The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, has to be understood in a political context. The message is loud and clear: a single narrative being crafted in India and any challenge to power is seen with suspicion and crushed with brute force. Civil society, which believes that one of its primary roles is to hold power to account and to undertake non-party political action in favor of the marginalised and disempowered, needs to fall in line. Civil society can exist only if it is willing to play service delivery roles – or it should perish.
The legislation, which lays down conditions under which civil society organisations can receive funds from abroad, had been passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday. It will have far-reaching consequences on the fields of education, health, people’s livelihoods, gender…