuals” while Subramanian, doubting the content, said the report should be placed before Parliament and there should be a debate on it.

The IB report to the Prime Minister’s Office had said funds to certain NGOs were mostly used to fuel protests against developmental projects relating to coal, bauxite mining, oil exploration, nuclear plants and linking of rivers, resulting in stalling or slowing down of these projects.

The report named two anti-nuclear organisations—National Alliance of Anti Nuclear Movements (NAAM) and People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)— spearheaded by US-educated S P Udayakumar who allegedly received “unsolicited contract” from a US university.

Udayakumar termed the report as “non-sensible and baseless” and said that by leaking this report, “they have undermined my security and that of my family”.

He also refuted that Sonntag Rainer Hermann, a German national who was deported from Chennai in 2012, was his contact as reported by the IB.

Udaykumar said Hermann is not his “contact in Germany” and rather was an acquaintance from Nagercoil, his hometown in Tamil Nadu.

“Knowing somebody does not make him my sponsor. This is an effort to discourage popular protests from opposing dangerous projects,” the activist said.

On the IB report mentioning that Hermann’s laptop contained scanned map of India with 16 nuclear plants (existing and proposed), Udaykumar said he did not receive any information, maps or monetary helps from Hermann.

Senior columnist Praful Bidwai said that the report was a “cock-and-bull story” based on “false baseless allegations, most of them untrue and innuendos which try to establish guilt by mere associations.”

“CNDP (Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace), of which Achina Vanaik and I are founder members, takes no money at all from foreign sources, corporate sources, government sources and is entirely funded by our own individual contributions,” he said.

Achin Vanaik, retired Professor of International Relations in Delhi University, wondered why the report was sent to PMO when “as per procedure it should have gone to the Home Ministry”.

“Both this government and the last government share a similar economic perspective. And this government’s PM recently said that they want to go full speed ahead with what they consider development, which in itself is a very contentious issue about what constitutes development and we are very concerned that the ground is being prepared,” Vanaik said.

He alleged that a ground is being prepared to “discredit a whole range of popular activities and resistances” and to weaken them.

Talking about activities of CNDP, he said, “We are Indians and we are opposed to nuclear arms and energy not just in the country but world over.”

He said that CNDP does not get money from anybody and is funded by individuals. He categorically denied that the CNDP gets any foreign funding including from the Greenpeace.

Another activist M G Devasahayam, a retired IAS officer and power policy expert, termed the report as an “absolute conspiracy” which has neither “head nor tail”.

The IB report had said that in the last few years, the country has been facing problems from some NGOs which have stepped up efforts to encourage growth retarding campaigns in India, focused on extractive industries including anti-coal, anti-uranium and anti-bauxite mining and anti-nuclear issues.

Outlook India

* NEW DELHI | JUN 13, 2014 19:34 IST:
http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/IB-Report-on-NGOs-Comes-Under-Atack-From-Activists/844468

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 From Swami Agnivesh to left wingers, IB report names many

The 23-page Intelligence Bureau (IB) report titled Concerted efforts by select foreign-funded NGOs to take down Indian development projects names many eminent Indians who have either wittingly or unwittingly supported these NGOs, with or without financial consideration. While some of these prominent personalities were engaged in a variety of projects in India, others were invited abroad to attend conferences where they were briefed on how and why some kinds of mining and power projects coal-fired and nuclear and the construction of dams must be opposed.

Take Swami Agnivesh, for instance. The saffron socialist, IB report says, was invited to Geneva in Switzerland as one of the lead speakers in a side event on how extractive industries interfere with the enjoyment of human rights (14 September, 2012). He was invited by a Netherlands government-funded donor called CORDID. A `Geneva coalition has begun working on extractive industries which has opposed oil drilling by Jubilant Energy in three districts of Manipur, dam-building in Arunachal Pradesh and mining projects in Meghalaya.

Elsewhere, while detailing foreign-funded anti-nuclear power activism, the IB report says that these networks are guided by eminent (often Left-wing) Indians, including Praful Bidwai, Achin Vanaik, Admiral (Retd) Ramdas, Lalitha Ramdas, Medha Patkar, Neeraj Jain, Banwarilal Sharma, Karuna Raina, Fr Thomas Kocherry, Arti Choksey and MG Devasahayam. The IB report has devoted quite a few paragraphs to SP Uday Kumars German contact and Ohio State University funding to the Kudankulam anti-nuclear protests.

