‘Civil Society’ in its real form is an essential part of any country. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are required to act as a mirror for the government and work mainly for upliftment of the underprivileged people, in the fields of health, education, hygiene, nutrition etc. However, not all the Civil society elements work towards the stated goals, instead, they use the garb of social service to do or promote activities detrimental to the stability and security of the nation, where they operate. 

Today, many countries around the world are suffering from the menace of civil society. India is no exception as it is facing many subversive activities from Civil Society. It is, therefore, important for us to comprehend what Civil Society is and its pros and cons.

Accordingly, this article will analyze the basic purpose of Civil Society, its roles and responsibilities, the rules they are governed by in India, the nuisance created by Deep State elements and foreign-funded civil society, its impacts on India, and measures needed to adapt individually, collectively and at government level, to minimize the effects. 

Civil Society: Definition, Roles and Responsibilities 

To Civil Society, Joseph P Bradley (Bradley, ND) stated that “Society cannot exist without law. Law is the bond of society: that which makes it, that which preserves it and keeps it together. It is, in fact, the essence of civil society.” But how many Civil Society organizations (CSOs) follow this mandate is a real question, and the answer is unfortunately a NO in capitals. 

Oxford Dictionary has defined Civil Society as: “The set of intermediate associations which are neither the state nor the (extended) family; civil society therefore includes voluntary associations and firms and other corporate bodies.” In democracies, civil society is expected to hold a mirror to the government, acting as a watchdog, and representing the interests of the people who cannot speak for themselves.

Based on that, the ideal functions of Civil Society cover important facets like Service Provision, mass upliftment, Policy Advocacy and development, Ensuring Accountability and Transparency, Mass awareness, Protection of human rights, Societal Conflict Resolution, Monitoring elections et al. 

Civil Society is supposed to function as a ruled-based organization, to help in the overall development of a nation. Asian Development Bank (ADB, 2008) has elaborated on the subject stating that Civil society organizations (CSOs) are required to play a significant role in the social, economic, and democratic development of a region. CSOs manage billions of dollars in development funds- either raised by them or those which have been entrusted to them by governments, foundations, individual benefactors, companies, and inter-government organizations. CSOs are, therefore, required to be credible and transparent in their dealings. But do the majority of CSOs function that way, is the question that this article tries to examine. 

Legal Provisions

The world over civil society is governed by a set of rules and regulations. India too has prescribed a Legal Framework to regulate the Civil Society and Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs). This has been done to avoid misuse of funds for creating disturbances in the country, funding terrorism, or Money Laundering. The said legal framework mainly comprises: 

•  Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010
•  Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002
•  Section 2(15) of the Income Tax (IT) Act, 1961 for Tax Exemptions

As per the rules, Registration of an NPO is voluntary, but registration is mandatory for any foreign organization establishing its branch in India or any CSO receiving grants from a foundation, government or company based in India or abroad (ADB, 2023).

The Government of India has retained the Power to revoke the registration of any CSO or NPO, registered under the FCRA, subject to certain specific conditions, including the likelihood of foreign contribution being used for activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. Fundamentally, it should be the prerogative of the nation which is affected, to decide which entities are inimical to its interests and not the organizations which face the punitive actions. It cannot be a situation of ‘Ulta chor kotwal ko danten’ (Thief scolding the Police). 

Current Lay of the Land

There are many Civil Society Organizations in India and some of them are doing excellent work. Some of the major ones include United Nations Agencies, Centre for Civil Society, National NGO etc. Some of the major organizations which violate the prescribed rules include Oxfam’s educational and other NGOs, Amnesty International Center for Policy Research etc. It is important to note that more than 120 CSOs/NGOs have been banned for their anti-India activities and more than 6800 CSOs/NGOs have been under FCRA watch, due to misuse of funds and breaking the legal provisions (Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, 2024).   After examining the lay of land for the Civil Society in India, it would be important to examine how the fund donors can misuse Civil Society Organizations or how Civil Society organizations themselves abuse their Charter. 

Deep State and Civil Society/Non-Governmental Organizations

The most important facet of misuse of Civil Society is by the Deep State Actors. With the advent of technology, the Deep State Activities are carried out by a foreign country or a group of foreign countries (Sponsors’ Group), to destabilize a targeted country or trigger a regime change there, in cohorts with local political groups or persons, organizations, media, to name a few. 

It would be important here to examine what the ‘Deep State’ is. Broadly speaking beneath the outward appearance of legitimate foreign governments relations with a targeted country, there lurk hidden agendas, shadowy personalities, key officials, agencies and special interest groups- seeking to seize control of the governance apparatus for its interests. The above entities- which operate without any concern for the legal norms or public opinions, are known as ‘deep states elements’ and they act in cohort with the local entities (Berry, et al, 2009).

