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How the FCRA amendment will sound the death knell for problematic NGOs

By
Krishna Ravishankar
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The Foreign Contribution Regulation Amendment Bill, 2020 was introduced by Nithyanand Rai, Minister of State, Home Affairs on the floor of the Lok Sabha on 21st September which was subsequently passed by both houses of Parliament. This bill does make very distinctive changes to the 2010 version introduced by the then UPA government which primarily defines the role of the government in regulating the acceptance or utilization of foreign funds by individuals and organizations. Although these amendments may just appear as another routine legal update exercise it will surely have ground impact affecting the nexus between foreign donors and organizations in India, having vested interests against the country.

The amendments

There were 10 amendments moved against the current legislation. Here are some pertinent and important ones:

Firstly, under this amendment NGOs can only spend 20% of the foreign funds received for administrative expenses of the organizations. Previously, this upper percentage was 50%. Secondly, in addition to judges, government employees of PSU (defined as per Section 617 of the Companies Act) or govt. servants (defined as per Section 21 of the IPC) cannot receive any foreign

donations as per the proposed amendment. Thirdly, it prevents a person or NGO from transferring its fund to a third party even if the latter has a FCRA Certificate or was permitted to receive such contributions. Fourthly, it also instructs that a FCRA certificate holder can receive foreign contributions only in an account called the “FCRA Account” which must be opened in a particular branch of the State of Bank in New Delhi for remittance purposes. Fifthly, any registration or renewal for/of an FCRA certificate of an organization will now need Aadhar card details for all its directors or office bearers and a passport or an OCI card in case the office bearer is a non-citizen.

The government made it clear while introducing the bill saying that this bill was to increase state surveillance of foreign funds coming to India so that these funds aren’t used against the national interest of the country or for “anti-national” activities which threaten the integrity of the Indian State. The government also categorically stated that this amendment is not against the NGO structure or framework but rather desires to bring about a transparent process regarding the financial sources of these institutions.

Critics of this bill like the TMC and Congress cite that these changes will be a hurdle in the conduct of business of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the govt. is trying to vilify certain religious communities by introducing these amendments. Executive Director of National Foundation of India, Biraj Patnaik criticized the restriction of spending only 20% of foreign source funds on administrative matters. He says that these regulations would cripple the working capital of advocacy and research organizations which may have to close down if this restriction comes into effect. He also points out that by debarring the transfer of foreign funds to a third party many grass root CSOs which are financially dependent on large ones will also. OxFam’s CEO Amitabh Behar claims that, “these amendments would stifle and squeeze the non-profit sector by creating new hurdles for foreign aid.”

Significance of these reforms

In 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs had cancelled the licenses of 1300 NGOs. In fact, one should remember the CBI raid against prominent lawyer, Indira Jaising for FCRA violation on receiving a contribution of 32.39 crore from foreign sources over period of 2006-2015. In the first of week of September 2020, more than 13 NGOs who alleged misappropriated funds for religious forceful conversions in various tribal areas of Central India were called out by

the Home Ministry and their licenses were revoked. In fact, the existing FCRA legislation was brought by the UPA quashing its 1976 precursor in view of the agitations instigated by NGOs regarding the establishment of the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant in Tamil Nadu.

In this light it is important to the read proposed amendments of the FCRA. Firstly, the most significant change is the ban on transferring FCRA funds to third parties. In the FCRA Report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, it is to be noted that more than 10-15% of the inflow of FCRA funds of any financial year is transferred to various other CSOs as well as non-CSO organizations. The same data shows how these funds in South India help in funding some religious groups who coercively proselytize a large of people from margalinized economic and social backgrounds under the garb of human welfare and economic empowerment despite the SC in the Rev. Stainislaus vs. State of Madhya Pradesh holding the pratice unconstitutional under Article 25. A tip of this iceberg became visible during the 2004 aftermath of the tsunami wherein US-based Episcopal Relief and Development ordered an enquiry into some official funds being transferred to the Church of South India in an article of Indian Express dated on 12th October , 2009. A report of the Intelligence Bureau of 2014 shows that prominent organizations like Greenpeace are trying to “derail economic development” by misappropriating foreign funds to certain Naxal groups in parts of central India. In fact, the NIA also after a long pending investigation in one of its report noted that certain NGOs who in the guise of helping the victims of 1984 Sikh Riots in fact helped in funding certain Khalisthani separatists forces like the Khalisthani Zindabad Force thereby trying to revive the Babbar Khalsa Order. Hence this amendment naturally has heckled this nexus between NGOs and certain evangelical and separatist groups for national security interests.

