CPI targets NGOs foreign funding

At a time when voluntary organisations are increasingly playing a role in policy making and influencing government decisions,the CPI has dusted up the Left theory that international finance capital is using NGOs as a tool to de-politicise and de-ideologise the masses to blunt their class-consciousness.

At a time when voluntary organisations are increasingly playing a role in policy making and influencing government decisions,the CPI has dusted up the Left theory that international finance capital is using NGOs as a tool to de-politicise and de-ideologise the masses to blunt their class-consciousness.

This is significant as the Left has of late shown the willingness to engage civil society groups a glimpse was seen during the recent Anna Hazare episode. The CPIs draft political resolution to be adopted at its 21st Party Congress in March talks about capitalist forces financing and encouraging NGOs to hijack issues that their ideological opponents could have used to sharpen the class consciousness of the masses.

Apparently,these NGOs took up noble causes,their campaign actually resulted in blunting the class-consciousness and to disturb the existing class organisations,both mass and political,that could have better fought on these issues. One needs to adopt a clear and conscious approach to such attempts and foil the greater conspiracy of the international finance capital…., it says.

It seems the more things change,the more they stay the same for the Left. The theory that action groups and voluntary organisations were a factor in the imperialist strategy was propounded by Prakash Karat the CPM general secretary as early as in 1984. Top CPM leaders and general secretary of the CPI A B Bardhan himself had shown the willingness to engage among others Team Anna and Aruna Roy during the recent Lokpal campaign.