More often than not, the state sponsors recruit a specific person- elected or unelected, local politicians, influential persons, organizations, and institutions to act as the Front end to do their dirty work. Such activities are clandestinely funded by the Deep State. Deep State elements adapt many processes to activate their game plan. 

To strengthen the position of the chosen person, the deep state runs large-scale ‘Public Relations’ campaigns, to build a larger-than-life image of that person and project him as the Messiah for the Poor, Downtrodden, Farmers, Workers et al –in short ‘One In All – for All Ills’. 

Mass campaigns are then run through funded CSOs, using local support. to paint the existing government as ineffective, corrupt, and damaging to both the economic and military security of the country. Efforts are also made to paint government policies, programs, and reforms as against the common man’s interests (Pan et al, 2022).  Important projects are criticized as not environment-friendly and tented with corruption. Massive protests are also encouraged to effectively stall them. Such nefarious activities do not end there. Deep State resorts to maligning campaigns against the Leader- heading the government, calling him Tana-shah, Hitler, Power-hungry, against the interest of the masses etc. (Repucci and Slipowitz, ND).  

Such well-designed campaigns are supported by the Sponsors’ Group through the use of: 

• Paid for Mass Media Accounts to run False Propaganda against government Institutions, Policies, Programs, and Reforms.
• Their own Civil Investigative organizations discredit government financial institutions, Business Houses, Business Leaders, and Officials.
• Paid for local groups to spread misinformation, organize large-scale mass protests- many times violent, disrupting law and order and day-to-day life, and carry out sabotage. They deliberately invite punitive actions and use those to paint Law agencies as Suppressive and the government as Oppressive and generate a massive unpopularity wave against the government and the leader. 
• Funded CSOs/NGOs to Lodge cases in Courts against government policies/ organizations/projects and to undertake false propaganda to stall the development projects
• Foreign educational Institutes, which work in consonance with recruited local institutes and cultivated billionaires corrupt the education system in the targeted country and polarize people
• Cultivated intellectuals’ networks to bring credibility to otherwise unethical activities

Research by Tricontinental (Tricontinental, 2019) supports the above narrative. It has been pointed out that the deep state elements start Regime Change operations by deploying imperialists to question the legitimacy of the targeted government. They also put their weight behind an unelected person, calling him the real leader, thereby creating a situation, which undermines the authority of the elected leader. They may also trigger a coup when the deep state decides to anoint its proxy, who will bend to the deep state’s authority. Another paper has focused on US- Ukraine dissidents’ (deep state) cooperation in overthrowing the Yanukovych government and the CIA’s role in it (Carpenter, 2022). Similarly, the roles of Mr Donald Lu. Ms Victoria Nuland and the US Administration have been deciphered in causing regime change in Bangladesh, using Students’ Protests as a front (Deshmukh, 2024). 

Some stark examples where deep state activities succeeded in regime change are Bangladesh and Ukraine, and where attempts are still going on in Georgia and Venezuela. It is important to note that many deep-stake activities described above are currently going on in India. Mr. Donald Lu, Ms Victoria Nuland and other US officials have been visiting India and meeting various opposition leaders and fundamentalists (PTI/Mint, 2024) and many disruptive activities are also going on. It would be, therefore, important here to examine the connection of the deep state- with Civil Society activities in India, for a better appreciation of the situation.   

Civil Society Nefarious Activities in India

Broad Outline

In foreign-sponsored but locally supported subversive campaigns, many tenets of civil society are traditionally used. Use of the civil society, for nefarious activities, mainly involves four main strategies: viz. intervention, interference in domestic affairs, intelligence operations, and soft power through the cultivation of elites and opinion makers. These methods, which are reminiscent of historical governance disturbance tactics, remain as effective even in modern times. Similarly, the use of the Concept of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) characterizes its effectiveness in creating turmoil in a geopolitical environment. 

Some examples of such activities are the US’s use of mass media to blame India for the so-called deterioration in democracy, religious intolerance etc. and China’s use of Indian social media to create many fake narratives, including blaming India for the tense border situation, transgressions in Arunachal Pradesh, claiming the Indian territory as its own ((Deshmukh, ibid). 

