Thursday, Dec 05, 2024 03:30AM

Greenpeace India Says It Will Continue Campaign Despite Crackdown

Even though the Indian government has revoked its license to receive foreign donations, Greenpeace India has said it will continue to campaign against coal mining and for clean air, the New York Times reports.

In an order canceling the NGO’s registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, India’s home ministry said that Greenpeace had “prejudicially affected the economic interest of the state.” The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared economic development a priority and has cracked down on foreign-based or -funded NGOs whose work it sees as running counter to its economic agenda. Greenpeace India’s registration had been suspended and its bank accounts frozen since last April; the organization learned of the cancellation of its license on September 3. In the cancellation order, the government also cited accounting infractions, including misreporting of funds from abroad, allegations that Greenpeace India has disputed. As a result of the organization’s ongoing battle to rescind the government’s action and a lack of access to foreign funds, said Vinuta Gopal, Greenpeace India’s interim co-executive director, the organization has had to cut its budget by 30 percent and its staff by 20 percent.

Greenpeace India board chair Ashish Kothari told the Times there had been “some amount of downsizing of the campaigns,” especially high-profile efforts such as hanging a banner that read “We Kill Forests” from the Mumbai office building of an energy company involved in mining. The crackdown also has led the organization to focus on boosting domestic contributions, said Kothari, even as it has had to cut its fundraising staff.

Gopal told the Times she was confident the Delhi High Court would rule in the organization’s favor. The government’s moves, she said, show that “we’ve asked the right questions of what’s happening in terms of how it’s impacting the environment.”

Story From: New York Times

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