Following is the text of the letter signed by leaders of various political parties in parliament and delivered to the Prime Minister on December 16, 2016. The signatories include Shri Sitaram Yechury and P Karunakaran of the CPI(M), D Raja of the CPI, Ahmed Patel and Renuka Chaudhury of the Congress, Premchand Gupta of RJD, Praful Patel and Supriya Sule of NCP, Neeraj Shekar of the Samajwadi Party and others.
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16th December 2016
Shri Narendra Modi
Hon’ble Prime Minister
Government of India
New Delhi
Respected Prime Minister,
We, the undersigned Members of Parliament, condemn the Government action in cancelling the FCRA registration of NGOs critical of its policies.
The licenses had been earlier renewed showing that in the normal course these NGOs had fulfilled the criteria required for registration. The decision to cancel the registration is therefore a decision motivated by the politics of vendetta, victimization and an effort to bully them to silence.
In contrast the Government does not investigate a single RSS affiliated NGO who collect huge amounts of money abroad and then use it to further a hate filled agenda. Selective targeting is abhorrent and anti-democratic.
We therefore demand that the cancellation of licences to NGOs like Sabrang Trust and others run by Teesta Setalvade, ANHAD, Lawyers Collective, Greenpeace India, Navsarjan Trust, RDRC etc should be revoked and the licences restored.
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