Gujarat's Movement for Secular Democracy "clarifies": It is not an NGO, does not receive foreign funds

An MSD-led demonstration in 2012

By Our Representative
The Movement for Secular Democracy (MSD), a Gujarat-based non-profit organization, has clarified in a letter to to the President of India, Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, that it “is not an NGO and does not receive any foreign funds”. The letter comes in the wake of the recent Intelligence Bureau (IB) report, submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, “Impact of NGOs on Development”, naming MSD as one of the many NGOs which are allegedly involved in anti-developmental activities and are receiving foreign funds.
Calling itself as “a broadest platform of the citizens of the civil society of Gujarat”, the MSD has said, “The IB report is designed to muzzle the voices of the citizens defending secularism and democracy inscribed in the Constitution of our country.” Signed by prominent citizens, intellectuals and activists led by veteran Gujarati litterateur Prakash N Shah and Gandhian Chunibhai Vaidya, the MSD said, they have signed a “memorandum, which explains the historic role of MSD in Gujarat for the cause of communal harmony”.
Releasing the memorandum, the MSD says, the organization has been fighting for “peace and justice since 1993 and defending secular democracy, and stood by the victims in communal violence.” The signature campaign, in which 100 persons signed up, began on June 25, the day on which national emergency was imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975.
“Severely condemning” the IB report on the MSD, the memorandum said, the organization was formed in the wake of the communal riots in 1980s and the Babri Demolition incident of December 1992, which “created a frenzied communal atmosphere in Gujarat and the entire country…” It added, “Shocked by events, eminent citizens of almost all fields of Gujarat formed a voluntary, non-party civil society movement and named it as MSD.”
“Contrary to IB's version, MSD is neither a NGO nor it has any relationship with foreign funding”, the memorandum said, adding, it is “purely a citizen’s civil society movement committed to the constitutional values of secular democracy.” It recalled, “In the inaugural speech of this convention, former member of Planning Commission and well known political analyst, Rajni Kothari advocated for democracy against mobocracy and eminent Sarvodaya leader Narayanbhai Desai appealed for unity against autocracy".
Claiming that the MSD “openly and courageously presented its views on all social, political and economic issues”, the memorandum said, “The MSD exposed the communal attitude and decisions of several groups and the state government and its machinery after 1993. It also continued the campaign to protect secular democracy against these attacks.”
It further said, “The carnage of 2002 posed a challenge to the MSD. We had to pass through a very critical period to save the civil society from an all out communal attack. But in this trying period, The MSD made all to rally round all the democratic and secular forces and raised the voice against irresponsible and communal attitude of the ruling party in the state with all intensity.”
“Further”, the memorandum said, the MSD “thrived to create a consensus over rehabilitation and justice to the carnage victims.” In 2002, it experienced “total breakdown of law and order in Gujarat. The intensity of the activism and advocacy of MSD in 2002 has obviously annoyed the communal elements and those elements who wanted to reap political mileage out of communal identity.”
Pointing out that “'justice for the 2002 carnage victims and desire of peace and amity in the society has been the main slogan of the MSD to which it has firmly adhered to till this date”, the MSD said, several human rights and civil liberties movements, especially the Peoples' Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), have stood by the MSD.
Also objecting to the PUCL’s name in the IB report, the memorandum said, “PUCL is well known civil liberties voluntary organisation founded jointly by Jayprakash Narayan and Justice Tarkunde”, and it is “shocking that such a reputed civil liberty organization has been linked with NGO and foreign funds.”
Signatories to the memorandum include Rajmohan Gandhi, Dr Romila Thaper, Prof Yogendra Yadav, Dr Mallika Sarabhai, Dr JS Bandukwala, Prof Gulam Mohammad Sheikh, Prof Dhaval Mehta, Prof Dinesh Shukla, advocate Girish Patel, Fr. Cedric Prakash, Gautam Thaker, Prof Svati Joshi, Gagan Sethi, Prof Ghanshyam Shah, Dr Ram Puniyani, Prof Abid Shamsi, Sukla Sen, Manishi Jani, Dr Saroop Dhruv, Prof Rohit Shukla, Dr Trupti Shah, Dilip Chandulal, Dwarika Nath Rath and others.

Comments

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat* The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia. The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani* A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid* We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra* Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.

Search This Blog