Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA)
The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA, Save Narmada Movement), which has been spearheading the decade-long movement against the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada river, has been accused of collecting funds through illegal channels and violating the country's foreign exchange regulations.
An Ahmedabad-based organization, the National Council for Civil Liberties, issued an advertisement in newspapers here alleging that the NBA has been passing confidential reports to foreign countries and is collecting funds through the "hawala" channel of money laundering.
Some time ago Gujarat's Narmada Minister Jaynarayan Vyas had charged that the NBA is accepting foreign funds and demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into alleged foreign exchange violations by the anti-dam movement.
The NBA has termed these allegations "fallacious" and accused industrialists and politicians of Gujarat of hatching a conspiracy against it.
"This is an intentional assault on the NBA by the industrialists of Gujarat who will gain most from the Sardar Sarovar dam," Rahmat, a prominent NBA activist, told IANS on phone from Badwani, from where he runs the movement in Madhya Pradesh. He alleged that politicians are hand in glove with industrialists in their bid to derail the anti-dam movement.
The half-page anti-NBA advertisement alleged that the anti-dam campaign is sending highly confidential reports concerning projects of national importance to foreign countries. To support this allegation, it included a copy of a letter written by NBA activist Chittaroopa Palit to someone in Switzerland saying a report was being sent.
But it turns out the document mentioned in the letter was compiled by the NBA itself. "This advertisement is misleading and is self-contradictory. The report (mentioned in the letter) is our own which we can send it to anyone," Rahmat said.
The National Council for Civil Liberties further alleged that the NBA has been running the anti-dam movement over the past 10 years without sending an audit report of its accounts to the government because it is collecting funds through Hawala.
The advertisement alleges that the NBA is collecting funds through several of its associate organizations instead of accepting money directly. A copy of a letter and a receipt of Rs. 40,000 issued by a voluntary organization called Lok Samiti of Nashik, Maharashtra, has been displayed in the advertisement, in which the Laljibhai Group of Industries has been thanked for its contribution towards the Narmada movement.
NBA says it is no secret that it has been collecting funds from its supporters and the locals of the areas affected by the Narmada project.
On the Gujarat minister's allegation about foreign exchange violations, Alok Agrawal of the NBA said: "We take no foreign funds, nor have we taken the award money of any of the foreign awards."
The NBA, he said, is open to any inquiry constituted by any authority, "but on one condition. If the allegation is proved wrong, Vyas, apart from apologizing publicly, should resign from ministership and quit politics."
The report has also questioned economic viability of big dams, stating that large dams often incur substantial capital cost overruns and schedule delays. The large dams tend to benefit groups other than those who bear the social and environmental costs and other risks of these dams, the report stated.
On the charge made in the sponsored advertisement that the NBA had passed on 'confidential documents' relating to the Maheshwar dam to foreigners, The NBA has not given any sensitive document relating to national security to any foreign agency.
It is committed to disseminate at national and international levels its perspective on the disastrous consequences of a project like Maheshwar with 80 per cent funding from foreign sources.
The NBA has also strongly refuted the advertisement's allegation that the NBA is funded through hawala transactions.
The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA, Save Narmada Movement), which has been spearheading the decade-long movement against the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada river, has been accused of collecting funds through illegal channels and violating the country's foreign exchange regulations.
An Ahmedabad-based organization, the National Council for Civil Liberties, issued an advertisement in newspapers here alleging that the NBA has been passing confidential reports to foreign countries and is collecting funds through the "hawala" channel of money laundering.
Some time ago Gujarat's Narmada Minister Jaynarayan Vyas had charged that the NBA is accepting foreign funds and demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into alleged foreign exchange violations by the anti-dam movement.
The NBA has termed these allegations "fallacious" and accused industrialists and politicians of Gujarat of hatching a conspiracy against it.
"This is an intentional assault on the NBA by the industrialists of Gujarat who will gain most from the Sardar Sarovar dam," Rahmat, a prominent NBA activist, told IANS on phone from Badwani, from where he runs the movement in Madhya Pradesh. He alleged that politicians are hand in glove with industrialists in their bid to derail the anti-dam movement.
The half-page anti-NBA advertisement alleged that the anti-dam campaign is sending highly confidential reports concerning projects of national importance to foreign countries. To support this allegation, it included a copy of a letter written by NBA activist Chittaroopa Palit to someone in Switzerland saying a report was being sent.
But it turns out the document mentioned in the letter was compiled by the NBA itself. "This advertisement is misleading and is self-contradictory. The report (mentioned in the letter) is our own which we can send it to anyone," Rahmat said.
The National Council for Civil Liberties further alleged that the NBA has been running the anti-dam movement over the past 10 years without sending an audit report of its accounts to the government because it is collecting funds through Hawala.
The advertisement alleges that the NBA is collecting funds through several of its associate organizations instead of accepting money directly. A copy of a letter and a receipt of Rs. 40,000 issued by a voluntary organization called Lok Samiti of Nashik, Maharashtra, has been displayed in the advertisement, in which the Laljibhai Group of Industries has been thanked for its contribution towards the Narmada movement.
NBA says it is no secret that it has been collecting funds from its supporters and the locals of the areas affected by the Narmada project.
On the Gujarat minister's allegation about foreign exchange violations, Alok Agrawal of the NBA said: "We take no foreign funds, nor have we taken the award money of any of the foreign awards."
The NBA, he said, is open to any inquiry constituted by any authority, "but on one condition. If the allegation is proved wrong, Vyas, apart from apologizing publicly, should resign from ministership and quit politics."
The report has also questioned economic viability of big dams, stating that large dams often incur substantial capital cost overruns and schedule delays. The large dams tend to benefit groups other than those who bear the social and environmental costs and other risks of these dams, the report stated.
On the charge made in the sponsored advertisement that the NBA had passed on 'confidential documents' relating to the Maheshwar dam to foreigners, The NBA has not given any sensitive document relating to national security to any foreign agency.
It is committed to disseminate at national and international levels its perspective on the disastrous consequences of a project like Maheshwar with 80 per cent funding from foreign sources.
The NBA has also strongly refuted the advertisement's allegation that the NBA is funded through hawala transactions.