Govt. rejects U.S. charity’s charge on RSS role in exit

There are well-established norms on NGOs, says MEA

Gopal Baglay.

India said it would prefer not to have a public debate with the U.S. on actions against foreign-funded NGOs in the country, hours after the U.S. State Department expressed concern over the impending closure of U.S Christian charity Compassion International (CI) in India.

The Ministry of External Affairs said it would prefer “not to air reactions in public”, and said the government’s actions were not in any way guided by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, as alleged by the CI. “There is a well-established legal framework for NGOs to conduct their operations in India. India has one of the largest NGO networks in the world,” said MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay.

Mr. Baglay’s response came after the State Department termed the impending closure of CI’s operations in India “unfortunate.” Department spokesperson Mark Toner said the U.S was in talks with the Indian government on the issue. “I think we’re concerned... when we see... a group like Compassion International, which we believe is working and doing important work in India and is closed down, that it’s a matter of concern, but certainly we’ll raise that with the Indian Government.”

“...unfortunately, we’ve seen over the past couple of years a number of foreign-funded NGOs in India that have encountered significant challenges in continuing their operations. And we believe it’s imperative that all parties work transparently and cooperatively in a way that, obviously, respects India’s laws but also encourages a transparent process, and these are views that we’ve made clear to the Indian Government,” Mr. Toner said .

Mr. Baglay also repeated his statement, made to The Hindu on Wednesday, dismissing allegations made by CI that their ouster from India was because of “ideological” reasons and that they were in negotiations with an RSS activist in the U.S. to reverse strictures against them on the question of aiding religious conversions.

RSS issues statement

On Thursday, the RSS issued a statement denying the allegations first carried in The New York Times and calling them “false and unfair.”

”The RSS works only in India and has no representative in any foreign country, including the U.S.,” said Manmohan Vaidya, All India Prachar Pramukh of the RSS.