NGO Funding & Agitation Technology - Part 4 #Political Nexus

There used to be a MacArthur Foundation operation in India but their website now seems to have disappeared. Between 1986 and 2004 this MacArthur is reported to have provided some $28 Mn in funding to various NGOs in India. The head of the Indian chapter was a lady named Poonam Muttreja. Below is the organisation she is currently heading and operating:

On the face of it there is nothing unusual about her or about this PFI. She is the wife of AK Shiva Kumar. Now who is Shiva Kumar? He was a member of Sonia Gandhi’s pet coterie called NAC. Some members of this NAC are connected to a world wide web of NGOs and how they operate is a maze and probably even involves money-laundering in some cases. We have to wonder how the NGOs of some of the NAC members get vast foreign and domestic funds. Obviously, the funds get directed to these NGOs probably because of directions given by political forces. Among the members of NAC were Aruna Roy, Teesta Setalvad, Harsh Mander and others like Shabnam Hashmi were involved in govt projects under the Congress. Not surprisingly, some of these members were anti-Narendra Modi, scavengers of the Gujarat 2002 riots and consistently trashed any progress that Gujarat claimed under Modi. So these tweets by Ram Guha when the IB report came out are on predictable lines:

I believe Ram Guha didn’t get a job at the RajivG Foundation maybe that is why he is against him and a perfect Nehru admirer. But that apart, he seems to think IB is in “sycophantic” praise of the Gujarat Model. This is the problem with “intellectual morons”. They will see one word or phrase and conclude what their imagination desires. Let’s read what the IB actually said:

The report doesn’t praise the Gujarat model but clearly alleges some NGOs are being funded to trash the progress in Gujarat under Modi. And that is hard to believe? We have seen hundreds of people (including Private M Katju) who have operated a factory to trash anything about Gujarat; most of it with fake data. But what about the funding? That makes interesting reading:

Who or what is MARAG? It is operated by one Neeta Pandya, wife of Lalji Desai. Laljibhai joins Congress and is overnight made a general secretary. Congress believes in talent so they promote newcomers quickly. Don’t they? For the benefit of cribbers like Ram Guha, long before IB’s report DeshGujarat had put up a complete report on the anti-Gujarat/anti-Modi NGOs. Here’s an excerpt:

“In year 2009-10 foreign fund of Rs. 16440994.00 was transferred to MARAG from Canada and Italy. Some other fund was transferred through India based foreign agencies. MARAG received Rs 87,47,350 from Italy, Rs 70,68,105 from India branches of foreign organizations and Rs 6,02,100 from Canada. All fund was sourced for the purpose of “rural development”. In year 2010-11 Lalji Desai’s organization MARAG received Rs 1,12,66,365 in same bank account described above. While the sum of Rs 10,99,875 was received from Canada, the rest of the foreign fund of Rs 1,03,47,074 was sourced through Indian branches of foreign organizations such as Child Relief and You, Save the Children and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. We generally believe that Indian branches of ‘Save The Children’ and ‘Child Relief and You’ bring foreign funds to India for the benefits of children, however these organizations transferred funds worth millions to MARAG for the purpose of “rural development” according to official documents. Last year our one reader reported on twitter that he saw an international conference organized by MARAG in Ahmedabad’s five-star hotel Courtyard Marriott. Lalji earned fame after agitation against Maruti Suzuki’s proposed plant in Bechraji near Ahmedabad last year. The state government had to exclude some villages from proposed Special Investigation (Investment) Region(SIR) following that agitation”.

Ask yourself the question: what exactly does CRY or Save the Children have to do with MARAG or agitations? Nothing really! Why do their moneys flow to MARAG? Surely, it’s not love and affection but obviously under the directions of some political bosses. And there’s the usual suspect called OXFAM. That brings us back to the biggest web-operator in the NGO operation business: Harsh Mander. This Mander grandly claimed he resigned from IAS services after the 2002 riots on moral grounds of Muslims being killed. Okay! But he did not resign. He took VRS and ensured he was entitled to all the consequential benefits. But the media made a hero of this crook “resigning on moral grounds” to serve society. I don’t know about society but he did serve himself pretty well. He was among the first to write an article in TOI in March 2002 containing a load of rubbish and a bagful of lies about the riots. Having worked in Chattisgarh and MP in tribal areas Mander was quite familiar with God’s angels called OXFAM, ActionAid and other such “derail India” projects. Naturally, he joined Action Aid after he quit IAS. Mander was also a teacher to Arvind Kejriwal. All a nice family!