Some examples of current worrisome activities that have happened or happening in India now cover:  

• Use of NGOs/ Political Parties to pressurize Governments during Pandemics, Disasters, Riots, Mass Protests etc.: Many entities including US vaccine manufacturers and Indian political leaders had exerted pressure on the Indian Government for importing mRNA anti-Covid vaccines, despite suppliers asking for complete liability waiver. Indian Government, however, did not buckle under pressure, otherwise, many Indian citizens could have been affected by the mRNA-caused medical disasters- Americans are facing now (Yasim, et al, 2023). The organizations which were pressurizing the government then, are now keeping mum.  
• Use of Mass Media (for Generic Manipulation of Information)- This activity is rampant. Hindenburg and various other reports against specific Indian Institutions like SEBI (Hindenburg Research, 2024), Human Rights violations, and Suppressed Freedom of Speech (USDS, ND) are all part of the subversive toolkit. Some examples of media use for Spread of Misinformation which triggered protests pertain to Shahin Bagh (CAA) and Farmers’ Protest (Farm Laws).
• Information warfare: Instances of Information Warfare being waged through misuse of CSOs, media, entertainment channels, and cultural/ educational/ religious/Political channels have also been observed. Some examples include activities of ISI/ George Soros and Omidyar Network India -ONI for short (Deshmukh, 2024a)
• Espionage by the state actors: Investigation had shown that the National Security Agency of the US has been snooping on the phones and emails of BRICS leaders. (Bajoria, 2024). 
• Legal Warfare through Misinformation Campaign: Legal Warfare misinformation campaign has also been implemented in India. To cite an example, some Indian Leaders had openly said that they have no hope of getting justice from the Hon Supreme Court (Dhanani, 2023). Ironically the same people run to the SC with multiple PILs and cases against everything on the earth.  
• Trade Warfare: This has been waged through unfair trade practices. Trade warfare being waged through private players authorized by governments issuing ‘letters of marque’ has been documented (Bose, 2021). 
• Technology Warfare:  This pertained to technology denial through commercial entities or sabotage of indigenous projects. Proofs are there that India was denied a range of technologies, including nuclear, electronics, rockets and advanced metallurgy (Purkayastha, 2023).  
• Media Warfare: The infamous intense media warfare is fought through the bought-out networks, Press et al—for interventions in democratic elections, domestic events important projects etc. In 2021, a news portal in India was investigated for allegedly having ties with the Chinese government. New York Times investigation had unearthed a network of activist groups, nonprofit organizations, shell companies, and their close ties to Chinese propaganda (India Today, 2023). In the case of the US, India strongly protested against the US administration and media criticism both in the US and India, about the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a purely internal matter of the nation (Grossman, 2024). 

After examining the generic information about the Civil Society menace, analysis of some specific cases would help in better understanding the impacts. 

Specific Examples of Misuse by/of Civil Society 

Shahin Bagh Anti-CAA Protest 

This Case Study pertains to Misinformation about CAA and NRC, which led to the Shahin Bagh Protests. These protests were based on misinformation spread by Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI). Research by Sharma and Singh (Sharma & Singh, 2023) has stated that: 

“JMI is an important consideration in motivating Muslim relocation to Jamia Nagar during the rise in communal tensions in the 1990s. As a result, JMI has always held aspirational status for the residents of Jamia Nagar due to its promise of socio-economic mobility”.

Analysis has further shown that many CSOs were also involved in this event, in some cases providing financial and logistical support (OpIndia, 2021). Research has shown that Amnesty International was sympathetic towards the protests. The ISI of Pakistan also was found to hold similar concocted views about CAA and has been working through the educational institutes to radicalize Indian Youth (Rana, 2016). This is an example of how agendas are written in foreign countries and get implemented in India by the local supporters.

In addition to the above, student Associations from IIM Ahmedabad and Gujrat National Law University had written open letters protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (The India Forum, 2019). How many of them in reality, had analyzed the details- about CAA is not known. In a democracy, protests are expressions of discontent and are welcome, but they cannot and should not be based on distorted information or with a motivated agenda of disturbing peace. 

This Protest not only caused untold hardship to thousands of officegoers, workers, and common people but also resulted in massive fuel burning due to stalled traffic – a big loss for the nation, and enormous environmental pollution. The Hon Supreme Court had to finally intervene to resolve the matter. The SC clearly stated that Protest is a right in democracy, but such protest should be held in places so as not to inconvenience the Public Life. Highways are public property and they cannot be hijacked for motivated protests (Singh, 2022). 

Farmers’ Protest

The Farmers’ Protests was another example of ‘protest based on misinformation’. The protest was led by the Kisan Mazdoor Commission (KMC), an initiative by the Nation for Farmers, in collaboration with activists and other organizations. Before proceeding further, a brief look at the three (now repelled) bills passed by the parliament would be important: –

• Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020- This law empowered the farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country, where they could get better and faster remuneration. This affected the power of Mandis. 
• Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 – This law empowered Farmers to sign long-term financially reasonable contracts with the Corporates amongst others. 
• Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020– This law related to An amendment to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and sought to restrict the powers of the government concerning the production, supply, and distribution of certain key commodities. The act removed cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onions, and potatoes from the list of essential commodities. The government retained the power to decide on limits of stocks and prices in case of shortages to protect the interest of the common man.

