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Shocking that we are facing shutdown in the world’s largest democracy: Greenpeace

In an exclusive interview to BOOM, Vinuta Gopal, Interim Executive Director of Greenpeace India talks about the prospects of the NGO shutting its operations in the country, being called ‘anti-national’ and ‘a threat to national security”.

Greenpeace India, the fourteen year-old subsidiary of the international environment-action NGO has been in the news after the BJP-led government began scrutinising its operations in India. The most recent development has been the cancellation of their license as a registered non-governmental organisation.

The cancellation of their license to operate has come after a 2014 Intelligence Bureau report accused foreign-funded organisations of “harming India’s economic interests due to the negative image being created of the country”.

Before suspending their license, the Central government had also undertaken an audit of the organization’s funds, and frozen its bank accounts earlier this year.

Vinuta Gopal, the director of Greenpeace India, has finally broken her silence in the exclusive interview to BOOM. She says, “The level of tolerance for dissent is very low in this government. It is shocking that Greenpeace is facing a possible shut down in the largest democracy in the world.”

This article has been re-published with the permission of BOOM. Visit the website here
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