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City charity refutes quake fund claims

Coventry Observer, March 4, 2004 original

THOUSANDS of pounds donated to charity by Coventrians have been used to fund Hindu extremists in India, a new report claimed this week.

Sewa International, the UK branch of right wing organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has an office in Foleshill Road which raised over £250,000 in 2001 to provide humanitarian aid for victims of 2001’s Gujarat earthquake.

But a report titled ‘In Bad Faith? British Charity and Hindu Extremism’ was submitted to the House of Lords by human rights watchdog Awaaz this week which claimed the bulk of the millions of pounds raised had been given to the RSS to fund its right wing activities.

The creed of the RSS is to turn India into a Hindu nation.
The organisation runs schools to promote its views and has also been linked to violent campaigns against some sections of Indian society.

Coventry City Council handed Sewa International a £10,000 cheque towards the Gujarat appeal, while schools in the city also raised large sums of money and collections were made from city centre shoppers.

The city council declined to comment on the content of the report this week.

The Charity Commission is already conducting an investigation into Sewa International and connected organisations but has had fact finding missions to India blocked by the rejection of visa applications.

A Commission spokesman said: “We take very seriously the allegations raised in the Awaaz report, and we will thoroughly examine the contents of the recommendations contained within it.”

Sewa International refuted the claims this week, branding the report “false, malicious and politically motivated.”

The organisation said it had a policy to fund only projects run by registered and reputable organisations.