CORE seeks clarification from IB, warns of legal action
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, June 16 2014: Centre for Organisation Research and Education (CORE), an Imphal based research body has expressed outrage over the recent news of an Intelligence Bureau's classified report titled 'Impact of NGOs on Development' apparently leaked to select national news papers, for dragging its name into an unknown entity by the name 'Manipur Coalition on Extractives' .

CORE said the IB report fallaciously alleged the organisation as routing funds through NGOs Chindu and Swadhikar for activism against oil drilling in Manipur and contributing to the negative impact on India's GDP growth assessed to be 2% - 3 % p.a. The organisation demanded an immediate clarification from the Intelligence Bureau, while warning that it shall be constrained to seek legal opinion.

CORE also sought the cooperation of the national and local media to extend the right to reply to such allegations and to prominently reflect its position on print and electronic media.

In a statement jointly signed by its president Dr Laifungbam Debabrata Roy and the organisation executive director Dr.Immnanuel Zarzosang Varte, CORE today said that The Times of India report by one Bharti Jain titled "Dutch-funded NGO trying to stall oil drilling in northeast: IB report" of June 14, 2014 was also reproduced again in at least two local English language print media of Manipur on June 15, 2014 .

Flatly denying any formal or official links with Chindu, Swadikar or CORDAID, as alleged in the media reports, the statement said, "We dismiss this reported classified document mentioned in the media, and its alleged contents as a labelling of charges without any evidence to support its claims and an obvious attempt to muzzle the fundamental freedoms of speech and association, the right to information that are guaranteed by the Indian Constitution" .

According to the CORE statement, it received a small amount last year from Rural Women Upliftment Society (RWUS) as a local resource centre under its time-bound project funded by CORDAID, that ended this June, for community based advocacy on conservation of environment and documentation of natural resources including the setting up of two model green villages in Manipur where many stake holders including village authority, church leaders, students leaders, national security forces stationed locally such as the Assam Rifles, etc., jointly participated to promote environmental awareness and promote green villages for the welfare of communities, their natural environment and ecological sustainability.

The statement also said that CORE is in Special Consultative Relations with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations for the past 9 years (the first NGO to get this status from the North East region of India, there are only two NGOs to date with such a status in North east India).

CORE's application and status in the UN is examined regularly by the Committee on NGOs of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) of the UN General Assembly, of which the Government of India is a member.

By this status, CORE has access to all meetings and documents of the ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies including the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and the erstwhile Commission on Human Rights (CHR), now the Human Rights Council.

It then said the organisation is certified by the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Manipur as an NGO working in the social welfare sector after fulfilment of prescribed terms and conditions since July 1998.It was registered under the Section 6(1) of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act of 1976 since 1997.And the organisation is also exempted from paying income tax under the laws of India.

It received the prestigious UNAIDS Civil Society Award in 2006 in recognition of outstanding commitment and support to the national fight against HIV and AIDS.

In 2004, it was also the recipient of the prestigious Silver Banner award of Tuscany in Italy for our work in recognition of work in championing the rights of children and women, particularly those that are facing the devastation of armed conflict and war.

CORE works as a human rights defender organisation and all its activities are human rights based, committed to the principles and purposes contained in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (1993) .

The CORE statement further pointed out that in the last 26 years,the organisation have had partners like the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, Norwegian Church Aid, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, FERN, UN Voluntary Fund, May 18 Memorial Foundation, OAK Foundation, La Luz Foundation, Bothends, The Hans Foundation, International Rivers Network, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, etc.

Both national and international organisations have been working together with CORE since its inception.

As a registered non-profit Non-government organisation, CORE have been regularly submitting its annual reports and audited annual financial reports to the Income Tax Department of India, Registrar of Societies, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi, and Intelligence Bureau as required for the past many years.

And, it also submits quadrennial reports to the UN as mandatory for all the ECOSOC status NGOs.

All its activities and other representation to both national and international are in place with all concerned authorities and most are available in the public domain.

"As stated clearly in our mandate, we are for promotion of sustainable and humane development, recognition of all indigenous peoples as a major stakeholders and their meaningful inclusion in development processes that concerns them.

Promoting sustainable and wise use of our natural national heritage and empowering the marginalized communities are clearly contributing substantively towards sustainable national growth.

Having nothing to say further after gathering all sorts of freely and publicly available tidbits of information on NGOs and funders in India, the IB made a wild claim that Indian GDP had been negatively impacted to the tune of a guesstimated 2% -3% by some NGOs' development, awareness and advocacy activities! So this report seems to be an "economically" or ideologically slanted allegation for never in India's history before has this agency made an economic report, usually the domain of experts in this field.

The questions remain, just how and why this civilian agency, without any statutory status or accountability to Parliament, came to make a complex econometric outcome conclusion from such summary information it claims to have gathered for this 'classified' report, "Impact of NGOs on Development", and whose purposes and interests it (the conclusion) may serve by presenting a highly conjectural and biased view," the statement said.

The CORE statement then said that projecting an indigenous peoples' human rights defender organisation who works for the welfare of the people of India and the nation itself as an entity working against national interests or national security by imputing false allegations is labelling the organisation as disreputable and disruptive.

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