Read this article on NGO funding and activities about Mander’s connection to Jihad-sympathisers and that should tell you a lot of about this crook. They call it the Manderweb. The number of NGOs this guy has floated and has been associated with is phenomenal. After Action Aid there is Aman Biradari, there is ANHAD (with chronic liar Shabnam Hashmi), there is CES, there is…….. It’s a long one! In just about 2 years Mander’s crony outfits received 12 crores in funds. The donors’ names are quite sexy: Partnership Foundation, AMPI (Islamic), AMFI (Islamic), Action Aid, Oxfam, IMRC (Islamic), Bodo Huetten Foundation, AID, Danish Church Aid and so on. You think all these foundations have the interest of India at heart? But some of these crooks also peddle funds to the media so they will never report on their crimes. This is why charlatans like Mander, Shabnam, Teesta are all darlings of the media! Not one media house ever reports on their crimes or misdeeds with foreign funds. Suddenly, the media criminals who benefitted from NGOs are waking up to crimes they turned a blind eye to. Here’s the latest from Congress-slave Indian Express:

“only two per cent of the country’s estimated 20 lakh NGOs report their donations from abroad, and that most of the money is used for purposes not specified by the NGOs. NGOs have been under the government scanner following an IB report to the PMO stating that they are “stalling development projects”. The home ministry report, released last December, states, “…It is necessary to note that the NGO sector in India is vulnerable to the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing” …  The home ministry also raises concern that a “large number of registered associations still don’t submit their statutory annual returns mandated by the law”…  In previous years, the highest foreign contribution by any district in 2011-12 was reported by Chennai (Rs 889.99 crore) followed by Mumbai (Rs 825.40 crore) and Bangalore (Rs 812.48 crore). Among NGOs, World Vision of India, Chennai, received the highest that year at Rs 233.38 crore, followed by the Believers Church India, Pathanamthitta, Kerala (Rs 190.05 crore), and Rural Development Trust, Anathapur, in Andhra Pradesh (Rs 144.39 crore)”.

There, all of God’s angels flooded with money. As for Shabnam Hashmi, the pathetic liar, she, along with Mander, as partners in ANHAD (I call it Act Now for Hatred & Disharmony) got 1.65 crores in a short period of time. You think all these lucky breaks are because of little Shabbo or little Mander? There shouldn’t be any doubt all the funds were channelled and laundered probably at the directions of political bosses. Why should some Christian Aid in some corner of the world invest in a Muslim outfit of Shabnam? For both Mander and Shabnam’s extraordinary fund-getting prowess read the full details of moneys received in DeshGujarat articles here and here. And I recommend do go through the articles and the statement of funds thoroughly.

Consequent to quitting IAS joining Action Aid and spawning a whole lot of NGOs, Mander also roamed the country and the world on speaking assignments. He was also grandly paid for teaching at IIM and LBS Institute. If political powers are kind to you then you can go very far. All it takes is “Horse Sense”. I have horse sense too, and so too many other observers, and if we had done what the Manders and Aakar Patels did, we would have been on TV and celebrity panellists. Some of us have a disease called conscience but these crooks are vaccinated from it.

None of these charlatans operate without political and media support. It has rightly been called the “NGO-Politico-Media” complex. As if on cue, there’s an article in Sunday Guardian – “Foreign NGOs used Rahul as protector”, which explores the role of Rahul Gandhi in blessing some of these crooks. Quote: “At least four of the nine foreign nationals active in Greenpeace operations in India, who have been identified by the IB as having been hyperactive in orchestrating protests against major projects in the country, "have close links to those in Rahul Gandhi's inner circle", according to a Congress functionary. The functionary claimed that "at least two of the nine are personally known to Rahul, who met them and others from such outfits when abroad". Those close to Rahul Gandhi deny this, saying that "the Congress vice-president is a patriot who would never do anything to hurt the interests of India".