Secondly, the idea of introducing a “FCRA Bank Account” under a SBI Branch in New Delhi will surely help in keeping intact revenue intelligence and thereby enabling the State to have an easier mechanism to track where these funds are transferred to as well as the nature of the financial transactions of the CSOs. An RTI reply in the form of an India Today article in 2008 suggests that around 9000 NGOs in India have not submitted their financial statements for the past three years thereby trying to whitewash where the acquired foreign funds where spent. Thus to prevent the violation of accounting standard and for the govt to maintain records on the source of the foreign fund, this move should be welcomed. The Aadhar Card details (or OCI / Passport details) move to is welcomed as this will enable a transparent assessment of the directors or office bearers of the NGO. Also, by extending the criterion of not to receive any foreign funds to all government servants (including PSU employees) as there persisted this fear that some officials working at the behest of these CSOs become lobbyists for them. This change hopes to remove this problem as official who acted as lobbyists would cause a lot of policy paralysis by either brazenly opposing a policy or not act on the policy if it doesn’t suit their vested interests

Thirdly and lastly, by reducing the administrative expense to 20% from 50% of the foreign funds received will put a check on the unnecessary interjections of these institutions in legal activism as per a survey which states that majority of the admin expenses are used for litigation .Analysis done by By2Kaafi, a prominent blogger who tracks and analyses FCRA inflows, on the various PIL filed by NGOs will show how these establishments try to import a cultural Marxist model in the façade of the human development to do away with people’s indigenous traditions and customs irrespective of these customs being legal tenable or not. A prominent example is the intervention of PETA and AFIB in banning traditional sports like Jalikattu in Tamil Nadu and Kambala in Karnataka despite even understanding the origin, the nature and ground reality on how these festivities are conducted when they filed a PIL in the SC seeking their ban under the farce of animal welfare and rights. Thus, by stifling the funds of these CSOs not only does the government fulfil its obligations under Articles 25-30 but also saves the judiciary from the over burden of cases which are caused by excessive legal activism as pointed by the SC in the CPIL matter where the CSO had filed more than 50 petitions in 2016.

Though the FCRA Amendment Bill 2020 faces a lot of opposition, these changes will have a long-lasting impact in strengthening India’s national security, promoting her economic development and thereby protect the socio-cultural rights and welfare of her people from not only intrusions from abroad but also from within.

TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu writes to AP DGP over deteriorating law and order problem

By
Balaji Subramanian
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Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, has written a letter to the state’s top regarding the deteriorating law and order problem. In his letter, Naidu has alleged that the violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of India is being trampled in the state reported by IANS.

“There has been a consistent attack on the freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed by Article 19 (1) (a). As the leader of the opposition, it is my duty to bring such undemocratic acts to your notice for appropriate action,” wrote Naidu to Director General of Police (DGP) D. Gautam Sawang.

Citing statistics, from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Naidu writes, “Out of 4,068 cases registered against police personnel across India, 1,681 cases (41 per cent) were registered in Andhra Pradesh alone. These numbers speak for themselves and reflect the functioning of the police in today’s AP,”.

Naidu mentioned in his letter that attacks are continuously happening against dalits, tribals, backward classes, Muslims, women and journalists in the state.

“Sadly, the act of head tonsuring to humiliate fellow human beings is continuing unabated in the state,” he alleged.

“Therefore, I appeal to you to restore law and order situation in the state by allowing police to discharge their duties impartially and fearlessly,” he added.

