JOIN USThe hostility of the NDA government to non-government organisations (NGOs) is well known. Even the UPA government was not friendly to them and had tried to blame them for many ills of the country and even for working against the country’s interests. It had tried to needle them also in many ways. But the Modi government has gone farther than any other government to intimidate and persecute NGOs and to make it difficult for them to work. The latest such action is against Lawyers’ Collective led by noted lawyers Indira Jaising and Anand Grover. The NGO’s licence has been suspended for alleged violation of the Foreign Contributions Act (FCRA) and it has been barred from receiving foreign funds for six months. Lawyers’ Collective has refuted the charges. Though the home ministry has given 30 days for the NGO to reply to its notice, the tone and tenor of the letter indicate that the case is already decided against the NGO.
Apart from heading an NGO, Jaising and Grover have other reasons to be targeted by the government. As a human rights activist, Jaising has championed the cause of the 2002 Gujarat riot victims, and as a lawyer she has pleaded their cases. She has supported Teesta Setalvad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bete noire and long-time critic. Both Jaising and Grover have criticised the CBI for not appealing against the discharge of BJP chief Amit Shah in fake encounter cases. They have also professionally defended former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, an implacable critic of Modi, and Priya Pillai, a Greenpeace activist against whom the government had taken high-handed action. This element of personal vendetta and political spite has made the government’s action especially reprehensible.
To target and harass individuals and organisations for acting on the basis of their beliefs and convictions and for pursuing their professional activities and associations, however unpalatable to the government, is wrong, and smacks of an authoritarian mindset. The government has been reluctant to give democratic space for the working of non-government organisations. The reasons are unconvincing and may be even mala fide as in the case of Lawyers’ Collective. The stringent and high-handed actions against NGOs speak of intolerance of dissent and a lack of readiness to accept that there are other ways of thinking and doing things than what the government deems right. The NGOs have an important role in society and the people will be the losers if these organisations are driven out. The government should not think that it can suppress criticism by harassing and hounding its critics.