http://ariseasia.blogspot.in/#
Koodankulam Protests , Church and Western NGOs- A Citizen’s Probe
by Niraj Kamal
Account of Foreign Contribution for the year ending 31 st March, 2011
In an interview for the science magazine, PM Manmohan singh while speaking to the NDTV Science editor , Pallav Bagra blamed US non-profit groups for whipping up anti-nuclear demonstrations that have stalled the two new atomic plants in Koodankulam nuclear power Plant (KKNPP). This is what the PM said,
"The atomic energy programme has got into difficulties because these NGOs, mostly I think based in the United States, don't appreciate the need for our country to increase the energy supply." He further added in context of application of biotechnology for agriculture sector that ,
”There are NGOs often funded from the United states and the Scandinavian countries which are not fully appreciative of the development challenges that our country faces.”
This was confirmed by the MOS for the PMO,V.Narayanswami who also told media that three NGOs have already been blacklisted and their foreign funding suspended. Though, the names have not yet been made public, the convener of the protest against the KKNPP, People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) , S.P.Uday Kumar went overboard and threatened to sue the PMO, ministers and told all English channels which are in collaboration with news agencies of same countries, that he never received a single paisa either from foreign or even from national organizations for the protests. He said if proven he is ready for facing the capital punishment. But, the reports that are coming in that three organizations which have been blacklisted are Tuticorin Diocese Association; Good Vision, Nagercoil, Peoples Education For Action & Community Empowerment. The third one is run by Uday Kumar.
It is to be kept in mind that the whole protest movement picked up steam only in 2007 after One-day Hunger Strike on February 15, 2007, prior to the Indo-US 123 Agreements when the US began eyeing for India’s huge nuclear market. One-day hunger strike was organized that was attended by
poor Christian fisherman communities brought on truck load with the support of the two overgrown Diocese of Tuticorin and Tirunelveli. Here is the list of some of the leaders of the initial protest-Y. David, Gabrielle Dietrich, Lal Mohan, Anton Gomes, Mano
Thankaraj, Balaprajapathi Adigalar, Dhanraj, Alankaram
Bharathar, Peter Dhas, Kavitha, Rosammal, , Frederick, Gilbert Rodreigo, Jeromios,Jayakumar and parish priests Panneerselvam, Venis Kumar, Jesuraj,Suseelan, Arul Raj, Jagdish, Clarence. So, the movement from very beginning was organized by the Church, and various parishes. In fact, Uday Kumar is believed to be stationed at the Idinthakarai village church. Idinthakarai is the centre of the protest under the full guidance of the Church. Udaykumar himself stays with the parish priest Father Jaikumar, and uses the Church infrastructure for coordinating the movement.
poor Christian fisherman communities brought on truck load with the support of the two overgrown Diocese of Tuticorin and Tirunelveli. Here is the list of some of the leaders of the initial protest-Y. David, Gabrielle Dietrich, Lal Mohan, Anton Gomes, Mano
Thankaraj, Balaprajapathi Adigalar, Dhanraj, Alankaram
Bharathar, Peter Dhas, Kavitha, Rosammal, , Frederick, Gilbert Rodreigo, Jeromios,Jayakumar and parish priests Panneerselvam, Venis Kumar, Jesuraj,Suseelan, Arul Raj, Jagdish, Clarence. So, the movement from very beginning was organized by the Church, and various parishes. In fact, Uday Kumar is believed to be stationed at the Idinthakarai village church. Idinthakarai is the centre of the protest under the full guidance of the Church. Udaykumar himself stays with the parish priest Father Jaikumar, and uses the Church infrastructure for coordinating the movement.
Why is the Church arrayed against the project? Though, the Convener will always quote that another Fukushima may happen in India and scares fisherman about coming tsunami; the reasons are geopolitical. India is not the place where tsunami as powerful as one that hit Fukushima may again arrive. The simple reason is that KKNPP is too big a strategic investment for India . India and Russia
In 2008, India renegotiated on building four additional reactors at the site. It is expected that the capacity of each reactor will be 1000 MW. If all reactors can be operationalized, the total capacity of the power plant would surge to 9200 MW and it can wipe out the energy deficit in Southern India.. Apart from six Russian-made nuclear power plants producing 6000 MW power, two Indian-made fast
breeder plants producing 400 MW power each. This will make India to stockpile enough fuel for strategic nuclear deterrence and this will be the biggest nuclear facility in
the entire world. This has pinched many in the Western world since many powerful states do not want emerging power like India to achieve strategic autonomy.
breeder plants producing 400 MW power each. This will make India to stockpile enough fuel for strategic nuclear deterrence and this will be the biggest nuclear facility in
the entire world. This has pinched many in the Western world since many powerful states do not want emerging power like India to achieve strategic autonomy.
Thus, there have been multiple layers of operation to destabilize KKNPP. The NGOs from Scandinavian countries have been roped in, particularly Denmark and Swede
It is also to be observed that suddenly there have been spurt in foreign money entering Tamilnadu as grants( legal money) in last 4 years, once the first hunger strike was organized.The divertion from church to insurgent organizations in the North east India is well documented. This is the easier route even in Tamilnadu where it is seen that nearly 800 crore rupee was received by the Church and Christian Missionaries only in 2010-11.
Uday Kumar’s public defense cannot hide the real reasons and brains behind the protest. day Kumar now admits that he is associated with Swedish groups and is also on the board of one of them. The US caught on wrong foot has stated that it is fully supportive ofIndia’s nuclear energy programme while Russia has stated that its stand that “some foreign friends of India are playing proxy game” stands vindicated.