Lately, many Hindu temples have come under attack from anti-social elements in Andhra Pradesh. Opposition leaders like Chandarababu Naidu, film actor and leader of Jana Sena Party Pawan Kalyan and the BJP has been critical of YS Jaganmohan Reddy administration for the increasing attack on temples.  

Christian and Missionary Alliance open second round of investigation against Ravi Zacharias for sexual misconduct

By
Balaji Subramanian
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Ravi Zacharias, a prominent Christian apologist and ministry leader who passed away this year due to a malignant and rare cancer in his spine is being investigated by the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) following new claims of sexual misconduct, stated a reported by Christianity Today.

This is the opening of a second investigation into Ravi Zacharias over his alleged misconduct and the evangelical denomination has sent a letter to the Alliance workers.

In the letter, it has been mentioned that the leadership had “determined that we must look into these new allegations, in spite of the fact that Mr Zacharias passed away earlier this year.”

For a long time, Zacharias was ordained and licensed by the CMA up until his death in May and new allegations of sexual misconduct came from former employees at two Atlanta-area day spas which was co-owned by Zacharias and frequented for massage therapy more than a decade ago.

Three women at the spa were quoted saying in the Christianity Today report that Zacharias would touch them inappropriately, expose himself, and masturbate during treatments. The World magazine had reported additional allegations regarding a therapist who was fired after complaining that Zacharias asked for “more than a massage.”

Terry Smith, Vice President of Church Ministries for the CMA, said, though Ravi Zacharias is dead, the denomination is “fully accountable” for its licensed ministers—no matter their level of celebrity or international renown.

According to the CMA, they have zero tolerance towards sexual misconduct and people are disqualified from leadership if their behaviour causes “imminent harm to others or to the testimony of Christ.”

“Normally when a worker is investigated, they’re alive so they can speak to the accusations against them and can receive whatever punitive steps the discipline committee gives them,” Smith was quoted saying in the Christianity Today. “Our goal [here] is to discover the truth to the best of our ability to do so.”, he said.

Smith went on to add, “We don’t want anyone to think we show favouritism in any of these cases or situations,” stating that “We’re going to investigate this like we would have done for any other official worker.

He further added, “Beyond the investigation, an organization needs to be doing what it can to shift the culture. Talk about these matters repeatedly, publicly. Talk about how you don’t care who it is, no one in leadership is beyond accountability. And prevent leaders from becoming mega rock stars in the first place.”

There is also a book that was written by a San Francisco lawyer named Steve Baughman, who has carefully documented the case against Zacharias at his website. It is titled Cover-Up in the Kingdom: Phone Sex, Lies, And God’s Great Apologist, Ravi Zacharias.

In his book, Baughman writes that Zacharias sexually molested the help at his spa and used to “fly women in from India” to give him treatment at Jivan.

In 2016, it was revealed Zacharias was involved in an online sex scandal with a married woman.

Baughman further adds, “What we see in Mr Zacharias’s self-presentation over the past 35 years is a very clear pattern and practice of deception,”

Frederick Antony Ravi Kumar Zacharias aka Ravi Zacharias was an Indian born Candian-American Christian apologist. He was born in Chennai (then Madras) but was brought up in Delhi. In 1966, Zacharias immigrated with his family to Canada. He started an itinerant ministry with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) in Canada.

He has been accused of sexual misconduct by several people. A Canadian woman Lori Anne Thompson accused him of sexually assaulting her. Four months after Zacharias’s death in May of 2020, three women who worked at the spas he owned in Atlanta alleged that Zacharias had sexually harassed multiple massage therapists multiple times over the course of five years.

DMK tries to ignite flame of ‘Hindi imposition’ again, TNM tries to fan it, mission fails again

By
The Commune
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After the ‘Hindi Theriyathu Poda’ t-shirt campaign (started by DMK MP Kanimozhi and advertised by the party’s sympathizers in the media and cinema industry) fell flat, the DMK once again pounced on the opportunity to do its language politics over another incident, this time, over an IRCTC railway ticket.

A passenger who had booked a train ticket from Madurai to Chennai through IRCTC website had reportedly received the text message containing her ticket details in Hindi.