I have said before and say it again; nothing that the IB report reveals is new or wasn’t already in the public domain. The media and others chose to ignore all of it because of the “friendly” govt they had in Delhi. Intellectual Morons like Ram Guha claiming IB has a new found love for Gujarat Model merely reflects his own culture of ass-licking which has helped him and his career. This is the guy who sees a single signboard and writes a whole schoolboy essay about it without thinking twice. I naturally call this liar an “eminent distortian” with sound reason. It is also laughable; all the self-righteous indignation with which some of these NGOs, Barkhas, Guhas and others have reacted. They even called it suppressing dissent as if they are the guardians of free speech. Some lame ones brought up RSS and claimed RSS is the biggest NGO which also receives foreign funding. File a PIL and have RSS investigated if you want. The NGOs file enough PILs even if one tree is felled, don’t they? It doesn’t occur to these morons that no matter what you want to taint RSS with, you certainly cannot call them “Anti-nationals”.

This post concludes this series on fraudulent, anti-national NGOs. It’s always nice to end on a humorous note. Life goes on! I am always amazed at the self-righteous rage with which members of fraudulent NGOs react. You know, during the AK49 days of agitation if you criticised the moronery of AK, his supporters would also scream “You are corrupt. What are you doing about corruption?” At least many AAP members have smartened up to the tricks of AK & Co. It’s the younger lot recruited by the likes of Greenpeace who in their militant approach lose sense. Many NGO bosses live a 5-star life and enjoy 5-star luxuries, all in the name of saving the poor and saving the earth. All of it with other people’s money! I posted a copy of an article on Twitter on such a luxurious hangout.

The article is from WallStreetJournal and you can see the response which comes from a young Greenpeace warrior (I've erased the ID). The self-righteous reaction makes one wonder how brain-washed they are. Is the choice between ostentatious, 5 star luxury or living in huts in cheap clothes? There seems to be nothing in between. That’s how dumb and militantly stupid the recruits of many NGOs are. Some of these NGOs warrant a special SIT to look into their misdeeds. But one thing is clear; most of them have prospered only due to political nexus and patronage.

Concluded. 

NGO Funding & Agitation Technology - Part 3 #Climate

(Previous parts: Part-1, Part-2)

Some lies take longer to dismantle than others. November 14 is observed as “Children’s Day” in India after Chacha Nehru. Children are the biggest “emotional tools” that politicians, marketers and NGOs use. I had a reason to write “Children as leverage” in two parts. A long time Nehru-watcher wrote: ''Nehru certainly did some acting on public occasions and before TV cameras... The acting was never worse than the pose of Chacha Nehru with the children. This was at its worst on his birthday for a few years when sycophants organised groups of children, with flowers and copious photographing, to parade with him. It was out of character; his interest in children was slender”. Acting does run in the Nehru-Gandhi clan. Anyway, let’s watch this video (4.13 mins):

“Please help the world. Please save the world” the kids cry out. That video was played at the Global Warming Conference in Denmark in December 2009. Scary enough? It not only rattles you but makes you feel guilty of destroying the earth and leaving a bad earth to future children. You are a bad person! Really bad! When NGOs, UN panels, politicians, govts, movie celebrities and media crooks orchestrate mass fear-mongering there is no escape. And that is how everyone started creating the scare of Global Warming and Climate Change. How much of it is true and how much of it is fiction is something we don’t know. Scientists too have differences about it. In the comments section in the previous part some have referred to Michael Crichton’s “State of fear”. It’s a fictional story about how eco-terrorists plan mass destruction and murder to emphasize global warming.

Former VP of the USA and climate change champion Al Gore also made a documentary about it called “An inconvenient truth”. He showed how devastating the effects of melting glaciers can be; like the Himalayan glaciers which were going to melt because of our recklessness. The film won Oscar awards and was used widely in schools in India to propagate the dangers of climate change to children. There are notebooks with information on global warming with messages on the covers to save the earth and schools held debates on how to save our world. Isn’t it all nice?

Let me mention upfront that there is no dispute that we can treat our environment better. We can pollute less; chop less trees and care for earth and our ecology. But it certainly doesn’t merit the extreme fear-mongering that some NGOs, politicians, religious leaders and media outlets are indulging in. India, in particular, still has a large population that struggles for basic needs. That should dictate the balance in our policies and not the idealistic desires of a few hot-heads.

