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Journalism of Courage
Billionaire philanthropist George Soros’ remarks that the Gautam Adani-Hindenburg episode opened the door for “a democratic revival in India” drew a sharp reaction from the BJP on Friday.
It is not the first time that Soros has commented on Indian politics; the website of his organisation Open Society Foundations (OSF) claims “constraints” in functioning in India since 2016.
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2020, Soros said, “The biggest and most frightening setback occurred in India where a democratically elected Narendra Modi is creating a Hindu nationalist state, imposing punitive measures on Kashmir, a semi-autonomous Muslim region, and threatening to deprive millions of Muslims of their citizenship.”
Soros, a hedge fund tycoon and investor, said at the time that people were living through a “transformational moment” in history, with the twin challenges of open societies and climate change “threatening the survival of our civilisation”.
Days after he made the comments at Davos, the OSF moved the Delhi High Court against the Centre’s decision to place it on a watchlist of NGOs and associations that are not registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), according to a news report in The Hindu. The OSF sought to know the reasons for which it was placed on the list and why no prior notice was served to it.
On its website, the OSF says it is “the world’s largest private funders of groups supporting human rights, justice, and accountable government — with an annual budget in 2020 of over $1 billion”.
According to its website, the OSF started its India operations in 1999 and initially offered scholarships and fellowships for students to pursue studies and research at Indian institutions. The organisation says that in 2014 it launched an India-specific grant programme, “supporting local organisations that work in three areas: extending access to medicine; promoting justice system reforms; and strengthening and establishing rights, public services, and community living for people with psychosocial disabilities”.
Since mid-2016, the foundation’s “grant making in India has been constrained by government restrictions on our funding for local NGOs”, according to the website.
On Friday, speaking about the recent report by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research on the Adani Group, 92-year-old Soros said at the Munich Security Conference, “Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in Parliament. This will significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on India’s federal government and open the door to push for much-needed institutional reforms. I may be naive, but I expect a democratic revival in India.”
Union Minister Smriti Irani called Soros’s remark a “declaration to destroy India’s democratic processes”, and said, “War is being mounted against India, PM Modi standing between it and country’s interest.”
BJP national spokesperson R P Singh tweeted, “Did Rajiv Gandhi Foundation ever receive any funds from any organization of Soros? Is @harsh_mander a conduit between dynasty & Soros. What else is in pipeline to destabilize the democratically elected Govt. will @INCIndia answer?”
On Twitter, Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh said, “Whether the PM-linked Adani scam sparks a democratic revival in India depends entirely on the Congress, Opposition parties & our electoral process. It has NOTHING to do with George Soros. Our Nehruvian legacy ensures people like Soros cannot determine our electoral outcomes.”
Congress data analytics chairperson Praveen Chakravarty quoted a portion of a Financial Times report on Soros’ comments. “Modi may dodge answering questions about Adani in Parliament and in India but he cannot escape from foreign investors — George Soros,” he said.
Quoting Chakravarty, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said, “The vectors of George Soros’ imperialistic agenda & mindset in India is no less than the Nehru-Gandhi family and its loyal retainers.”
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi took a swipe at the BJP over its sharp comments. “Our Indian billionaires have opinions on other nations too. Thankfully those nations don’t have troll mantris doing a press conference to scream threat to democracy or nation.”
She added that the bigger threat to Indian democracy was foreign agencies interfering in electoral processes through disinformation campaigns, muzzling media freedom, undermining independent agencies and attacking the judiciary.
In a dig at Irani, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said, “Every Indian urged by Hon’ble Cabinet Minister to give fitting reply to George Soros. Please bang your thalis at 6 pm sharp today.”