Sharing a screenshot of this message, South Chennai DMK MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian tweeted in Tamil saying that IRCTC was imposing Hindi although the Constitution recognizes 23 languages as official language. She claimed that the Government of India was imposing Hindi through ‘insidious means’.

Central Chennai DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran sharing the same screenshot asked also made hue and cry about Hindi imposition.

Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader Dr. Ramadoss too jumped the bandwagon and claimed that the IRCTC had been sending the ticket messages in Hindi for the past two days. He said that sending ticket text messages in Hindi was a ‘planned Hindi imposition’.

Following this, The News Minute which had earlier given enough publicity to Kanimozhi’s ‘Hindi Theriyathu Poda’ campaign, carried a story about this incident with the title “IRCTC sends TN woman ticket confirmation text in Hindi, sparks language imposition row”.

 

https://twitter.com/rgmlk/status/1312992147910475776

However, their efforts to rake up language sentiments failed as the IRCTC and Southern Railways busted the claims of ‘Hindi imposition’.

The IRCTC replying to Thamizhachi Thangapandian’s tweet said that at the time of registration, the user had the option to select their language preference – either English or Hindi and that in the said case the user had chosen Hindi as the preferred language.

Replying to Dayanidhi Maran’s tweet IRCTC clarified that the User ID ‘selvimano05’ through which the ticket was booked had set the preferred language as Hindi, which was the reason for the ticket getting generated in Hindi.

The Southern Railways too through its official handle clarified that choosing a language is an option in e-ticketing and that in the said case the user had indicated the preferred language as Hindi. In its statement, the Southern Railways requested the passengers to choose the correct language while registering in the IRCTC website.

A user while registering himself/herself in the IRCTC website is asked to set the preferred language.

Even after the clarification from IRCTC and Southern Railways, neither the DMK leaders who cried foul acknowledged the response given nor did The News Minute which had carried the story claiming of ‘sparking Hindi imposition row’ clarified the matter to the public.

The neo-colonization of Africa

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Africa, the land of plenty, has been one of the worst casualties of European colonial exploitation. The continent was plundered and made to bleed, the wounds of which are yet to heal. This cradle of human civilization has today become synonymous with poverty, diseases, conflicts and what not.

But, what is not visible to the public eye is the fact that Africa is not as ‘poor’ a continent as one might perceive it to be. In fact, it is richer than its counterparts in terms of resources. Africa houses 9.6% of world global oil output, 90% of world’s Platinum and Cobalt supply, 1/2 of the world’s gold supply, 2/3rd of world’s Manganese, 35% of world’s Uranium and 75% of the world’s Coltan. It also holds a whopping 54 votes in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Despite all this, the sad fact is that Africa continues to remain underdeveloped because none of its resources is being used for the good of the continent.  The scramble for resources, influence and power over the continent between the global powers leaves nothing but a morsel for the native population.

There are two sharks – China and the US – that are battling it out in Africa, making it a region of ‘troubled waters’. While the United States remains the biggest investor in the continent’s resources, the former has a lot more power, because of its proximity to the continent.

In terms of investment in the continent, these two superpowers have not only established military power and infrastructure in the continent, they have also established strong ties by means of diplomacy, trade and geopolitical stronghold. In short, the continent has been made the battleground for these two superpowers. 

United States and its involvement

The United States is the biggest investor in the African economy. $54 billion of FDI stock is possessed by the global superpower, with 600 US companies operating in South Africa. The same region that US President Donald Trump called as a “sh*ithole nation”.

The United States also has 7000 troops deployed in the continent in the countries of Tunisia, Libya, Chad, Niger, Centralan Republic, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cameroon. In short, the US sees Africa as a base for counter terrorism operations, as well as a goldmine of resources, literally and metaphorically.

China: The Checkbook to Africa’s economic crises

China, on the other hand, is going the colonial way in terms of acquiring power in the continent’s state of affairs. It is funding 1 in 5 infra projects in Africa building; in short, every third building that is being built on African soil is funded by China. In addition to this, it has also invested $2 trillion in Africa, built 6200 KMs of railways, including the continent’s longest railway line connecting Ethiopia and Djibouti. This is the very same Ethiopia that Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyseus, the WHO Chief belongs to, who owes his rise to China.