The report says that there are territorial networks, which are closely linked and supported by superior networks of the numerous pan-Indian organizations, including Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, National Alliance of Anti Nuclear Movement (NAAM), Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), Peoples Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), Greenpeace, Indian Social Action Forum, and the Peoples Education and Action Centre (PEACE).After Greenpeace expanded its activities to oppose coal-fired power plants (CFPP) in 2010-11, it devised a new strategy of engaging reputed institutions and journalists for publishing reports or making documentaries.

The report says that to encourage the Indian-ness of its anti-coal approach, Greenpeace financed the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to study heath, pollution and other aspects at the Mahan coal block and plans to use the Mahan case as ammunition to ban all coal extraction. In April 2013, Greenpeace supported and screened a documentary Coal Curse directed by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta on the harmful consequences of coal-mining in the Singrauli region, Madhya Pradesh. It also funded an IIT, Delhi, study in April 2013 which said that water diversion to CFPP caused a 40 percent reduction in the irrigation potential of Wardha region in Maharashtra. It demanded a ban on water allocation to the planned and existing CFPP.On its part, Greenpeace and Urban Emissions and Conservation Action Trust published a questionable technical report which claimed 100,000 deaths in 2011 and 2012 due to heart problems arising from 111 existing coal-fired plants in India.Starting 2012, Greenpeace activists have been financed to attend international coal conferences, such as the Istanbul Coal Strategy Conference (July 2012). The conference was held to discuss international funding to encourage people-centric protests in order to stop new coal-build plants and to retire existing coal plants. The guests were accorded lavish five-star treatment for attending the conference. A map of Indias coal-fired power projects with basic details was circulated by US-based Climate Works Foundation and World Resources Institute.

While its (Greenpeace) efforts to raise obstacles to Indias coal-based energy plans are gathering pace, it has also started spawning mass-based movements against developmental projects and is assessed to be posing a threat to national economic security. In India, Greenpeace is growing exponentially in terms of reach, impact, volunteers, movements it supports and media influence, the IB report says, citing specific instances on public protests in Singrauli, the Mahan coal block, and against Sasan ultra mega power project.

These activists have mapped out Indian coal mining companies, specifically mentioning Coal India Limited (CIL), Hindalco, Aditya Birla Group and Essar, which have been targeted because they stand in their way. Greenpeace aims to fundamentally change the dynamics of Indias energy mix by disrupting and weakening the relationship between the key players, including the CIL, the report said.The report also has a paragraph on Greenpeaces Indian headquarters in Bangalore where it regularly receives foreign experts. Recently a group of cyber security experts upgraded its communication systems and installed sophisticated and encrypted software in its servers and computers. The IB basically is raising questions as to why an NGO needs to constantly upgrade its communication system and have it encrypted with sophisticated software.If Greenpeace is busy in the mainland, Dutch-funded NGOs are focusing on the north-east. The IB report gives examples of how they lure Indian activists and NGOs to serve their purposes. Interestingly, the Dutch government-funded CORDAID, has slowly shifted its focus from human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir to the north-east.

To assess the potential for civil rights activism, senior policy officer CORDAID, Eelco De Groot, earlier associated with the Dutch ministry of economic affairs, had planned a visit to Manipur from March 5-12, 2013, but permission was denied. He had planned the visit through an organisation called the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the report says.

To circumvent the visa denial, De Groot invited and funded the trip of 8 North Eastern participants to Bangkok from 28 April to 3 May 2013, for training in extractive activism. The event was formally sponsored by a Manipur-based NGO, rural womens upliftment society. The meeting resolved how future activism is to be organised. De Groot emphasised that instead of fighting the government it was best to make it difficult for companies to meet all the required international standards in oil extraction.

This was followed up by an elaborate training session in Shillong from 28 October to 1 November 2013 to equip activists with skills to use GPS tracking to update a GIS platform on extractives in the north-east.

CORDAID and three United Kingdom-based organizations, Amnesty International, Action Aid and Survival International, have been campaigning extensively against Vedanta Aluminium Limited. Around 15 Indian NGOs too are active against Vedanta. There was also an element of inter-corporate and international corporate rivalry. The report quoted the CMD of JSW Steel, Sajjan Jindal, as saying that some corporates routed around Rs 50 crore per annum in Odisha against Vedanta through American and Canadian organisations and Indian NGOs to stall the project.

* Firstpost last updated on June 13, 2014 at 4:17 pm:
http://www.in.com/news/current-affairs/from-swami-agnivesh-to-left-wingers-ib-report-names-many-52793881-in-1.html

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