People's Democracy

THE ongoing quest of the Vajpayee government to become a junior partner of the United States is now assuming new and dangerous dimensions. It has been reported in the media that the BJP-led government has given clearance for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an American organisation, to set up its office in India.

The NED is primarily a US State Department-funded organisation which works in coordination with the State Department to promote ‘democracy’ around the world. It concentrates particularly on countries and governments which do not accept the American version of democracy, or promote free market values. The People’s Democracy had, in April 1999, published articles regarding the nature of the operations of the NED in the context of its sponsoring an international conference in New Delhi to build a "world movement for democracy".

Since the advent of the BJP-led government at the centre, the activities of the NED have been stepped up in India. After the international conference held in February 1999, for the "World Movement of Democracy", the next major step was taken during the visit of President Clinton in March 2000. One of the decisions taken during the visit was the announcement by President Clinton of the establishment of an Asian Centre for Democratic Governance, to be located in New Delhi. The National Endowment for Democracy is to set up this Centre in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which is the biggest organisation of big business in India.

The project was important enough for President Clinton to have announced it in his speech after the joint statement was signed by him and Vajpayee. Making the announcement, President Clinton had stated:

Before coming to the activities of the Asian Centre, it is necessary to understand the nature of the activities of the NED, the sponsoring body. In 1996 the American right-wing Heritage Foundation in an internal document on the NED had noted that in its short life, the NED "has aided Lech Walesa’s solidarity movement in Poland, Harry Wu’s human rights efforts in China, and independent media outlets in the former Yugoslavia. Russia’s political activists affiliated with NED also played a major role in President Boris Yeltsin’s successful re-election campaign against the reinvigorated Communist Party earlier this year".

The NED, which is funded by the US government to the tune of 32 million dollars, and has a representative of the US State Department on its Board, annually funds various parties and organisations in different parts of the world. In the cold war days, the focus was the war against communism, while in the last one decade the emphasis has shifted to supporting right-wing parties and promoting free market values. The motto of the NED is "free market sustains democracy", something which suits the interests of the US multinational corporations admirably. The choice of the Indian partner, the CII, is not accidental. As per the American version of democracy, corporates should be the main agents for promoting ‘democratic’ values.

According to the details given out by the NED about the grants distributed by it during 1999, its main focus has been on China and Burma in Asia. This reflects the concerns of the US to subvert the governments and the social systems in these countries which are seen to be inimical to the American idea of ‘democracy’. The NED supports groups which work for promoting "democracy", "human rights" and "democratic change" in these two countries.

In other countries like Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia also, groups which are considered to be advancing American interests are liberally funded. Significantly, there is no mention of Indian organisations being funded except a Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs. This is ominous, as it indicates that the American funding in India is mainly covert.

In a separate column, the grants given to some of the organisations are listed. As far as India-based groups are concerned, the NED has been generously financing the anti-China Tibetan groups. Funding of the NED is routed through its affiliated organisations such as the Centre for International Private Enterprise, the Free Trade Union Institute and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

The NED is funding various organisations of the Tibetans which are working in India against the Chinese government, and Burmese organisations which are struggling against the regime in Myanmar The democratic forces in India support the movement for restoration of democracy in Burma, but this does not mean the US should be allowed to finance the political activities of Burmese organisations in India. In South America and the Caribbean, NED funds and supports anti-Cuban organisations and in the recent period, it has pumped in a lot of funds to destabilise the Milosevich government in Yugoslavia. One of the major targets is Iraq, the NED finances the anti-Saddam opposition groups which are pro-American.

The NED and its affiliates are known to be coordinating with the CIA and acting as conduit for its funds to be deployed. It is such an organisation, which is an extension of the US government and works to advance US interests politically and ideologically, which is now being allowed by the Vajpayee government to open an office in India.

An immediate necessity for the NED to have its own base in India is to run the Asian Centre for Democratic Governance which will be one of the nodal centres for its network of activities in the major countries of Asia; both those which they considered hostile, and those which are considered to be allies. While China, North Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and Myanmar are considered states which are hostile, to be targeted, the US would use the Centre for propping up the fragile democracies in its client states Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.