Not just this, China has also built the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, increasing its leverage over the continent. All this gives China the geopolitical advantage it wants in Africa. Notably, China’s first ever overseas military base is in Djibouti. This connects to Indian Ocean via Suez canal, and has a 10,000 troops capacity.

Apart from this, at least half of the African countries have Chinese currency and use Mandarin signs in public places. 10,000 Chinese firms operate in Africa and 1/3rd of its FDI is in mining sector.

Africa has also become China’s dump yard for excess supply. China is Africa’s largest trading partner, causing a 40 fold increase in China’s trade related GDP in the last 10 years. China manufactures products in Africa, brands in China, sends it back to Africa again for selling, capitalising on the 1.3 billion strong market.

In short, Africa is China’s biggest debt trap, with the volume of Chinese loans being 6 times that of what it owes France. The entire world is aware of what happens to countries that don’t repay Chinese loans. Sri Lanka is the biggest victim of not repaying China’s loans, which had to lease a major port to China for 99 years.

How has India been dealing with Africa?

India has a policy of non-reciprocity towards smaller countries and has a long history of helping Africa with its anti colonial struggles in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Angola, and Guinea Bissau. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited several African states in 2018, ahead of Xi Jinping’s visit. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has accorded high priority to Africa not just to counter China’s influence in the region but also to position itself as a responsible super power. This increased concentration has been yielding India the result it wants in the form of votes in the United Nations. 

India has also planned to open 18 new embassies in Africa by 2021. It has also established defence partnerships with Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia, with the Indian Armed Forces training the African military. Furthermore, India’s telecommunication giant Bharti Airtel has a strong base in Africa. India has also offered 50k scholarships to African students. 

In an subtle message hinted towards China, India stated that its partnership with Africa is ‘free of conditionalities’ and ‘totally demand driven’. 

The African subcontinent shares a much closer and stronger civilizational relationship with India. Both India and and Africa are a diverse, multiethnic, multilingual and multicultural societies. Hence, India is a natural partner for Africa in its growth story.

For Africa, a very recent history seems to be repeating itself except that the players have changed. While in the earlier centuries, the continent had been ravaged by the European colonial powers, sucking it empty of the resources, it is now being done by China and USA. Amidst these, it is India that Africa will eventually look up to.

India develops and tests Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) system

By
Balaji Subramanian
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Amid the tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India on Monday (September 10) successfully tested a Hybrid weapon system ‘Supersonic Missile assisted release of Torpedo’ (SMART) on Monday.

“The @DRDO_India has successfully flight tested the Supersonic Missile assisted release of Torpedo, SMART. This will be a major technology breakthrough for stand-off capability in anti-submarine warfare. I congratulate DRDO and other stakeholders for this significant achievement,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.

In a press release by the DRDO reads, Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) has been successfully flight tested today 5th Oct 2020 at 1145 hrs from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha. All the mission objectives including missile flight upto the range and altitude, separation of the nose cone, release of Torpedo and deployment of Velocity Reduction Mechanism (VRM) have been met perfectly. The tracking stations (Radars, Electro Optical Systems) along the coast and the telemetry stations including down range ships monitored all the events.

SMART is a missile assisted release of lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo System for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) operations far beyond Torpedo range.This launch and demonstration is significant in establishing Anti-Submarine warfare capabilities.

A weapon system is called a Hybrid when two-weapon capabilities are joined to make one weapon. This synergy of systems vastly expands the range and speed of a weapon system.

SMART is a cutting edge development in the weapons platform developed by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). This is a supersonic anti-ship missile with a medium-weight torpedo as its payload.

This new supersonic anti-submarine missile will be the most dangerous submarine hunter in the high seas. The new missile will be a force multiplier with a range of around 350 nautical miles (which is about 650 kilometres). Once the enemy submarine has been located it can now be easily targetted from an unimaginable distance.

