Amnesty International’s covert operations in India using journalists and activists

With Amnesty gone, will CBI and ED crackdown on other dubious NGOs too?

By
Team PGurus
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With Amnesty gone, will CBI and ED crackdown on other dubious NGOs too?
With Amnesty gone, will CBI and ED crackdown on other dubious NGOs too?

Now the controversial multinational NGO Amnesty International has shut shop in India after the agencies caught them for several violations including the prevention of money laundering rules. It is already reported by the website Great Game India about Amnesty’s links with British intelligence agencies and how the NGO was used to penetrate into many countries through the garb of human rights and charity works[1]. In India, the London based Amnesty used many pliable journalists to operate in India through dubious ways by floating commercial firms and money routed for commercial purposes.

How did Amnesty enter India?

Was it with the help of pliable journalists and activists?

In 1990, Amnesty tried to enter India citing human rights in Kashmir during the V P Singh regime. Those days the then Opposition leader Rajiv Gandhi opposed it, citing the dubious operations of the agency and its links with British spy agencies. Somehow Amnesty got its India operations started and got clearance to accept foreign contributions in 2000. For accepting foreign contributions, the NGO needs clearance from the Union Home Ministry under FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act). Later many times the FCRA clearance was denied as many complained about the dubious role of the agency. Then came the fraud of the London-based NGO.

After two years, in June 2015, the company changed the name to Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd. Pro-Congress Columnist Aakar Patel started heading the company.

First in June 2013, in Bangalore, a commercial firm was registered as a company by the name Social Sector Research Consultancy & Support Services (India) Private Limited. This firm changed the name to Amnesty International India Private Limited, in June 2015. All the frauds including money laundering were caught by Union Home Ministry only in June 2019, leading to the registration of a case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The investigation found that Amnesty International (UK) works in India through four entities in a dubious manner. None of them obtained an FCRA license to accept foreign contributions. These are the four entities:

  1. Amnesty International Foundation which is a registered as Trust registered in Delhi.
  2. Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd, a company registered in Bangalore
  3. Indians for Amnesty International Trust based in Bangalore
  4. Amnesty International South Asia Foundation is registered as a company in Delhi.

Social Sector Research Consultancy & Support Services (India) Private Limited which floated as a company in Bangalore in June 2013 had started with just Rs. One Lakh capital with two journalists – V K Shashikumar (worked with Tehelka & CNN-IBN) and Nikhil John Eapen – as Directors. Then, after two years, in June 2015, the company changed the name to Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd. Pro-Congress Columnist Aakar Patel started heading the company.

Amnesty also formed another private company in Delhi address with just Rs. One lakh capital in May 2015 with the name – Amnesty International South Asia.

Meanwhile, the first financial fraud happens in September 2015. First London Headquarters of Amnesty delivers Rs.10 crores to the Bangalore company as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). How this fraudulent transfer was treated as FDI is another question. What was Reserve Bank of India, under then-Governor Raghu Ram Rajan doing? What about the Finance Ministry? These questions are still unanswered.

Next, after getting Rs.10 crores as FDI this company pledged this money as a deposit and obtained Rs.11.40 crores as Overdraft to another Trust – Indians for Amnesty International Trust – from Kotak Mahindra Bank!

Another interesting thing was this company’s (Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd.) more than 99.9% of shares (9980 shares) were held by a Trust called Indians for Amnesty International Trust. The rest of the 10 shares each were held by two activist ladies – Shobha Mathai and Nandini Anand. Later shareholding pattern changed to three shareholders – Amitabh Behar (currently heading Oxfam), Harish, and Ramacharan Das. All these people were journalists and NGO activists air-dropped along with London-based institutes. The shareholding pattern continued to change with new-new shareholders from the same category of people like Minar Vasudeva Pimple, Anant Hapadmabhawan Guruswamy, and Brij Patnaik. At present, the shutdown company has two Directors – Amitabh Behar (currently CEO of another foreign NGO – Oxfam) and Manoj Mitta (former journalist of Times of India).

