The chief of global human rights NGO Amnesty International on Monday alleged that the Narendra Modi government was intimidating his organisation in India. Amnesty International had launched a vocal campaign against the security lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir.
Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International's secretary-general, made the comments while interacting with AFP in Washington. Naidoo, who is from South Africa, joined Amnesty International as its ninth secretary-general in 2018.
Naidoo claimed, “The Modi government has made a very big attempt to crush Amnesty in India.” He added Amnesty International staff in India were “under stress”. Naidoo claimed, “While our colleagues in our Indian office are under stress, they are as committed, motivated and courageous as ever, if not more, as a result of the repression that we face.”
Naidoo declared Amnesty International's work in India “would survive” as it used funding from local donors.
Naidoo affirmed Amnesty International was not “intimidated” over the issue of raising questions about the events in Jammu and Kashmir. “It is a horrific thing to actually cut people’s legitimate way of communicating with each other completely,” Naidoo said, voicing his opinion on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Last week, Amnesty International India confirmed receiving a show-cause notice from the Enforcement Directorate. The Enforcement Directorate had issued a show-cause notice to Amnesty International India on July 25, alleging violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to the tune of over Rs 51 crore.
The alleged FEMA contravention is related to borrowing and lending to the tune of Rs 51.72 crore for rendering civil society activities in the country by getting remittances from its parent body, Amnesty International UK, in the garb of export of services, PTI reported.
Amnesty International India denied the charges that it had violated any laws and reaffirmed its faith in the Indian legal system. In October 2018, the Enforcement Directorate had conducted searches at the office of Amnesty International India in Bengaluru over alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
Amnesty International has been strident in its criticism of the security lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir.
On September 5, Amnesty International India launched a campaign to demand an end to the security restrictions and communication blackout. Launching the campaign, Aakar Patel, the head of Amnesty International India, claimed the lockdown was “tearing families apart” in Jammu and Kashmir. Patel had argued, “Depriving an entire population of their right to freedom of expression, opinion and movement for an indefinite period is akin to taking the region back to the dark ages. ‘Naya Kashmir’ cannot be built without the Kashmiris.”