Homes of senior Congress party leader DK Shivaakumar and his associates raided by CBI

By
Balaji Subramanian
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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on an early Monday (5 October) morning raided the residence and businesses associated with Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh, Lok Sabha MP from Bengaluru Rural, in a corruption case as reported by the Hindustan Times.

The CBI simultaneously carried out searches at 14 locations in Karnataka, Delhi and Maharashtra. The raised were conducted with regards to assets amassed during Shivakumar’s tenure as a minister in Karnataka.

After the CBI raid, at their residence located in Doddallahalli village in Kanankapura constituency, supporters of the two leaders came out in support of them. The Congress party called this raid political vendetta and an “insidious game of intimidation”.

A statement from the central agency reads, “CBI has registered a case against then Minister of Karnataka Government and others on the allegations of acquisition of Disproportionate Assets. Searches are being conducted today at 14 locations including 9 in Karnataka, 4 in Delhi, one in Mumbai. Details will follow,”.

The CBI also raided the Delhi residences of Suresh and the residence of Shivakumar’s close aide Iqbal Hussain. After the Karnataka government gave its go-ahead, the CBI had registered a case against D K Shivakumar and others under the prevention of corruption act.

It all started when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation into a money-laundering matter came to light, and Shivakumar was also arrested in September last year based on a charge sheet filed by the Income Tax Department against him.

Meet the paedophiles of Christian missionary Scripture Union who send inappropriate messages to teenage school girls

By
The Commune
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In yet another incident of Christian missionaries indulging in paedophilic activities, a disturbing episode has come to light in which some men belonging to Scripture Union a Christian missionary group which preaches to children in schools, has been accused of sending inappropriate messages to teenage girls.

Screenshots have emerged where Sam Jaisunder (Department Secretary), Albert (Field Staff) and Reuben Clement (Field Staff) of the Scripture Union have been sliding into chats of teenage girls and sending suggestive messages and lewd remarks.

Scripture Union is a well-known Christian missionary group which preaches to school children across the world.

A twitter user identified as Joel Giftson, has shared several instances where Sam Jaisunder had sent several suggestive remarks to school girls across the country asking them to call, videocall, meet, cuddle, and even kiss him.

Apparently this has been going on since 2016 and several girls are now coming out in the open accusing Sam Jaisunder of making sexual and lewd remarks on them.

 

In many of these conversations Sam Jaisunder calls the girls as ‘sweetie’, keeps telling them that they are ‘cutie kid’, comments on their ‘short skirts’ and even asks for hugs and kisses.

 

 

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A compilation of all the screenshots can be found in this tweet thread.

In one of the conversations he discusses about how a 4th standard girl kissed him and how he ‘loved her’.

 

In another message Sam even asks the girl if she sleeps naked.

Apart from Sam Jaisunder, Reuben Clement and Albert of the same missionary group has also been accused of sending inappropriate messages to school girls.

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Albert, a married man has also been found calling girls on facebook without their consent.

Though the Scriptures Union website has removed Sam Jaisunder’s name from their website, the names of other members still exist.

Following Joel Giftson’s expose, the issue gained traction with playback singer Chinmayi Sripada taking up the matter.

Responding to these accusations, the Scriptures Union has issued a statement saying that Sam Jaisunder has been suspended and that a ‘proper inquiry will be conducted as per the rules and regulations of the organization’. Other members namely – Albert, Ruben Clement and Janet Ebenezer are also being investigated.

Chinmayi Sripada lauded the efforts of Joel in bringing the matter to light.

The accused have supposedly travelled to many schools across the country. One of the parents The Commune spoke to said that they used to come to CSI Ewart School in Purasawalkam and CSI Bains Schools in Kilpauk in Chennai. “He used come with a group of 5-6 people every time. A old person also used to come along with him going by the name Herbert.”

“He used to distribute small booklets of Christian songs in English, Tamil, and Hindi as well which he used to teach in the 7 days a year class.”

Many have voiced out this gross sexual abuse of children. Tamil Nadu Weatherman Pradeep John said that Christian parents must be wary as many of them assume people in Christian missionary groups are always good.

The Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK) has said that the internal inquiry might just turnout to be an eyewash and that they might not bring the accused to books at all. The IMK has demanded a police investigation into the matter.

US no place for Commies: Communist party members from any foreign country barred from settling down as they are ‘incompatible with American ethos’

By
Balaji Subramanian
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In a major policy decision, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued strict guidance in its Policy Manual which states that anyone who has membership or affiliation with the ‘Communist Party or any other totalitarian party’ their application for citizenship will be inadmissible.
 
In an official release on Friday, USCIS had said “that membership or affiliation with the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party is inconsistent and incompatible with the ‘Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America’, which includes pledging to support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States“.
 
“The new policy manual section provides guidance on how to adjudicate inadmissibility due to membership in the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party in the context of adjustment of status applications,” the release said.
 
In general, unless otherwise exempt, any intending immigrant who is a member or affiliate of the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party (or subdivision or affiliate), domestic or foreign, is inadmissible to the United States. This addition to the policy manual will help officers adjudicate this inadmissibility ground consistent with federal law, it added.

China which is the last major communist superpower is right now involved in a power tussle with the US and its wrong trade practices and the Wuhan virus has further deteriorated the relationship. Over the years many Chinese have emigrated to the US and thousands of Chinese students are studying in hundreds of universities.

However, China’s treatment of its religious minorities and the draconian Hong Kong security legislation, the handling of the COVID-19 and its treatment of Uygur Muslims have played a major role in this important decision.

Many Communist Party members of India and other countries who on a daily bases hurl abuses towards the US but at the same time desire to migrate and obtain US citizenship will now be denied this opportunity.

Busting the ‘Dravidian’ rhetoric

By
Harishankar Nagarajan
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First things first. The term ‘dravida’ or ‘dravidian’ is not something that exclusively denotes the region of today’s Tamil Nadu. ‘Dravidam’ is more of a geographical term that denotes the region where three seas meet – ‘tra’ (three) ‘vid’ (sea).

The term ‘Dravidian’ has got nothing to do with race as peddled by the stooges of Robert Caldwell and G.U. Pope i.e., the DK and the DMK. It just refers to people who speak the languages belonging to the Dravidian family that includes Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gondi, Kui, Kuvi, Brahui, Kurukh. Today, they are not just spread across south India but also in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Odisha, Nepal, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and even in Balochistan.

So, before the ‘dravidian’ chauvinists peddle their demagoguery against the ‘north Indians’, let them know that there are ‘Dravidian’ north Indians too.

Coming to the point now – The ‘Dravidian’ ideologues beat their chests about how Tamil Nadu owes its development to E.V. Ramaswamy (known as Periyar by his followers), Anna and Karunanidhi without failing to recognize that Tamil Nadu has always been ahead of the line thanks to its geographical and historical circumstances. They have spun this myth for 50 years. But thanks to internet, people are getting exposed to the hollow claims made by these ideologues. Here we are bust some of rhetorics propagated by Dravidian sympathizers and the DMK.

1.Dravidian movement abolished caste system in Tamil Nadu:

They say that if not for Periyar, caste would not have been abolished from Tamil Nadu as this remains the only state where caste names are not attached to people’s name. They use this to whip up sentiments against certain Indian states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra etc. On the contrary it is only after the rise of Dravidian parties caste based thoughts have percolated all across the living spectrum in Tamil Nadu. There is a tremendous increase in caste based outfits and also the caste based incidents are still prevailing across both Norther and Southern parts of Tamil Nadu. The DMK party itself has caste hierarchy established. These self-proclaimed warriors of social justice are the same people who oppress and exploit Dalits. Their own MPs and MLAs treat them as second class citizens.