Step by step, the BJP-led government in its anxiety to become a strategic ally has allowed the United States to make India a base for its political and ideological operations The Americans have found an ideal partner in the BJP, a right-wing party, to advance their "democracy" project in India. That NED is an instrument of US imperialism and not democracy, is clear from the fact that it is allergic to only some military regimes. The Burmese military regime is anathema and opposition to it is financed, but no such steps were taken against Suharto’s regime in Indonesia. The Musharaff regime does not attract the same opprobrium, as Pakistan is a valued ally. The BJP is willing to go along with this American political enterprise in the hope that the US will treat India as a strategic ally. This illusory pursuit of the BJP if not checked, will land India into the ludicrous position of a client state of the US.

Among the stated objectives of the Asian Centre are

• understanding the great variety of experiences with democracy and market economies", and
• seeking to "advance knowledge of the general conditions for consolidating democracy at a time of economic globalisation".

What this means in plain language is, to enforce the model of ‘democracy’ which will suit a market economy and globalisation, which is in America’s interests. More importantly,

• "the Centre will conduct programmes to enhance the capacities of emerging leaders……especially young men and women with leadership potential who are likely to play important roles in the development of democracy in their countries".

This is nothing but a plan to suborn and groom political leaders malleable to American needs.

Gautam Adhikari, a functionary of the NED and the former Executive Editor of The Times of India, was assigned the responsibility for setting up and functioning the Centre. Last month, in January, the inaugural conference of the Asian Centre for Democratic Governance was held in New Delhi.

An array of governmental and political leaders were mobilised, as were top media and legal personalities. They included the union law minister Arun Jaitley, the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha Najma Heptullah, the NCP leader P A Sangma and prominent editors like Dilip Padgonkar of The Times of India and Shekhar Gupta of The Indian Express. Among the active supporters of the NED’s ‘democracy venture’ are foreign minister Jaswant Singh and the defence minister George Fernandes. Jaswant Singh became one of the co-sponsors of the "Communities of Democracies" conference in Poland last year which was sponsored by the NED and other US foundations.

The NED, working in concert with the Vajpayee government has been able to provide a degree of respectability to the Asian Centre for Democratic Governance under the cover of discussing how to make democracy work, and promoting human rights and better governance in a market economy. Under all these high-sounding goals, the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies, which is not a private body but one which is affiliated to the Indian Parliament, has been roped in.

The NED, given its role as an ideological instrument of the US establishment, will become the agent for supporting and financing parties and organisations which are hostile to the Left, and the Communists in particular. Already there are sufficient indications of the heightened US interest in the forthcoming assembly elections in West Bengal and Kerala.

The mainstream media has become complicit in the effort to legitimise this American ideological intervention in our public life. Only one newspaper, The Asian Age has highlighted the danger of the NED opening its office in India and funding organisations working against the governments of neighbouring countries.

It is imperative that the NED’s operations in India be stopped. On no account should it be allowed to open its office, just as the FBI was allowed to do last year. The Asian Centre for Democratic Governance is nothing but an American-funded outfit which should not have any official patronage or collaboration. The Bureau of Parliamentary Studies must dissociate from the Centre, nor should the government of India, extend any sort of patronage to this dubious American project.

Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB)
$150,000
Special funds for Burma
To support the short-wave radio programmes of the DVB, the voice of the Burmese pro-democracy movement, and to further professionalise DVB's Oslo studio and its field offices in Thailand and India.

National Coalition for Democracy
$55,000
To enable the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) to operate two communications centres, in New Delhi and Bangkok, allowing them to communicate more effectively the NCGUB's message to an international audience.

Nonviolence International (NI)
$50,000
To support the work of the India-based Committee for Nonviolent Action in Burma (CNAB) to foster coalition building and promote democracy at the grassroots level in Burma.

