The legendary environmentalist organization, Greenpeace, has been ordered out of India for allegedly making false financial statements to the Indian government with regard to foreign donations.
On Friday, the government of India ordered Greenpeace to cease its operations in the country and to formally dissolve itself and leave the country. The Indian government declared that their decision was based on what they claim are false financial documents provided to the government and filed by Greenpeace.
This is just the latest action taken by the Indian government against Greenpeace, reports the New York Times. The national director of Greenpeace India, Vinuta Gopal, said in a public statement that this was just another example of the Indian government trying to stifle voices of dissent and proponents of freedom of speech in the country. Gopal said that she and Greenpeace India will fight the central government over the revocation of their operating permit which will allow them to continue operations in the country.
Currently, Greenpeace operates in over 40 countries and has its international headquarters in Amsterdam. Greenpeace’s stated purpose is to “ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity…” The world wide environmental organization has about three million members and active supporters as of 2015. It relies on them, and many foundations, for the funding it uses to carry out its work. The organization has always believed in direct and interventionist action. It has resorted over the years to both violence and illegal acts to achieve its goals and ideals.
The official reason the government of India is demanding the dissolution of the organization in the country was that “business of the society was conducted fraudulently by falsifying balance sheets…” The official notice was sent to Greenpeace on Wednesday and the organization immediately released it.
The basis of the government’s claim against Greenpeace is that it has accused the organization of not reporting all of the foreign contributions it has received over the past several years. Greenpeace has publicly denied all of the allegations hurled at it by the Indian government.
This past September the Indian government ordered that Greenpeace could no longer accept contributions from outside the country because it was not in the best economic interests of the Indian state.