The Climate mania itself was exposed to have many loop-holes and a lot of data being used that wasn’t sound. In 2009 it came to be known as the Climategate scandal. Thousands of emails were hacked from a University in East Anglia, England, which showed scientists used “tricks” to compile data to enhance the global warming theory. The other revelation was there wasn’t a definite pattern in global warming and there have been periods in history in the past when such warming has occurred and also changed. Most of the scientists accused of falsifying data were given a clean-chit by their govts so we need not criminalise them. Science is a tedious process and theories and data are often hard to prove instantly. Many of the scientists were associated with the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) a UN panel. And the guy heading this panel was none other than Dr Rajendra Pachauri of India. He also runs an NGO called TERI (The Energy & Resources Institute) which is a Tata product. TERI is now also partly a deemed university. He looks like a spiritual guru, doesn’t he?

One of the most stunning and extreme fear-mongering nonsense used by Pachauri’s IPCC in their 2007 report was that the Himalayan glaciers were melting so fast that they would disappear by 2035. This also came to be known as “Glaciergate”. The guy who made the original claim that the glaciers would disappear was one Dr Syed Hasnain of JNU. Why is this piece of crap so important? Because it was made the centre-piece of the fear-mongering in Al Gore’s movie and also the IPCC report and many other fear-mongers used this piece of information extensively. Let’s read a bit from the link I have quoted above:

“To understand why the future of Himalayan glaciers should arouse such peculiar passion, one must recall why they have long been a central icon in global warming campaigners' propaganda. Everything that polar bears have been to the West, the ice of the Himalayas has been – and more – to the East. This is because, as Mr Gore emphasised in his Oscar-winning film An Inconvenient Truth, the vast Himalayan ice sheet feeds seven of the world's major river systems, thus helping to provide water to 40 per cent of the world's population. The IPCC's shock prediction in its 2007 report that the likelihood of the glaciers "disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high" thus had huge impact in India and other Asian countries”.

That Dr Hasnain who casually mentioned about the glaciers melting turned out to be working at Pachauri’s TERI. Interesting, eh? India’s leading glaciologist Dr Vijay Raina dismissed the claims of Hasnain as bogus and was supported by then minister Jairam Ramesh. To this, the great Dr Pachauri had the most nonchalant response. He called Raina’s work “Voodoo science”. Well, Pachauri is not exactly a specialist on Himalayan glaciers or climate but such is the stupidity of men indulging in fear-mongering. Both Al Gore and Pachauri (on behalf of IPCC) collected Nobel prizes 2 years prior for their excellent fear-mongering. The Glaciergate was proved beyond any doubt and every scientist and those who attended the Denmark conference knew this was a serious mistake. Why the obsession with such bogus, unverified data? Well, let me reproduce a paragraph from the same linked article that I quoted above:

“What has now come to light, however, is that the scientist from whom this claim originated, Dr Syed Hasnain, has for the past two years been working as a senior employee of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the Delhi-based company of which Dr Pachauri is director-general. Furthermore, the claim – now disowned by Dr Pachauri as chairman of the IPCC – has helped TERI to win a substantial share of a $500,000 grant from one of America's leading charities, along with a share in a three million euro research study funded by the EU”.

Whoa! So you see, bogus, unverified data got Pachauri’s TERI millions of dollars from all around. Money! And the one who made an honest investigation into the issue (Dr Vijay Raina) was ridiculed as practicing “voodoo science” by this charlatan Pachauri. Let’s watch a report from NDTV after this charlatan was exposed and how this serious lapse by IPCC was brushed aside quite casually by Pachauri without as much as an apology to India or to Dr Raina or to anyone in the world (video 2.50 mins):

How cool! Now, you would think NDTV was reporting seriously and wanted to grill Pachauri. Wrong! NDTV is a stooge for all TERI-type organisations and charlatans like Pachauri. Immediately after Pachauri was regarded as a scamster across the world due to Glaciergate and the funds he received where did he run to? Oh yes, remember? Tainted? Run to NDTV! Prannoy Roy did a suck-up interview of Pachauri and gave him “character certificates”. It was the most servantile interview you would ever see and it was among my firsts posts on this site. Prannoy was certifying his character, his integrity and his greatness. What’s in it for NDTV? We wouldn’t know until a few years later that NDTV was part of the TERI campaign of Solar-lanterns for power-less villages. They collected money on behalf of TERI and I don’t know if “brokerage” was involved. The campaign was called “NDTV-Toyota Greenathon”. NDTV often runs such sponsored campaigns. I guess that’s their main business and not news. They still run the “Save Tigers” campaign. Oh and in case you forgot, even Bill Gates funded NDTV around $800K to campaign on maternity and health.

