In an earlier report, we have elaborated on the controversial past of Sherpa, the NGO that has filed a complaint against the Rafale Deal in France. The NGO and its head, William Bourdon, have been accused of meddling in the internal affairs of countries in Africa and filing corruption charges against the Mauritian President while being closely associated with the latter’s political opponent.
Three relatives of the President are set to file a defamation suit against the NGO. A corporate giant, too, intends to file a defamation suit against them for the allegations they have levelled.
Therefore, we decided to dig a little deeper into the NGO Sherpa’s background. We discovered that they are partners with organizations such as Greenpeace, Open Society Foundation, Misereor, Oxfam, ActionAid among a host of others. All of these have been involved in a myriad of controversies in which we shall now delve into.
Misereor
As we have said in an earlier report, Misereor is a Christian organization that was one of the principal donors of Equations, the organization that published a report demonizing the Amarnath Yatra in collaboration with a Kashmiri separatist organization. Misereor funds various Christian missionary organizations in India as well.
George Soros and Open Society Institute
George Soros’ Open Society Institute’s controversies are quite well known. The nationalist government of Hungary that strongly opposes the influx of refugees into the European Union has been at war with George Soros for quite a while.
Last year, the Hungarian government made it mandatory for NGOs that received funding from abroad to register with the state, a move that was seen to be targeted towards Soros which did not go down well with the European Union. The Hungarian also passed a legislation titled ‘Stop Soros’ in a crackdown on illegal immigration.
In December 2015, Russia banned two foundations funded by the progressive Jewish-American philanthropist George Soros, claiming they posed a “threat to national security” and were undermining the Russian constitution.
In India as well, George Soros’ organization funds the Socio-Legal Information Center whose division Human Rights Law Network is involved in a campaign to abolish sedition laws in India.
Oxfam
The accomplishments of Oxfam have been well documented by us at OpIndia. One of the board members of Oxfam India, Gagan Sethi, was one of the members of the NAC that drafted the wildly anti-Hindu Communal Violence Bill.
Oxfam has also been involved in a cover-up of sexual exploitation by its members in Haiti including the then country-director Ronald van Hauwermeiren. Oxfam is known to publish absurd conclusions based on studies that employ questionable methodologies.
Therefore, we have an NGO with a dubious reputation which is partners with other organizations with an extremely controversial past and have been known to meddle with the internal affairs of countries.
Especially, Sherpa itself has been accused of meddling in the internal affairs of other countries. Therefore, the complaint filed by Sherpa against the Rafale deal should be treated with extreme caution.
The Rafale deal is, by all means, a deal of national importance for India. Congress is perhaps simply using dubious sources to further its own agenda of drumming up hysteria without realising that the elements who are opposing such steps of the Modi government today have always had an agenda which goes against the interests of the nation.
Congress seems to be sacrificing national interest at the altar of petty politics by playing the game by the rules set by international players who would rather see India bend. While it might serve his politics, this misplaced political evangelism certainly doesn’t serve the interests of the country.
