GHANDHINAGAR--Following investigations into the embezzlement of funds by social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand, the Gujarat government has accused US-based NGO Ford Foundation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violation and “direct interference by a foreign NGO in the internal affairs of the country and abetting communal disharmony in India”. The Gujarat government has written a letter, dated March 10, in this regard to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, requesting it “to look into the matter and investigate further”.
With the content of the letter becoming public, Setalvad on Wednesday issued a statement wherein she said, “Following the letter from the Gujarat Government to MHA, a team of four senior officers from the Monitoring Unit of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) department, New Delhi, visited the registered offices of Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) for an inspection of the accounts and records of both the trusts.” The statement added that the MHA team had inspected accounts and other records of Sabrang Trust and CJP for six days in April and they were extended “full support”.
In its letter to the MHA, Gujarat government has stated, “It is revealed during the course of investigation (in the riot relief fund embezzlement case) that Ford Foundation, established with the stated goal of promoting communal harmony, democratic principles and social justice, has been indulging in covert activities of promoting interests that are completely contradictory to the said goals.”
Indian Express