ED’s probe shows that money was flowing to this company in so many ways that up to Rs.100 crores came in from London showing as commercial consultancy fee and service contracts, website maintenance contracts, etc. The agencies say a block of Rs.26 was landed in the Indian company based on invoices for service contracts.

Meanwhile, Amnesty also formed another private company in Delhi address with just Rs. One lakh capital in May 2015 with the name – Amnesty International South Asia. Current Directors of this Delhi based company are Biraj Patnaik (also Executive Director of NFI – National Foundation for India which is also getting all kinds of foreign donations), Minar Vasudeo Pimple (also a shareholder in a Bangalore company), and Meenu Vadera. All three are professional activists linked to many NGOs, managing a lot of foreign donations from many multinational NGOs and Corporate CSR Funds.

The question is when is CBI, ED, and Union Home Ministry cracking the whip on the persons behind these NGOs involved in getting foreign funding illegally?

References:

[1] The Secret History Of How British Intelligence Created Amnesty International – Sep 29, 2020, Great Game India

Team PGurus
Team PGurus
We are a team of focused individuals with expertise in at least one of the following fields viz. Journalism, Technology, Economics, Politics, Sports & Business. We are factual, accurate and unbiased.
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17 COMMENTS

  2. […] See this too. Many countries, institutions ( dozens of them like Amnesty International … see 1 & 2 ), media and individuals ( like George Soros ) are working against India – the threat is […]

  6. Like the print and electronic media the NGO is also a business. The projection of being independent and objective is just not sustainable. They all have to side with one or the other, profit is not the aim of any business it is a compulsion so perform or perish.
    While there were only few of them in the market, they managed to fool us. But the competition in any business bares it all.
    Last 3 months we heard nothing other that SSR death, since last 4 days barring an exception all have gone quiet, without giving a reason, this is how the viewer is treated where is the independence and objectivity.

  7. While we are at it, can we look at these foreigners who are marrying locals and using their citizenship access to roam freely? I see Karl showing border crossings and out of the way temples, using drones in Delhi.

  8. There is a bigger problem here. We are hoping that prosecution will deter this but we need to focus on prevention.

    There needs to be a questionnaire that every FDI investor must complete and it must be mandatory for Indian citizens to report gifts from foreigners.

    Gifts include money, anything of value including a promise that there kids will be admitted into oxford or Yale or wherever.

    We need to get serious about creating a paper trail and banks must ensure credible information is maintained.

  10. Amnesty International’s covert operations in India using journalists and activists, I
    Appreciate your researched news item while the majority of the visual and print media looks the other way. I observed very few take a leaf out of Pgurus and start reporting it in their own patriotic way and very few take your story line and do a ten minutes video and upload it in YouTube without acknowledging your news line.

    Under the Dynasty regimes, using journalists and activists having radical commie’s ideologies and evangelists are widely known to all political parties especially since 1984. Govt of the day fails to act on certain TV Channels and certain notorious Journalists!!

    It is reported by Wion News (Gravitas) that in our country every each NGO is behind 400 people!

    According to the CBI submitted data we have 31 lakhs registered NGOs in the country more than double schools or 250 times more than hospitals in this country!! And 21000 NGO receive foreign funding and 90% of them did not submit Audited Balance Report!! Why’s RBI silent on NGOs? Are we under seize by the size of such a massive NGOs until recent ban by GOI?

    Why do we need NGOs at the backdrop of innumerable State and Central Govts wings? Indians are donors by their Sanatana Dharma Culture feed people voluntarily and defence forces, NCC and local police help people? We have innumerable domestic and patriotic NGOs belonging to temples/Mutts and certain political parties have their own seva dals.

    It is commonly understood that RBI looks after printing currency notes, monitors FOREX and keep reserves and distributes and sends monies to Banks in an armoured vehicles and allow public to exchange soiled notes with new one from its department.

    My question is why RBI has been silent on such activities ever since its inception? Who will do audits on RBI? Does RBI allowed to do “shoot inflation” only and “kill the growth” ?
    Why political appointees and even highly educated within India and imported RBI governors and economic advisors did not take note of such frauds and failed to look after massive NPAs in the then 24 PSU banks?

