Rights: While accusing the central government of hounding social activist Harsh Mander and the institutions he is associated with, more than 650 members of civil society have demanded a stop to the vendetta politics against him. They have also accused the Centre of misusing regulatory institutions and laws like the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act (FCRA) to harass civil society institutions.
The statement was issued after a case was registered under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act over alleged violations by two shelter homes in South Delhi established by the Centre for Equity Studies (CES), a nonprofit that Mander is associated with.
In the statement, the signatories—comprising civil society leaders representing a wide range of constituencies across the country—said that the Centre’s targeting of Mander, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, and the CES is a continuation of the “politics of vendetta to silence him” and is symptomatic of how “those who dissent are being dealt with in India today”.
The statement said that the government must allow for democratic spaces for civil society to operate in, and give due recognition to their role in nation-building.
Mander quit the civil service in 2002 in the wake of the Gujarat riots and has since been a part of several civil society initiatives including the CES and Karwan-e-Mohabbat.
Read this explainer on FCRA 2020.