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From: "imtiaz uddin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Subject: FW: [indianmuslims] The hidden face of charity
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 02:40:46 +0000
>Subject: The hidden face of charity >Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 08:13:27 -0700 (PDT) > >COMMUNALISM > >The hidden face of charity > >DIONNE BUNSHA > >http://www.flonnet.com/fl2108/stories/20040423003504300.htm > >A recently published report provides insights into how Hindutva >groups operate at the international level through different front >organisations and charities. >KAMAL KISHORE/ REUTERS > >Earthquake survivors in a makeshift camp at Sukhpar, about 10 km from >Bhuj, Gujarat, on January 30, 2001. A British group has found that �2 >million raised for quake reconstruction and rehabilitation were given >to Sewa Bharati, an RSS affiliate. > >LORD ADAM PATEL was one of the many overseas Indians moved by the >tragedy of the Kutch earthquake in 2001. A Labour Party Member of >Parliament in the United Kingdom, Lord Patel, along with other public >figures in the Indian diaspora, used their influence to help gather >funds to send back home. He was a patron of Sewa International's >Earthquake Relief Fund. > >But soon, Lord Patel was jolted. He found out that Sewa >International's mission was not purely "seva" (service). The money >was allegedly being given to Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh-affiliated >organisations that propagate hatred against Muslims and Christians. >The Sangh Parivar was involved in the communal violence that crippled >Gujarat in 2002. Realising their links, Lord Patel resigned as a >patron of Sewa International. > >"I very much regret ever having been part of this racist >organisation. ... Sewa International is a front for militant Hindu >organisations. ... I am sure a lot of the donors don't realise the >money is being sent to help terror groups like the RSS," he said in >an interview with the U.K. newspaper Sunday Mercury (August 11, >2002). > >Recently, a British group called Awaaz exposed the RSS' charitable >facade. It published a report, "In Bad Faith: British Charity and >Hindu Extremism," which traces how, in the guise of earthquake >relief, millions of pounds raised by Sewa International have gone to >RSS fronts. It found that all the two million pounds raised for quake >reconstruction and rehabilitation were given to Sewa Bharati, an RSS >affiliate. The report provides insights into how Hindutva groups >operate at the international level through different front >organisations and charities. > >"Sewa Bharati's activities around both the Gujarat Earthquake and the >Orissa cyclone in 1999 demonstrate a pattern in which a natural, >human tragedy is used to enable the dramatic expansion of RSS >institutions through the use of overseas funds," said the report. In >2002, a similar report, "A Foreign Exchange of Hate", exposed how an >RSS front charity in the United States called the India Development >and Relief Fund (IDRF) was funding Sangh Parivar activities in India. > >While appealing for funds, it is alleged, Sewa International did not >disclose its association with the Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh (HSS), the >RSS' U.K. branch, and Sewa Bharati. Sewa Bharati was banned by the >Madhya Pradesh government because of its alleged role in the attacks >on Christians. "Sewa International funded Sewa Bharati for rebuilding >work, but it was the RSS that conducted ceremonies at the start of >rebuilding work or handed over the completed villages to residents," >the report said. > > > >PAWEL KOPCZYNSKI/ REUTERS > >A street, with the rubble of a fallen house, in Bhuj on January 28, >2001. > >Sewa Bharati started RSS shakhas during the rehabilitation of >Badanpur village. Reports allege that the RSS distributed relief >selectively to upper-caste victims, neglecting Dalits and Muslims. >The RSS also organised shakhas in relief camps. At Adhoi village, >Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) preachers gave lectures every night on >the need to be vigilant against Christians and Muslims. RSS >volunteers allegedly threatened other relief workers with harm unless >they left Kutch. They accused the latter of receiving foreign funds >to convert people to Christianity. > >Almost a quarter of Sewa International's earthquake relief funds went >to RSS-run schools. The National Council for Educational Research and >Training (NCERT) criticised the teaching material in these schools as >being "blatantly communal". > >While confirming that all its earthquake relief funds went to Sewa >Bharati and that it is a part of the HSS, Sewa International refuted >accusations that it is funding hate campaigns in India. "Sewa >International is a non-religious, non-political and non-sectarian >organisation, which believes in equality. At all times, Sewa >International encourages social integration and not social division," >said Shantibhai Mistry, a Sewa International representative, in a >letter to the newspaper that published Lord Adam's interview. > >"The view expressed in the newspaper, in which Lord Adam implies that >Sewa International is a front for militant activity, which incites >racial hatred, is both outrageous and offending. Sewa International >has always openly condemned violence, terrorism and racial >discrimination in the past and will continue to do so in the future," >said Mistry. > >He maintained that the dealings of Sewa International were >transparent. "Many individuals such as the Lord Mayor of Coventry and >the former Mayor of Derby together with several Labour MPs and >representatives from the media have visited the earthquake-affected >areas of Gujarat and have personally approved, endorsed and commended >the rehabilitation work carried out by Sewa," he said. Refuting >allegations, Sewa International said it encouraged donors to visit >the projects that their money had funded and provided every >assistance to those who wished to do so. > >Besides earthquake relief, questions have also been raised about Sewa >International's other projects. Most of the �2,60,000 raised by Sewa >International U.K. for cyclone relief in Orissa after 1999 went to a >key front of the RSS, the Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti (UBSS). "The >HSS U.K. said the funds would be channelled through RSS volunteers. >It also said it funds organisations that gets their workforce from >the RSS," said the Awaaz report. > >Lord Adam and others in the U.K. are appealing to the U.K. government >to get the organisation's status as charity revoked. In India, such >funding is a violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act >(FCRA) regulations since the money is used to fund political ends >under different guises. > >In the United States, a large part of the IDRF's fund raising is done >through electronic means such as money transfer portals, charity >portals or company foundation portals such as the Cisco Foundation. > >Many large corporations match employee donations to charities and >land up giving a lot of money to the IDRF. From 1993-95, the VHP of >America had signed up with AT&T for a programme in which a fixed >percentage of any subscriber's total telephone bill could be directed >to a non-profit organisation of his/her choice if the organisation >was registered under the AT&T programme. But AT&T withdrew support >for the VHP of America after it was under pressure from people who >were appalled by the VHP's misuse of charity. > >The Awaaz report is an eye-opener for many who are misled by >charities and donate without knowing what their money is used for and >by whom. Charity is not always as harmless and benevolent as it >sometimes seems. > > > >__________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >Yahoo! Tax Center - File online by April 15th >http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html > > >------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> >Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark >Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. >http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 >http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/saOolB/TM >---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> > >On the Web: >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indianmuslims/ > >Yahoo! Groups Links > ><*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indianmuslims/ > ><*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ><*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > >FYI.
Imtiaz
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