For 3 days Gujarat burned. 3 days of statewide communal violence followed after the burning of Sabarmati Express in Godhra on 27th February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hindu karsevaks returning from Ayodhya. According to official figures, the riots resulted in the deaths of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus. 2,500 people were injured non-fatally, and 223 more were reported missing.
It was unfortunate to say the least but this riot was also ordained to write some new chapters in India’s political discourse. Firstly it was a severe dent to the image of the rising star of the Bhartiya Janata Party, Narendra Modi. Secondly it was a major jolt to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government which was cruising along well at that point of time. And thirdly it created the Congress-Media-Intellectual-NGO nexus that would continue haunting the saffron alliance for more than a decade. Numerous books were written about the butcher of Gujarat, Divisive politics was condemned, and five star activists came out of their closets and began yelling in newsroom debates. Journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose, and Karan Thapar created careers for themselves and Hindus silently put on the newly discovered “Saffron Terrorist” tag.
But 14 years later, the tides turned. Narendra Modi the “ill-fated” Gujarat CM became the Prime Minister of India. And the Congress-NGO-Media nexus built around 2002 riots was rattled. PM Modi attacked the cabal dutifully by drying their financial coffers. He cracked down on the NGOs almost the moment he grabbed the PM Chair.
Now it seems that the final bout is still left. NGOs will take a final swipe at the prime minister and Congress has chalked out a plan for the same.
The 2019 general elections are around the corner and the Congress party has already started its preparations for that. In its latest move, the Congress party is planning to employ certain NGOs in order to highlight the failure of the incumbent Modi government on the issues like fictional Rafale scam, demonetization, GST, joblessness, lynchings etc. According to an Indian Express report, Mumbai Congress leader Manish Shah told The Sunday Standard, “NGOs are non-political bodies. They highlight people’s issues and solve their problems. They can help spread our message.” The Congress party will first convince NGOs to raise aforementioned issues and make people aware of them.
A meeting of 250 NGOs was scheduled on August 30 in Mumbai but due to demise of senior Maharashtra Congress leader, Gurudas Kamat, it was canceled. Now, the party is working on new dates.
Congress has a long history of supporting NGOs with anti-India, anti-development agenda. Many anti-India NGOs mushroomed under the Congress led UPA government. Anti-India activities of NGOs had gone unabated under the ruling of previous of government. However, the picture has changed a lot in the last four year since the Modi government came to the fore. In the last four years, numerous steps have been taken to ensure the closure of NGOs which indulged in anti-India activities such as supporting Naxals and indulging in conversions. There is always a direct link between these organisations and planned protest and unrest. A number of NGOs have been brought under the scanner by government agencies working under the Home Ministry. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has undertaken the job of shutting down such NGOs with an unparalleled zeal and gusto, and his commendable efforts in bringing stringent nets have been praised throughout India. License of 14,000 NGOs have been cancelled in the past 4 years. These NGOs received foreign funding and were unable to divulge the sources for the funds received over the years despite multiple requests by the government. The FCRA Act has been used by the government against these organizations which were engaged in nefarious anti-Indian activities. Some examples of well known NGOs’ FCRA license being cancelled include that of ‘Greenpeace India’ in 2015 on the grounds of “prejudicially affecting the public interest and economic interest of the state.” Another such NGO ‘Compassion International’ received the same penalty under FCRA norms. These NGOs were suspected to be engaged in activities which were detrimental to the growth of the country. The numerous cases of NGOs working hand in hand with churches from foreign lands and their involvement in the mass conversions of tribal population in states such as Jharkhand are quite well known. The Lutyens’ cabal has vehemently opposed the crackdown on anti-India NGOs for several reasons; one pivotal reason is that it has severely affected their foreign sources of income and now they could no longer afford the luxuries of past days. But this latest move by the Congress party, to take help of many such organisations for election campaigning is likely to give a boost to dormant anti-India forces. It will also give them much needed oxygen in the form of funding. This move of the Congress also shows their incompetency. It shows that they are not capable of fighting alone against the mighty BJP and nationalist forces in 2019 general elections. The Congress party is already working on a grand-alliance against the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But so far it has been a failure.
The latest move of the Congress party further cements the fact that non-governmental organisations only serve the political interest of their masters and not the interest of the people. People have now understood that these organisations are nothing but just a shady-money making industry and that’s why people don’t trust NGOs anymore.