Do you really believe media houses are ever going to report on the deeds of those who fund them? Especially, on guys like Pachauri? Never mind! On the sidelines of all this fear-mongering about Climate Change Al Gore & Co devised the brilliant Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). What was it about? Here: “The CCX was set up in 2000 in anticipation of the United States joining Europe and other countries around the world to create a market that would reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Under the system, factories, utilities and other businesses would be given an emissions target. Those that emitted less fewer regulated gases than their target could sell the "excess" to someone who was above target. Each year, the target figures would be reset lower”. That’s called sound “future planning” and being ahead of time. Of course, all these guys wanted to save the Earth; that’s a given. After Climategate and other scandals broke out the CCX naturally crumbled and shut down but some people weren’t losers. SCORE: Al Gore: $18 Mn - Earth: Zero.

I am all for a better future for our children and everyone and for mother Earth. But it also doesn’t mean that a large population live its present life in absolute misery. The media and some of the NGOs have been making the current debate on their activities an issue of freedom of expression and suppression of dissent. That is deception at its best. When was the last time the MSM ever scrutinised any NGO, their funding or activities? They would not because they are beneficiaries themselves. Why would Bill Gates take any special interest in NDTV unless there is direction from some political powers? Many such NGOs have received extraordinary funding from all over the world probably under “directions” given by political forces for “illegitimate political actions”. We shall see in the next part.

… To be continued.

  

NGO Funding & Agitation Technology - Part 2

(This is a MaxiPost... Read Part-1 of this series).

There is place for all opinions in a democracy. There is abundant room for protests and agitations. These are not hindrances to a democracy but its essence. But time is equally of essence. How long do we protest and agitate? How long do two parties keep insisting their opinion must prevail? In the end either some compromise is worked out or one party wins the battle by the acceptance, defeat or death of the other. Don’t look too far for an example of compromise in differing opinions. The partition of India was opposed by a large number of people but those in power made the compromise. We moved on. Unfinished debates usually take a deadly turn. We have seen that for Telengana too, haven’t we? Kashmir? Some countries wage wars to settle difference of opinion. Some people even kill footballers for losing a match in the World Cup through self-goals. Therefore, the argument that there is place for all opinions in a democracy is true but the debate cannot be forever. On critical issues someone has to bring the curtains down.

In the case of Narmada Dam it took the SC to bring the curtains down. But even that is not acceptable to Medha Patkar. What will be acceptable to her? That all her opponents die so she can prevail? We protest, we agitate, we stall and all that is fine. But surely, the SC of this country or the parliament has to be accepted as the final arbiter. One cannot go on forever with “only my opinion should prevail” kind of agitation. That then is not merely opinion; it is intolerance for an opposing view to succeed lawfully. There are still those tricksters who argue Narendra Modi is not “legitimately” elected to the PM’s office. They can continue to retain their opinions but our democratic process has definitely brought an end to that debate. The problem with the Medhas, Greenpeaces and Kejriwals is that any other outcome other than that of their choice is unacceptable to them, even if lawful and legally endorsed.

Of these, Greenpeace (GP) is the McDonald’s of NGOs. They operate in 40 countries have 28 regional offices, thousands of staff and unknown number of volunteers. Let’s read a bit of what former GP founders say. This is an excerpt from ex-founding member Paul Watson (on the anti-whaling adventures of GP):

“Greenpeace is a major international corporation. Over the years, those of us who envisioned and founded Greenpeace way back when, have watched in frustration and anger as faceless bureaucrats turned ideals into profits, secure in their understanding that the media myth of Greenpeace cannot be tarnished irreparably within the mass media culture. For every person who gets wise to their scam, two more are recruited. Greenpeace is a massive direct mail publicity machine utilizing media and psychology to part people from their money… We created a large green corporate monster that has forgotten where it came from and is now busy feeding frantically at the trough of public guilt. Greenpeace has become the world's largest multinational "feel-good" corporation… Greenpeace is posing and marketing the illusion of saving the planet and they have an army of gullible volunteers and paid canvassers who have been talked into believing that Greenpeace is really, really saving the environment and saving whales in particular… It's obscene, and it is high time that people woke up and saw these large green organizations for what they really are - high-powered public relation machines designed to fleece the public… It is now the Green Piece organization. They have become very successful and efficient with their incredible corporate skills in turning hot red blood into cold green cash”.

