Amnesty International India Halts Operations, Blames Modi Government For 'Witch-Hunt'
Amnesty International (AI) India on Tuesday announced that it has decided to halt operations and blamed the Narendra Modi government for a “witch-hunt of human rights organizations over unfounded and motivated allegations.”
The organization said that it was compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work after the complete freezing of its bank accounts by the government.
The Enforcement Directorate had initiated a probe last year, according to The Wire, after an information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Nov. 5, 2019. The directorate has frozen Amnesty International India’s bank accounts and invoked the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
In a statement on Tuesday, Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India, said that the continuing crackdown on the organization in India over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental.
“The constant harassment by government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the Government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu and Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent,” Kumar said.
Amnesty International India reiterated that it stands in full compliance with all applicable Indian and international laws.
“For human rights work in India, it operates through a distinct model of raising funds domestically. More than 4 million Indians have supported Amnesty International India’s work in the last eight years and around 100,000 Indians have made financial contributions. These contributions evidently cannot have any relation with the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010,” the organization said in a statement.
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