Greenpeace and Amnesty accuse Indian government of 'smear campaign'.

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NGOs say they could be forced to leave India after authorities freeze their bank accounts.

Demonstrators protest against Amnesty’s involvement in an event held in disputed Indian Kashmir, which led to sedition charges being laid against the NGO. Photograph: K Asif/India Today Group/Getty Images
▼ Global charities have said their operations in Indiaare in danger after the government froze their bank accounts, forcing them to shed staff.
Amnesty Internationaland Greenpeace have accused India of launching a “smear campaign” against NGOs, activists and journalists critical of the government.
Amnesty’s Indian operation is in the midst of a sustained crackdown by the country’s home ministry that has cut the group off from its bank accounts and forced it to shed nearly 70 employees, with many senior leaders now working on a voluntary basis.
GreenpeaceIndia has also been targeted for investigation by authorities in past weeks and could leave the country altogether. Activists say it is an extension of a wider campaign against human rights groups in India that has seen nearly 20,000 local NGOs deregistered since 2014.
“We’ve had to downsize substantially,” said Smriti Singh, the media and advocacy manager at Amnesty International India. “Senior management are going through an exercise to see how we can operate with the minimum we have.”
The London-based membership organisation, which has been in India since 1966, has cut its workforce by 68 people since late October when its Indian headquarters in Bengaluru were raided by tax authorities.
India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed Amnesty’s Indian branch is illegally receiving foreign money.
Amnesty has been denied a licence to bring in money from overseas under India’s stringent Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, (▪ ▪ ▪)

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