Greenpeace started with a few volunteers in small boats to oppose nuclear tests by the US. Their boats kept getting bigger and bigger. Their protesters and agitators knew how to create drama and how to collect money. This tactic is now common to modern agitation technology in India and abroad. One could say GP was among the pioneers: Money and Drama.  Take a look at these pics:

That’s a GP rubber boat attacking a Japanese ship. On the right is a larger GP boat blocking a Russian tanker from uploading oil. Mind you, the oil upload is a legal operation but that doesn’t stop GP from physically impeding and blocking operations. That is mild. In 2013 two of GP (Australia) activists invaded a farm and destroyed GM crops. They filmed their act of vandalism and used the video for publicity and drama. The NGO was sued and paid $280000 in damages. They are rich, they can afford that. The two volunteers were given suspended sentences because it was a first time offence and one of them was pregnant. The two employees took the rap but GP didn’t take any responsibility for this act. I wonder if these are “democratic” protests (do read the whole story). Err… remember our own Kejriwal re-connecting power-lines of defaulters and asking people not to pay bills? India tolerates these jokers because they peddle a fake “moral superiority” over everyone else. And many gullible people fall for their tricks.

You can oppose GM crops or power bills but there is a line that one does not cross. The dangerous addition to agitation technology is break laws, destroy private property, intimidate and dare the govt to take action. Time to read about another ex-founding member of GP, Patrick Moore:

“Canadian ecologist Patrick Moore, a former Greenpeace founding member, is a critic of the organization. Moore's main criticisms have been leveled at the campaign to protect the forests of British Columbia. In addition, Patrick Moore had once spoken out against nuclear power in 1976, but today he supports it, along with renewable energy sources. In Australian newspaper The Age, he writes "Greenpeace is wrong — we must consider nuclear power". He argues that any realistic plan to reduce reliance on fossil fuels or greenhouse gas emissions need increased use of nuclear energy. Phil Radford, Executive Director of Greenpeace US responded that nuclear energy is too risky, takes too long to build to address climate change, and by showing that the U.S. can shift to nearly 100% renewable energy while phasing out nuclear power by 2050”.

Do note, according to the GP expert above (Phil Radford) even advanced countries like the US can shift to 100% renewable energy only by 2050 and that is just a wild estimate. Most of the advanced countries have been using fossil fuels for hundreds of years but GP wants India to stop straight away. India has been struggling to cope with a huge population and the demand of electricity but GP wants us to live with solar panels and windmills. Their lofty idea may be attractive to gullible people but it is neither feasible nor implementable. Indians are already agitating for power. Many of them have lived without it for centuries. They want it yesterday while GP, which is unable to get advanced countries to replace their current systems, wants India to make all the shifts. Here’s more from the actual article of Patrick Moore:

“It is the IPCC (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) that my former colleagues in Greenpeace, and most of the mainstream environmental movement, look to for expert advice on climate change. Environmental activists take the rather grim but measured language of the IPCC reports and add words such as "catastrophe" and "chaos", along with much speculation about famine, pestilence, mass extinction and the end of civilisation as we know it. Until the past couple of years, the activists, with their zero-tolerance policy on nuclear energy, have succeeded in squelching any mention by the IPCC of using nuclear power to replace fossil fuels for electricity production. Burning fossil fuels for electricity accounts for 9.5 billion tonnes of global carbon dioxide emissions while nuclear power emits next to nothing. It has been apparent to many scientists and policymakers for years that this would be a logical path to follow. The IPCC has now joined these growing ranks advocating nuclear energy as a solution. In its recently issued final report for 2007, the IPCC makes a number of unambiguous references to the fact that nuclear energy is an important tool to help bring about a reduction in fossil fuel consumption. Greenpeace has already made it clear that it disagrees. How credible is it for activists to use the IPCC scientists' recommendations to fuel apocalyptic fund-raising campaigns on climate change and then to dismiss the recommendations from the same scientists on what we should do to solve it?”

