One of India’s most prominent think tanks has been banned from receiving foreign funding – a move that hammers the final nail to the coffin of the financial sustenance of a rare voice of dissent in the South Asian nation.
On Jan. 17, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR)
confirmed that it had been stripped of its “foreign contribution license” by Indian authorities, which is
required among non-government organizations in India to access foreign funds.
Indian authorities had
already suspended CPR’s license nearly a year ago and, later, revoked its tax exemption status, and froze its bank accounts over allegations of
tax irregularities. The decision to cancel CPR’s license altogether, according to the government, stemmed from CPR’s alleged numerous violations of the controversial Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, including its production of “
current affairs programs” through its publication of its reports titled, ‘‘Overview on the Commission of Air Quality Management Act” and “Policy Challenges for the New Government.”
With the think tank unable to pay salaries due to loss of foreign funding, 83 members
left the organization last year, placing its research activities in limbo.
The experts who have weighed in on the reports published by CPR are “rare dissenting voices … on sensitive political issues,” according to
a report by the Agence France-Presse.
For instance, in 2019, the think tank published a
report on the pitfalls of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, which the Modi government
defended despite concerns it may lead to the
othering of Muslims.
From 2019 to 2021, at least 1,800 organizations
lost their license to receive foreign funding, including rights watchdog Amnesty International, environmental organization Greenpeace and other Indian civil rights organizations like Lawyers Collective, Sabrang Trust, and Anhad.
Aakar Patel, chair of the board of Amnesty International in India, said the grounds for revoking an organization’s license are
difficult to pin down as Indian authorities often provide vague reasons, like accusations of “bringing disrepute to public institutions” or “working against public or national interest.”
While the law itself on foreign contributions was introduced in 1976, observers note that it was Modi's election to power in 2014 that
worsened the government’s meddling with nonprofits' finances. In 2020, the Indian parliament
swiftly passed amendments to the law that added
intrusive government oversight powers, among others.