I have documented the foreign funding in Tamilnadu from the MHA FCRA data of organizations receiving more than one crore contribution annually. At least 958 organization got Rs 1 crore or more foreign contribution in the year 2010-11. World Vision of India, based at Egmore, Chennai, tops the list of 958 for 2010-11, with Rs 233.74 crore. Interestingly, the organization does not have any website or detail available though it has received more than 100 crore rupees as foreign contribution in last five years. The address of organization is Vepery,Egmore,Chennai,600008 ,Phone Number: and only local vigilant citizens can unravel whether some of this huge fund also gets diverted in protest activities?
In 2010-11, out of 958 organizations receiving more than a crore of foreign contribution, at least 515 were Christian missionary organisations, which collectively received Rs 2,003.75 crore as foreign contributions. But, see nearly 186 such organizations are based in Tamilnadu and these received more than 800 crore in the year 2010-11. that means, Tamilnadu which does not have a huge chunk of Christian population received almost half of the foreign contribution and the share of the organizations is almost one-third. The sudden spurt does not seem unconnected with the way poor Christian fishermen have been instigated to confront the State frontally. Even 10% diversion would be a huge amount and incentive for the poor fishermen to hold the nuclear complex on ransom.
Western powers have made umpteen efforts to not let Asian countries reap the benefit of higher technology. The US had been smart enough to engage in ‘policy of congagement” vis-à-vis emerging powers. They engage with the emerging power like the hub and the spoke and on the other hand engage in policy of off-shore balancing at different level. The emerging powers have to be contained by the second most powerful regional actor. While at the trans-regional level, it maintains a balance of power among various regional powers by excluding itself so that it remain the arbitrator of the global order. The weak NATO states have always been the carrier of the containment strategy in the name of human rights or insufficient democracy and now the hoax of technology threat. One must remember how it was the Americans and the Dutch who connived to let Khan steal nuclear secrets from URENCO . When the matter came to light, the case file was stolen from the Dutch court. A former Dutch premier in an interview to a Dutch radio, VPRO Argos Radio on August 9, 2005, Dr Ruud Lubbers, admitted in the interview that the Dutch internal agency, BVD and the Americans wanted to help Pakistan to build nuclear weapon as they wanted Pakistan to be a regional balancer to India during Cold war. The American –Scandinavian-Dutch connection to derail India’s nuclear programme and to help build a nuclear counter weight against India has a long history. One can also study BVD spy Frits Hoekstra’s book, a sebior BVD officer who quit the service in 1987; to understand the level of complicity of Dutch with American agencies to create disruption in third world. Since, the Dutch lid was taken off in India, the baton passed to other neighbouring Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Denmark.
The good thing is that the government has realized that national security can no longer be soft-pedaled. With the funds drying out, the few hundred fishermen would move back to their villages and it will be few weeks when the first plant can become fully operational. KKNPP is India’s strategic asset. The Church which should focus on preaching and social work should not indulge in political activities. Though, Tuticorin Dioceses was founded by the Danish and is still a strong foothold of the Scandinavian missionaries, the colonial period is passé. It is a resurgent post-colonial India in the Age of Asian Century. The Church must mend its way now to reengage with the spiritual universe and should not be seen as indulging in activities which brings disrepute to a great religion and its Asian Prophet!!
(25.2.2012)
Association in Tamilnadu that received more than Rs.10 crores in Tamilnadu from Foreign Sources( in Rupees)
Year 2010-11 | |
101274560 | |
102573689. | |
109185954 | |
130647521. | |
135210143 | |
154874783 | |
156629748. | |
201466958 | |
237169674 | |
332503624 | |
393801284 | |
964371836 | |
2337393809 |
Christian organizations in Tamilnadu receiving foreign funds (2010-11)
Amount range in Rupee | 1-2 crore | 2-5 crore | 5-10 crore | >10 crore | >100 crore |
Number | 77 | 81 | 20 | 7 | 1 |
Tuticorin- Tirunelveli Christian organizations receiving direct foreign fund in 2010-11
S.No. inFCRAStatelist | Name | Address | Amount in Rupees |
72 | 95, Chinnammalpuram, , Dhalapathisamudram (P.O),,Tirunelveli Dt., Tamil Nadu-627101 | 15464697 | |
92 | 14, Chitambana Nagar,Ist Street , Tirunelveli Road,Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu-628008 | 17991323 | |
106 | 2a, St. Mark’s Street, Pb 108, Palayamkottai Tirunelveli,Tn-627002 | 19782052 | |
139 | Bishop’s House, Post Box No. 122, Tuticorin,Tamil Nadu-628001 | 24437807 | |
144 | Pb-9, Shencalab, , Tirunelveli,Tamil Nadu- | 25527464. | |
145 | Dohnavur, Tirunelveli,Tamil Nadu-627102 | 25906292 | |
156 | 9-h, High Ground Road,palayamkottai, Dist: Tirunelveli,Tamil Nadu-627002 | 27492194. | |
183 | , Tuticorin,- | 36011592 | |
201 | 16, Sattanayakkan St,Tirunelveli,Tn-606601 | 44137616 | |
133 | No. 5 Punithavathtar Street, Palayamkottai,Tamil Nadu-627002 | 23144407 | |
220 | North High Ground RdMaharajnagar, Tirunelveli ,Tamil Nadu-627011 | 84568057 | |
149 | (Uday Kumar’s group) | Nr Police Colony Trichy Road, Dindigul,Tn- | 26405409 |
Amount of foreign fund received by single Missionary from foreign sources Case of World Vision Of India
Year | Amount |
2010-11 | 2337393809 |
2009-10 | |
2008-9 | 1923051308 |
2007-8 | 2116186372 |
2006-7 | 2560576824 |
Total | 11026627700 (1102.67 crore) |
0 comments:
Post a Comment