[Reader-list] Fwd: FOR ENDORSEMENT: Open letter to the PM on shrinking space for CSOs....

[Rakhi Sehgal]

*Please send your endorsements **before Tuesday evening - today
(5/5/15) **to csoletters at gmail.com
<csoletters at gmail.com> with a copy marked to amitabh.behar at gmail.com
<amitabh.behar at gmail.com>. *

*Please state the name of the organisation clearly (one endorsement for
each organisation) and the name of the head of the organisation endorsing
it. *

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Biraj Patnaik <biraj.patnaik at gmail.com>
Date: 4 May 2015 at 12:35
Subject: FOR ENDORSEMENT: Open letter to the PM on shrinking space for
CSOs....



Dear Rakhi,
I would be grateful if you could circulate this to your networks/
organisations for endorsement.

As Always,
Biraj



*With (advance) apologies for cross-posting.*

 Dear Friends,



Enclosing an open letter to the Prime Minister for your endorsement.



This letter has emerged from a process of more than 70 groups coming
together in the last few days to strategies a collective response to the
stifling of civil society space. Many of you have been involved in this
process and have contributed to it. As agreed we would send this to the PM
in the next couple of days. Please send a formal endorsement to this letter
(just on email send a line of endorsement).



We would also request you to widely circulate this to your networks and
other organizations with a request to send in their endorsements before
Tuesday evening (5/5/15). We are planning to release the letter on Wed -
6/5/15 (noon).



The letter is also being translated in Hindi and would be sent as a follow
up mail soon. We need to ensure a strong outreach as we have been hearing a
strong concern from all our friends across the country.



As discussed this is a quick immediate response and we would need to
sustain this momentum in the coming weeks and months with our next steps.



The letter is pasted below and is also attached. Please do not share this
with the media yet as we are planning to release it to the media only after
it has been received by the PMO, and when we are ready with the logistics
of a nation-wide release.



Please send your endorsements to csoletters at gmail.com with a copy marked to
amitabh.behar at gmail.com. Please state the name of the organisation clearly
(one endorsement for each organisation) and the name of the head of the
organisation endorsing it.



In solidarity,

Poonam Mutttreja, Enakshi Thukral, Fr. Joe, Harsh Jaitli, Biraj Patnaik and
Amitabh Behar










OPEN LETTER

TO

THE HONORABLE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA

May 2, 2015





Dear Mr. Prime Minister,



We write to you today as members and representatives of Indian civil
society organizations and, most importantly as Indian citizens, to express
our deep concern at how civil society organizations in general and their
support systems, including donors, are being labeled and targeted.



Funds are being frozen, intelligence reports are being selectively released
to paint NGOs in poor light, disbursal of funds are being subjected to
case-by-case clearance, and their activities are reportedly being placed on
‘watch lists.’ As a result several NGO projects have shut down, donors are
unable to support work, and there is an overall atmosphere of State
coercion and intimidation in India’s civil society space.



Today, standing in solidarity with India’s most marginalized communities,
with the NGO sector and donors who support us, affirmed by the guiding
principles of our Constitution – justice, equality and liberty - we address
you through an open letter.



As you are aware, NGOs work both in the welfare sector and in empowering
people to be aware of and enforce their rights as enshrined in our
Constitution. Such action may include questioning and protesting decisions
taken by government in many areas. This work is both our right and our
responsibility as civil society actors in a democratic nation. Indeed the
Indian government acknowledged this. At the Universal Periodic Review of
India at the UN Human Rights Council in 2012, the Government spoke of ‘…*the
Government’s active association with civil society and the increasing and
important role that civil society and human rights defenders are playing in
the area of human rights.’* Government of India further said that, *‘The
media, civil society and other activists have helped the Government to be
vigilant against transgressions’.*



Many of us receive both Indian and foreign donations in compliance with
laws and carry out activities intended to help those marginalized in
India’s development. Many of us have partnered with Government, both at
State and Central levels, towards many goals - achieving universal
education, access to health care, women’s empowerment, and providing
humanitarian relief in times of tragedy such as the recent earthquake. We
have also worked in pilot projects - some over the years have been scaled
up, and others have richly contributed to the policy framework of the
Government of India. It should be a matter of pride for any government and
a sign of robust people-centric engagement that NGOs and citizens have
impacted State policy.