2.Dravidian Movements only helped Dalits in Temple entry:

This is another big lie which dravidian parties have successfully planted in the textbooks of Tamil Nadu and completely whitewashed the history of temple entry movement in Tamil Nadu. The Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act was passed by the government of C. Rajagopalachari in 1939 by which restrictions prohibiting Shanars and Dalits from entering Hindu temples was removed. During this time, Vaidyanatha Iyer was the President of the Tamil Nadu Harijan Seva Sangh. Muthuramalingam Thevar strongly supported this reform, and he issued a warning statement: “I would be there at the entrance of the Meenakshi Temple. Those who dare to prevent the Dalits’ entry into the temple, could come there and meet me. I will answer them”. After this statement, the caste Hindus hesitated to oppose the temple entry of Dalits. On 8 July 1939, Vaidyanatha Iyer entered the Meenakshi temple at Madurai in the company of L. N. Gopalasamy and six of his Dalit friends. Periyar condemned this incident and he was not even part of any activity in the above said event.

3.Dravidian parties only brought education revolution In India:

Another myth which has been peddled just to suit the narratives propagated by DMK members. In 1961, the literacy rate of Tamil Nadu was 36.39% and was already the 2nd highest in India. So, we were already ahead of the line. The DMK came to power for the first time only in 1967. Literacy rates of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in 1961 were 20.87% and 21.95% respectively.  During the past 50+ years, Tamil Nadu is only maintaining the lead to some extent.  In fact, the incremental change in literacy percentage for the past 50 + years is 43.7% which is much lower than that of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Bihar. It was the mid-day meals scheme of Kamarajar that brought children from poorer sections to schools schools. Dravidian parties just followed suit. It was MGR who expanded the mid day meals scheme in 1982. There are many states like Maharashtra, Tripura, Manipur which were behind  or at same level as like in Tamil Nadu in 1961 have now either progressed more or achieved equal status as like Tamil Nadu now.

4.Dalits got reservation benefits only because of Dravidian Parties:

It was always propagated that Dalits in higher strata of the society like Judges, Doctors etc have reached that status due to Dravidian party rule only. Even one of DMK MPs R.S.Bharathi told it was only due to alms thrown by DMK, Dalits were able to become Judges in different courts in India. But in reality the reservation policy was started way back even before independence. It was in the year 1902 Chatrapati Sahu Maharaja of Kolhapur had given 50% reservation in his princely states for non-Brahmins. back in 1943, 8.33% of reservation in services in favor of the Scheduled Castes became effective. In 1951,16% Reservation for SC/ST and 25% Reservation for OBCs was introduced. DMK after coming to power increased the reservation percentage for both OBCs and SC/STs to 31 and 18 percentages. Dravidian parties just coopted existing policies and started white washing as if everything started from their government in 1967.In reality there are so many innumerable people who have fought for upliftment of poorer section of societies.

What DMK has done is only meted out injustice to Dalits by squatting on the Panchami lands.

5.Periyar was a champion of women rights:

Periyar is often hailed as the messiah who helped secure woman’s rights. In fact, this man secretly went to some of his friends and showed them his first wife Nagammai and told them that she was a new Dasi (prostitute) in the town. He asked them to harass her while going to the temple as he couldn’t win over her by his arguments. Traumatised by this his wife stopped attending the temple. Later she came to know that this was a trick played by her rationalist husband.

6. Social harmony was possible because of DMK:

Tamil Nadu was earlier hailed as ‘amaidhi poonga’ (peaceful garden). But today, many of the social unrest are being done at the behest of the DMK. The Jallikattu protest which started as a student led protest against PETA was hijacked by a DMK wolf who had infiltrated under the garb of being a neutral cattle breeder. The Thoothukudi protests too turned violent because of the infiltration of anti-social elements who were functioning in tandem with the DMK to bring the state government down. Not just now, the DMK has been responsible for other bloody events too – Kodiyamkulam incident of 1993, the Manjolai massacre, Coimbatore blasts on basis of religion have all happened under the watch of DMK. In fact, the terrorists who were responsible for the Coimbatore blasts were released under the DMK regime by the then Chief Minister Karunanidhi.

Contrary to their claims of being the saviour of Tamils, the DMK has done more damage to Tamil Nadu and its people than its good deeds. This party is nothing but a family run enterprise where even their own cadres are called as ‘dogs’. One can only imagine the plight of common citizens if they come to power!

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