Mirror Now
29 September 2020
EP1253 – Is the move to freeze Amnesty’s account, a witch hunt or valid crackdown? | The Urban Debate
29 SEPTEMBER 2020 | MIRROR NOW TV | 39 MIN 39 SEC
On the Urban Debate today, Tanvi Shukla takes up the latest topic of the day which has gathered attention from everyone alike today. Amnesty International India has decided to halt all its operations in India, after the Centre froze their bank accounts. Amnesty International is a human rights Non-governmental organization, based out of the United Kingdom. The organization has been accused of receiving funds illegally and thus the government has frozen their accounts, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act violations.
While the Amnesty calls it a ‘witch-hunt’ by the Central government, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a statement and clarified that this is not a witch hunt but simply the rule of law which has to be followed by every organization. Problems have risen for those organizations which have received foreign funding, especially during the NDA government’s rule in the country. To discuss and debate about the same, the panel on today’s Urban Debate includes BJP spokesperson Shweta Shalini, Suhas Chakma, Director at Rights and Risks Analysis Group and Gautam Mukherjee, Senior Journalist.
Shweta Shalini states that ‘foreign funds are allowed in every organization, including NGOs, through a legal way.’ Amnesty under the garb of NGO was earning profits and doing anti-national activities. To contradict this, Suhas Chakma states that we have a situation where political parties, that run the country, can receive foreign funds, but NGOs are subjected to investigations.
