[hr]
Foreign funding of NGOs, especially under the garb of ‘development aid’, seems to be posing a grave threat to the country.
Intelligence officials examining such funding patterns are shocked as Netherlands-based Landlijke India Werkgroep (LIW) has been found to be assisting insurgent groups in the Northeast.
The LIW, based in Utrecht city and funded by CORDAID, which is “planning to bring down development projects in the Northeast”, claims to be one of the largest Dutch development aid organisations with presence in 38 countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. On the face of it, the donation appears to be routine and a normal transaction between donor and recipient. However, the fund transfers have sent shockwaves among agencies monitoring the function of suspicious social organisations in the troubled parts of India.
An input of external spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) suggests that the LIW, which claims to have been working in the field of child labour and Dalit uplift, in fact maintains close contact with a number of dissident groups from the Northeast, including the NDFB and ULFA. Both outfits have been designated as terrorist organisations by the government.
The LIW, which has not updated its donation details since 2011, claims that it had received Euro 30,000 from CORDAID in 2011. “Significantly, the LIW is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Development Co-operation. The LIW has in the past hosted several seminars where NDFB and ULFA activists were invited,” the R&AW said. The LIW is also funded by the European Union, which has come under the scanner of Indian agencies for planning to fund projects linked to CORDAID, which, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) says, is planning to bring down development projects in the Northeast.
Interestingly, CORDAID receives grants from the Dutch Government. The IB says CORDAID plans to sabotage oil drilling projects in three districts of Manipur, big dams in Arunachal Pradesh and uranium mining projects in Meghalaya.
In order to achieve its goal, CORDAID is also routing funds through two NGOs, Chindu and Swadhikar, to “Manipur Coalition on Extractives”, which includes Rural Women for Upliftment Society (RWUS) and Centre for Organisation Research and Education (CORE). CORDAID also financed a programme to increase women’s participation in decision-making in Manipur by spending Rs 1.67 crore in 2013-2014. “There are reports of serious violations by Manipur-based NGOs and in 2012 at least 125 NGOs’ FCRA license to receive foreign aids were cancelled. “Many NGOs based in Netherlands are said to have been maintaining close ties with anti-India groups and specific reports have been received by the government,” RAW officials said.
~ Indian Express
