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The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh has attacked the United States for its “un-civil intervention” by expressing concern about the Modi government’s actions against prominent NGOs such as Greenpeace and the Ford Foundation.

Charging the NGOs like Greenpeace and Ford Foundation with violating Indian laws, the RSS questioned US’ defence of the two organisations and chided it for “jumping the gun”.

The RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’, in its editorial titled “The un-civil intervention’ also questioned whether the United States would allow such violations by “so-called non-profit and non-political NGOs” in their own country. The editorial comes days after comments by US Ambassador to Delhi Rich Verma stating the Modi government’s action against two international NGOs would have a “chilling effect” on civil society. The RSS reacted strongly, saying the US should “respect” India’s sovereignty and asked whether it was “the global police of democracy”.

The Sangh said that by coming out in defence of NGOs like Greenpeace and Ford Foundation by seeking a clarification from India, the “global protector of democratic rights has ratified the fears of such NGOs being US agencies.”

“If the US or for that matter any country wants to come clean on the issue of foreign funding for raising ‘rights based issues’, they have to respect the sovereignty and cultural ethos of the home country.

The editorial said that more than 8,000 NGOs were facing legal action of revoking Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) licences for not producing tax returns for up to three years.

(With PTI)