India’s intelligence agency has targeted an adviser to Prince Charles and British activists in a campaign against Greenpeace and other foreign groups it claims are a threat to its economy.
The Indian government last week banned direct foreign funding of local campaign groups, after a report by its Intelligence Bureau warned that organisations funded by Greenpeace and other international institutions were growing throughout the country and “spawning” mass movements which now pose a “significant threat to national economic security.” The report, which was leaked last week, singled out Dr Vandana Shiva, an Indian scientist and adviser to Prince Charles on sustainable agriculture.
She has been his long-term collaborator on organic farming since they participated in the Reith Lectures in 2000. He is said to find her inspiring and keeps a bust of her at his Highgrove home. During his visit to India in November last year, the prince visited her organic farm in Dehra Dun to highlight her campaign against the use of genetically-modified seeds.
Dr Shiva has blamed the high cost of GM cotton seeds for the suicides of 284,000 heavily indebted farmers since 1995.
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According to the Intelligence Bureau report, “six NGOs, including Greenpeace, are at the forefront of anti-GMO activism in India” and the movement “was initiated in 2003 by Vandana Shiva”. It also emphasises her role as a consultant to Greenpeace Australia and her group, Navdanya, as a recipient of foreign donations. Her campaign was highlighted along with other movements blamed for “anti-developmental activities” which included Greenpeace plans for “crop circle” protests against the cultivation of genetically-modified soya and corn. The group had planned to capture the demonstrations on Google Earth, the report said.
Dr Vandana Shiva said India’s Intelligence Bureau’s report was an “attack on civil society” which she said she would defend. The report was “biased” in favour of foreign companies she blames for farmers’ debts and suicides, she said. “They’re not allergic to foreign funding for defence or railways but only foreign funding to build civil society”, she said.
Read the full, original article: India targets Prince Charles’ aide in war on Greenpeace
