The Campaign
to Stop Funding Hate
P.O. Box 20136 Stanford CA 94309
PRESS
RELEASE
Date/Time: Friday, December
13, 2002.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MORALE BOOSTERS FOR 'STOP
FUNDING HATE' CAMPAIGNERS
- UK CHARITIES COMMISSIONER
LOOKING INTO FRESH EVIDENCE AGAINST RIGHT WING HINDU FUND RAISING
ACTIVITIES
- ANOTHER SILICON VALLEY
GIANT SUSPENDS TIES WITH RIGHT WING HINDU CHARITY IDRF
- 280 PROFESSORS PETITION
US CORPORATIONS AGAINST IDRF
In a series of swift developments,
the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate (SFH) was further vindicated
today as the Charities Commissioner of UK announced an investigation
into fresh evidence of right wing Hindu fundraising activities
in UK; Oracle, another silicon valley giant announced suspension
of matching grants to IDRF, the US based charity accused by the
campaigners of funneling money to support violent Hindu nationalist
organizations in India; and a high power group of 280 professors
from various American universities petitioned American corporations
against offering financial support to IDRF. In a statement, spokespersons
for the campaign Shalini Gera, Angana Chatterjee and Ali Mir, called
these developments a morale-booster.
The charities commissioner
of UK revealed to the press in London that the commission has initiated
an investigation into the fundraising activities of right wing
Hindu groups in UK. The commissioner was responding to questions
from leading Indian newspapers, following an expose by Channel
IV. The television network on Thursday telecast extensive documentation
accusing the charity Sewa International (UK), the IDRF's sister
organization in Britain, of supporting anti-minority violence in
India. It showed how the tribal welfare centers in India (known
as Vanavasi Kalyan Ashrams) supported by right wing Hindu groups
were used for anti-Christian and anti-Muslim ideological training.
Representatives of Channel 4, according to news reports widely
published in India said that Channel 4 would be submitting documents
to the Charities Commission as fresh "evidence" of the
alleged misuse of funds by the largest U.K.- based Indian charity
- Sewa International, an offshoot of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh
(HSS) whose affairs are already being investigated by the Commission.
Shalini Gera, one of the spokespersons for the Campaign to Stop
Funding Hate pointed out these were the same centers supported
by IDRF through funds raised from individual and corporate grants
in USA. (See
Press Release.)
The campaigners claimed
another major victory as Oracle, another Silicon Valley giant,
followed in the footsteps of Cisco and Sun and withdrew support
to the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF). It may be recalled
that based on a report titled "The Foreign Exchange of Hate" (available
at http://www.stopfundinghate.org),
the campaigners had on November 20, charged IDRF with sending money
to organizations associated with a violent and extremist movement
in India. Since then, several corporations have disassociated themselves
from IDRF and many more are in the process of doing so. A spokesperson
from Oracle's Corporate Communications department issued a formal
statement confirming that Oracle had made matching contributions
to IDRF in the past but that "Oracle had no reason to believe
the funds would be used for any purpose other than the intended
relief." The statement goes on to confirm "Oracle has
placed all donations to the IDRF on hold pending further investigation".
Angana Chatterji, a spokesperson for the CSFH, said, "We are
hopeful that the actions of CISCO, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, send
a strong message to organizations like IDRF that funding hate in
the name of charity is deceptive and morally reprehensible. IDRF's
disaster relief allocations have been sectarian and its participation
in the communalization of education dangerous. IDRF, through organizations
like the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams and Vivekananda Kendra seeks to
Hinduize adivasi communities, exploit divisions among the marginalized,
and indoctrinate the youth, to use them as foot soldiers in the
larger cause of Hindutva nationalism. Such actions must be condemned
in India where recent and horrific violations of minority rights
are cause for deep concern."
Meanwhile, the Campaigners
received a shot in the arm when a statement supporting their efforts
was endorsed by over 280 professors from universities across North
America, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Chicago,
UPenn, Cornell and Brown. Ali Mir, one of the spokespersons of
the campaign said, "this petition is heartwarming as the list
of signatories reads like a veritable Who's Who of the academic
world in terms of expertise not only on South Asia but in all areas
of higher learning." The list of faculty signatories includes
several scientists and engineers, professors who hold endowed chairs,
as well as leading South Asian Area Studies scholars in the U.S
- economists, political scientists, anthropologists, sociologists,
philosophers, historians, professors of religion, and professors
of literature - who are concerned with the growth of the Hindu
fundamentalist movement in India and its increasing use of violence
to achieve its ends. (See
Press Release by Faculty Petition organizers).
Arjun Appadurai, a professor
at Yale University who holds the William K. Lanman Jr. Chair of
the International Studies and is the Director of the Initiatives
on Cities and Globalization, urged American corporations and individual
donors to be discerning: "The safety and dignity of India's
minorities cannot be further endangered by misinformed philanthropy
in the United States." Commending the 'Foreign Exchange of
Hate' report, published on November 20, Appadurai said, "The
evidence on which this petition is based meets the highest academic
standards and demands the attention of anyone who believes in responsible
globalization, democratic pluralism and informed advocacy." Physics
and Astronomy Professor Sumit Das from the University of Kentucky
says, "it is alarming to see that organizations like this
use the money donated by well meaning persons in activities which
directly or indirectly support communal outfits." Gauri Viswanathan,
Director of the Southern Asia Institute at Columbia University
and Paola Baccheta, an Associate Professor of Women's Studies at
UC, Berkeley, echoed these sentiments in making a strong plea to
donors to be vigilant.
The campaigners maintained
that IDRF, which poses as a development and relief charity, is
actually a part of the Sangh Parivar, an ultra-nationalist and
exclusionary movement that has been accused of orchestrating violence
against religious minorities in India including the recent genocidal
killing of over 2,000 Muslims in the state of Gujarat. As a result
of the Campaign, which was launched in late November, Cisco and
Sun Microsystems, and now Oracle have dropped IDRF from their list
of eligible charities. None of these organizations will now offer
matching funds for any employee donation to IDRF.
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