    Why RBI Governors have been appointed overlooking their suitable qualifications!

    Ever since independence MoFs behaved differently and ruined our economy with budgeted economy having an average 4% GDP and nurtured shadow/parallel economy of 3 % of our GDP and at the end claim 7% GDP if we ignore ever changing GDP calculating formulas

    How many departments are working under MoF? Why reforms / restructuring in MoF are not happening? If the Govt of the day takes too much time due to understaffing, crooks will run away and re-establish themselves in so many other ways. It was reported that black money shifted from many countries to Macau within seven years of BJP regime!

    • “And 21000 NGO receive foreign funding and 90% of them did not submit Audited Balance Report!!”

      This is a problem. We should require NGOs stop operations until They submit a current report, then all back reports, then pay a hefty fine and put on probation. If they don’t comply in the future, close them down.

      • I agree. Under FCRA during the last five years Govt banned 15000 NGOs.
        This incumbent Govt is innovative in slapping a minimum 2% of the average net profits made during the three immediately preceding financial years as per CSR policy. I feel that CSR is a recipe for another social disaster! MNCs naturally use the services of foreign funded NGOs working here! By the time Govt acts the damage is done to our social fabric and temple assets…….

        How many MNCs donated to PMCares?

        Solution may be that all banks must “stop converting foreign inward remittances received “ by NGOs until beneficiary NGOs submit Annual Performance Report/Audited Reports in Income Tax and a copy to Registrar of Companies. Beneficiary Banks too should insist for audited soft copies or Acknowledgements from IT and ROC authorities and if in case of delays a letter from their respective chartered accountants must be made mandatory.

        India badly needed a battery of experienced people in MoF. My humble opinion is that educated people should not work under uneducated/ poorly educated politicians forming a Government. Voters are fooled with 200 schemes of State and Central Govts. This incumbent RSS based BJP lead NDA Govt applied age factor within its party ranks and why it has failed to state a minimum educational qualification to become PM/Cabinet Ministers?

  12. Could anyone or the Government answer how the foreign funding of parties has been swept under the carpet by this Modi Govt.
    By Jaitely as FM if I recall.
    So can assume that all politicians are like the NGO’s who receive funds

  14. Why would a NGO (supposedly a non-profit organization) be registered as a Private company? All the directors of these two companies (as well as those in the central / state administration that allowed this registration) must be prosecuted for fraud, in addition to FCRA violations.

  15. Ex director of Amnesty International, India-
    Aakar Ahmed Patel aka (also known as) Aakar Patel for the last some years.
    Amnesty International had a multi-pronged approach (nefarious designs) and used intermediaries to execute its policies towards and in India.
    Personal secretary to Ambassador of India in an important country was connected to British intelligence.
    It is hard to believe that India’s diplomatic staff posted abroad were clueless (unconcerned ?) while Amnesty International kept India on the boil for so many years.
    Can Amnesty International be dragged to a court of law, if there is actionable information ?
    Would Indian Government take its emabssy staff to task, undertake through investigations if there is actionable information ?
    Hate to be pessimist, but look around…What Mr RVS Mani exposed, what Mr Srivastava (NDTV’s frauds) is battling against and what Mr S Iyer has so far exposed.
    What reference quoted in this article has to say:
    CTD Advisors is founded by Shoaib Bajwa, the son of a Pakistani born British spy. In his obituary, Salim Nasir Bajwa, the father of Shoaib is said to have served in British security services for almost 10 years in 1950s and was engaged in multiple entrepreneurial activities in Pakistan and abroad during his life.
    Welcome! @ShashiTharoor https://t.co/f2Qez2ZHQp
    — Shoaib K Bajwa (@ShoaibKBajwa) November 19, 2019 (*)
    Shashi Tharoor, member of Parliament as well as CTD Advisors founded by British intelligence.
    (*) Is this the same Bajwa clan whose member rules ISI of Pakistan?

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