Tibet Times Newspaper
$20,000
To provide in-depth coverage of news about Tibet, the exiled Tibetan community, and Chinese and international affairs, through a Tibetan-language newspaper published three times a month in Dharamsala, India.

Tibet Multimedia Centre
$30,000
To support a four-part programme of democratic civic education and information dissemination that addresses the struggle for human rights and democracy in Tibet. Based in Dharamsala, India, the Centre produces print, audio, and video materials for distribution to Tibetans in India, Nepal, and Tibet.

Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy
$15,000
To translate into Tibetan, publish, and distribute 10,000 copies each of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. The programme is based in Dharamsala, India.

Tibetan Review
$25,000
To continue publishing Tibetan Review, an English-language monthly news and opinion journal based in New Delhi, India. The Review, known for its editorial independence and its commitment to promoting democratic pluralism in Tibetan society, provides a unique forum for the free and robust exchange of views.

Centre for International Private Enterprise

$52,635

To work with the Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs to bring together business leaders and successful women entrepreneurs from throughout the South Asian region to share their ideas and expertise on policy advocacy and economic development.

International Republican Institute
$235,257
To strengthen democratic political parties and civic participation in Cambodia. Training topics include the legislative process, communication and message development, and grassroots political party organisation. A separate programme will train several Cambodian NGOs, civic activists, and student leaders on how to become more effective advocates for constitutional democratic political processes in Cambodia.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$21,642
To support the organizational development of three civic groups whose election-monitoring efforts helped expose flaws during parliamentary polls in 1998. Before the local elections, scheduled in 2000, NDI will assist the civic groups to advocate citizen input into the creation of new laws on local elections and local administrative structures.

American Centre for International Labour Solidarity
$202,399
To support the work of the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin to investigate and document labour conditions and worker activism in China. The programme also includes support for labour and human rights education efforts to inform workers about their rights under national and local laws.

Foundation for China in the 21st Century
$100,000
To increase understanding of democratisation, constitutionalism, federalism, and related issues among policy-making and intellectual communities in China. The program includes publications on comparative democratisation issues and grassroots elections in China, a new programme to lay the foundation for inter-ethnic communication through a series of retreats, and humanitarian and programmatic support for Chinese human rights and democracy activists.

Malaysia

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$143,388
To assist a civic group with monitoring November 1999 parliamentary elections in Malaysia, where flawed electoral laws and procedures have prevented genuine, competitive polls. NDI will help the civic group mount a neutral observation effort to monitor the election and pre-election environment and report objectively on the election process.

Nepal

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$100,000
To strengthen government oversight and accountability in a country where corruption at all levels of government hinders the development of democratic practices and the public's faith in democracy. The programme will assist civic groups with strengthening the legislature's oversight of Nepal's seven independent constitutional bodies and developing a more transparent process of appointing members to those bodies, which are currently appointed in secret.

North Korea

Citizens' Alliance to Help Political Prisoners in North Korea
$62,000
To investigate and report on human rights abuses and prison camp operations in North Korea. The Seoul-based group will produce English-language materials for international dissemination and publish Korean, Japanese, and English-language editions of its bimonthly journal, Life and Human Rights. The Alliance will also convene the first international conference on human rights abuses in North Korea to assess the current state of knowledge and exchange of information on North Korea's human rights situation, and explore strategies to improve the human rights situation there.

Vietnam

Association for Vietnamese Overseas: Culture & Liaison
$70,000
To continue distributing the bimonthly magazine, Que Me (Homeland), which brings uncensored news and a discussion of democratic ideas into Vietnam. The Association also will distribute in Vietnam 50,000 copies of its monthly mini-bulletins on human and workers' rights in Vietnam, and a variety of thematic reports in English, French, and Vietnamese.

Asia Regional

American Centre for International Labour Solidarity
$551,232
To support the protection of workers' rights and the institutional development of trade unions in Thailand and Malaysia. ACILS programmes will broaden workers' civic awareness and help train workers and unions to undertake effective research, analysis, and advocacy on economic policy issues in the wake of the financial crisis. A regional programme will promote transparency in international financial institutions.