On other issues, your government and indeed previous governments may or may
not agree with some of our views. These may include the issue of nuclear
power plants, acquiring tribal and other lands, upholding Dalit rights,
protecting rights of minorities against the scourge of communalism,
protecting rights of sexual minorities, or campaigning for the universal
right to food. Yet, we expect that Government protect our right to work and
express our views.  It does not behoove the Government to label any and
every conflicting voice on these issues as ‘anti-national’, ‘against
national security’ or ‘donor driven’ and seek to create a public atmosphere
that justifies “a crack down on NGOs.” These very words shame any society.
‘Watch lists” and “crack-downs” belong in another age and have no place in
a modern democracy.



Your government has raised the issue that some NGOs may not have complied
with the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), the law governing
receipt of foreign donations in India. We state categorically that we stand
fully for transparency and accountability in both government and NGO
practice, and it is in fact civil society actors who have fought hard for
these principles to be enshrined in all areas of public life. So let us
constructively ensure transparency and legal compliance across the vast NGO
sector, including societies, trusts and a range of public and private
institutions. However, such efforts cannot be capricious, selective or
based on flimsy grounds. At the moment it seems that ‘compliance’ is
serving as a garb to actually target those organizations and individuals
whose views the government disagrees with, and indeed to monitor and stifle
disagreement itself.



There is irrefutable documentary evidence that State action against select
organizations has been arbitrary, non-transparent, and without any course
of administrative redress. The effect has been to harm important work being
done by NGOs at the grassroots and send a signal of threat to civil
society. Our concern includes the manner in which many Indian NGOs and
 international partners have been targeted for different reasons. Thus,
civil society organizations in India today find themselves in a situation
where the only avenue of redress appears to be through the judiciary. Mr.
Prime Minister, this kind of coercive domestic environment being created
under your watch does not augur well for the worlds largest democracy that
professes aspirations to being a global leader in promoting freedoms and
democratic values.



Further, in an increasingly globalized world, where even business interests
freely collaborate across national boundaries, to label any individual or
NGO that engages with international forums or any donor who supports such
NGOs, as ‘anti-national’ is illogical. India is signatory to international
conventions and treaties and seeks to adhere to the highest international
standards of democracy, liberty, justice and human rights. The Government
of India regularly reports at these forums. It is accepted practice that
NGOs and civil society actors also present their views at these forums,
often disagreeing with the views of their respective governments. Many of
us, signatories to this letter, engage in active advocacy at international
forums. This upholds the best traditions of global democratic debate, and
the right to seek a more just nation and more just world. It is not
anti-national to do so. We do not believe that any government can claim
that it alone has the prerogative to define what is ‘national interest’.
The citizens of this country, who elect the Government into power, are the
ultimate stakeholders, and must be allowed to define, articulate and work
towards their idea of ‘national interest’ too, whether or not it concurs
with the views of the Government.



Mr. Prime Minister, it does your Government no credit to use its power to
stifle the rights of individuals or NGOs to legally and freely associate,
to work with communities, to receive donations to do such work, and to
express their views on a range of issues that directly affect our country
and its people. An atmosphere of hostility against civil society actors in
a democracy, and the uncertainty and insecurity created among communities
across the country, can only be to the detriment of our society and the
Government.



We therefore ask the Government to:



1. Put an end to coercive actions against NGOs and donors, without
reasonable cause or due process, or seek to cripple the ability of these
organisations to carry on their legitimate and sanctioned work.

2. Urgently review all orders placing restraints on organizations, and
revoke such orders where due process has not been followed by the
government, no redress mechanism is clearly stated, and grounds are vague,
subjective or flimsy. Those we are currently aware of include, among
others, INSAF, Peoples Watch, Sabrang Trust, Greenpeace India, Ford
Foundation, HIVOS and ICCO.

3. Initiate an immediate dialogue between the NGO sector and Government to
address our concerns going forward. Amend the presently opaque FCRA rules
and regulations; ensure complete clarity and transparency on provisions and
processes, as well as forums and mechanisms of redress; remove all
provisions that are amenable to subjective interpretation; ensure their
uniform application to all NGOs, trusts, foundations, and societies.



We look forward to your response and action on these vital issues of
national interest.



Yours Sincerely,