That was written in December 2007. Since then the IPCC itself has been under scanner for Climate Change falsification of data and fraudulent practices in 2009-10. That, though, need not concern us in this post. So what attracted GP to India? Well, the same reason that MNCs were attracted to India post-1991. You now go to a super-store and you’ll find shelves packed with soaps, body-sprays and stuff never heard of before. The shelves are as crowded with these products as people in a Modi-rally. Naturally, the McDonald’s of NGOs, GP, had to make an entry – even if a late one. You see, since the mid-1990s the donors and donations to GP were decreasing so they turned to the masses for direct collection of money (see here under “funding”). Some call it the MLM type of business.

As with the MNCs, if you want to find masses for your products where do you go? China or India! And that’s how GP found their market in India. And people like emotion, drama and the media feeds it to them in large doses. Just say the govt is “anti-poor” and you can easily collect 1000 people around you in India and also, importantly, money. And tell Indians: No nuclear power, no coal-fired plants, no dams. Call everyone who opposes you corrupt, call everyone who opposes you anti-poor, call everyone who opposes you anti-environment and you have a winner. That is precisely what GP does and that is precisely what Arvind Kejriwal & Co do. And what GP did earlier in the sea is now an adopted “agitation technology” in India. Take a look at these pics:    

The top montage is from the Kudankulam protests and the bottom couple are from MP. These make good TV but the leaders of these agitations do deserve to be prosecuted for endangering lives of ordinary people. The MP river-agitation was a farce though. The leader was quite clever in appearing to sink in water but was always ready for TV soundbites. Let me reproduce a TOI report that I had quoted earlier and it’s a great example of “choreographed agitations”:

“Welcome to the village which was in the eye of the storm with 'jal satyagrah' for the past three weeks… It's a story of how the entire media was taken for a ride with the help of mobile phones, which came in handy for keeping tabs on TV crews. The spot shown on TV channels where the agitators protested is not the village proper but the banks of a canal running into the Narmada…When TOI inspected the place of demonstration after the water receded, the spot was found to be only two feet deep… "We were sitting in water," said Mehtab Giri, a villager who joined the protest. "First, we laid bricks and stone slabs on which were placed iron doors used for sluice gates of the dam. This would help us sit comfortably during the protest… "Whenever the media took shots, the second arrangement in the slightly deeper water was used. Agitators waded into water to show the level sometimes chin-deep and at others, neck-deep. When they stood up, it was hardly till their waist." And they weren't in water all the time; they frequently walked in and out of the canal"… there were only three people in the water most of the time… The third was NBA worker Chittarupa Palit, who also walked out to brief the media and file documents. Others took turns. The evidence is all in the television shots".

There! That’s modern TV-time agitation technology for you. And the hearts of viewers melt at the sight of these suffering people and they start shelling out money. What about Kudankulam and that charlatan SP Udaykumar? He’s as fluent in Nuclear-science as Russians are in Bhojpuri. There are cases filed against him and I hope he is prosecuted for his illegal activities. The agitation he led was nothing but “sponsored fear-mongering” backed by Churches. The story is a long one but explained in depth by @TheKaipullai in his blog: “5 reasons why there is something wrong with the protests in Kudankulam” Part-1 and Part-2. I strongly recommend you read both parts and decide for yourself. Of late, it is money and not causes that motivate the actions of many of these unscrupulous NGOs. And they will claim they are God’s angels sent to save you from yourself. “We are killing the earth, we are killing the earth”! That is enough to frighten anyone from the devil that is you.

There is an irony to the GP story that came out only 2 days ago on June 16. When the greed for money is never-ending, what do you do? Gamble! That’s what some people do and that is what GP did. “Greenpeace loses £3m in currency speculation” says the headline. And the explanation is: “We offer a full apology to our supporters for the series of errors that led to the loss”… Greenpeace says the staff member, who worked in its international finance unit, was not acting for personal gain, but had failed to obtain authorisation from senior management. He has since been released from his contract”. So you see, as in the GM farm destruction it’s the employees who acted on their own. GP had nothing to do with it. Oh yeah, some employee handled millions of Euros without the GP management having the slightest of clues on what was happening. Do you believe that? If that is believable then you can understand why many gullible people buy the dooms-day screaming of Greenpeace. It’s money and innovation in agitations.

… To be continued.