NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rightwing government, traditionally wary of grassroots social activism, moved against the Indian unit of Greenpeace on Thursday, freezing its accounts and withdrawing its licence to raise foreign funds.

According to The Hindu India’s home ministry suspended the registration of Greenpeace India under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) following allegations of its involvement in encouraging “anti-development” campaigns across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday cautioned the judiciary not to be influenced by “five-star activists”, who are trying to influence the judiciary. His appeal is seen to be aimed at a wider community of activists and NGOs critical of his development models.

He said judges often fear what these activists will say if they decide a case as per law. Modi even commented on the absence of an internal mechanism to assess judges, saying they are not open to even criticism while they wield immense power and can even sentence a person to death.

“It is easy to deliver judgements based on the law and Constitution. There is a need to be cautious against perception-driven verdicts that are often driven by five-star activists,” Mr Modi told a meting attended by Chief Justice of India HL Dattu. He later told a media briefing that the mechanism talked about by the PM already exists and is “effectively functioning”.

Greenpeace’s all seven bank accounts have been frozen with immediate effect. The order suspending the NGO’s foreign funds registration has been issued to the Chief Functionary, Greenpeace India Society, Chennai.

The NGO has also been served a show-cause notice asking why its registration should not be cancelled. Security agencies, in their reports to the MHA, had recommended cancellation of its FCRA registration, terming Greenpeace India a threat to national economic security.

However, a Greenpeace India spokesperson told The Hindu that they were “not aware of such an order from the government”.

Stating that foreign contributions received by Greenpeace India has prejudicially affected the public and the economic interest of the country the government said it also amounted to violation of the conditions of grant of registration certificate.

Accordingly, the Modi government has suspended the registration of the organisation, including its branches and units, under the FCRA, for a period of 180 days beginning on Thursday. The organisation can make a representation in this regard within 30 days.

Observing that Greenpeace was adversely impacting the national interest and many of its activities could be prejudicial to public interest, the Home Ministry has also taken note of the United Kingdom’s interest in Greenpeace India operations. This despite the fact that its main funding agency — Greenpeace International’s main offices are located in the Netherlands and Germany.

“The UK Parliament had invited Greenpeace India to “testify” against the Indian government in a formal hearing, A UK-based television channel had also sought to internationalise related issues last year,”The Hindu quoted a home ministry official as saying. Also, government agencies found that in the past couple of years, several UK nationals, including cyber experts and activists, had visited the NGO’s offices in India allegedly to help it organise protest activities.

In this light, the government has taken exception to Greenpeace India’s participation at the Istanbul Coal Strategy Conference-2012. “At the Istanbul Conference, US-based funding agencies projected India as the primary target for thermal power plant activism,” said the official, alleging that five Greenpeace activists had participated in the conference.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2015

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