Even though the three laws were beneficial for the farmers, Farmers’ Unions (especially KMC and Punjab region unions) were against them because of their vested interest (INAS, 2020). Finally, the laws were repelled by the government.  Interestingly, the Farmers’ Unions are now demanding Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops and Full Waiver of Farmers’ Loans, running into thousands of crores. It would not be difficult to appreciate the practicality of such demands. Many other NGOs were involved in these protests too. The protest was supported by the Prime Minister of Canada also. What was the propriety of it only he can tell.  It was suspected that sizable funding for the protest came from Canada (Roy, 2023).

Attacks on the Indian Legal System 

Indian legal system also has not been spared by the CSOs. An article by Legal Desire (Legal Desire, 2023) has been critical of such interference and has brought out that: 

Social media’s impact on trial proceedings in India is undeniable. It has introduced new challenges… To harness accruable benefits while safeguarding the legal and ethical principles that underpin our justice system, a concerted effort by the legal fraternity, policymakers, and society at large is essential. Only through a harmonious blend of technological adaptation and legal prudence can we ensure that social media serves justice rather than undermines it.

It would be interesting to note that even Hon Supreme Court and High Court Delhi commented on this aspect.  For the very first time, both the Apex Court and Delhi High Court noted that a concurrent trial by the media has no legal standing in our judicial system as it creates a conflict between the right to ‘free speech and expression’ and the ‘right to a fair trial’ (Mishra, 2024). Some examples of this phenomenon are: Sensitive Sexual Assault and Political Cases.

Attacks on Political System

The Indian political system also has been a victim of misinformation and manipulation by CSOs.  A PTI report (TOI, 2022) pointed out how mass media was misused to cause political and social upheavals. Some classic cases pertained to the maligning of Adm Arun Prakash, then Chief of the Naval Staff by Outlook through false accusations (Thakur, 2010), and spreading misinformation about the Constitution Amendment during general elections (ET, 2024). Similarly, the Article How Social Media Has Affected Political Discourse (EPW Engage, 2021) has brought that “Globally, the Cambridge Analytica case has been a watershed in exposing how social media and data analytics companies manipulate public life” in India and the USA.

George Soros- Open Society Foundation (OSF) 

George Soros has been a staunch India baiter. His notorious Open Society Foundation, a USA NGO has been at its India bashing activities for a long. OSF has been operating in India through its partnering Indian organization located in Bangalore. That organization has been fully funded by George Soros. Soros had provided USD 406,000 to that organization in 2021 alone. A special report on this foundation (The Sunday Guardian, 2023) has pointed out that: 

George Soros seems to be a villain for the persistent India-bashing done by NGOs funded by him. But the script may not have been written by him alone. He seems to be in league with global forces, or even people within the country who want to dent India’s image, its government and its economy.

A man known to harbour hidden agendas, Soros has been pretty vocal about his “mission” or “dream” of dislodging Hon Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and “making democracy flourish again” in the country. This, to some analysts, appears to be nothing but an open threat to meddle with the electoral process in the world’s largest democracy. Soros’s dubious China link, which became public in the 1980s, also raised questions about the reason behind his interest in India and its neighbours. 

Reportedly, OSF, which often interferes in India’s internal affairs by funding ultra-activists and other NGOs in the country and associations not registered under the ‘Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), was put under the watch list or ‘prior permission’ category by the Indian government, in 2016 (Tripathi, 2016). However, the NGO moved the Delhi High Court against the government only- in 2020, raising doubts about its intentions. OSF is certainly an entity which should be watched for its anti-India activities. 

Omidyar Network India (ONI) 

It would be interesting to discuss a bird of the same feathers here, the Omidyar Net Work India (ONI). Omidyar Network-India is a Mumbai-based organization. It is an initiative by Pierre Morad Omidyar (founder of eBay), a person well-connected with anti-India networks in the USA.

An Investigative Report on Omidyar’s activities, through his US-based Parent group, gives glimpses of his modus operandi. Roslyn Fuller (Fuller, 2021) has observed that Omidyar’s funding activities are opaque and determining fund usage would not be easy. Figure-I which indicates the complexities involved with Omidyar’s funding activities will illustrate the point.

                                                  Figure I: Omidyar’s Funding Pattern 

Figure Courtesy: Spiked

 Fuller (ibid) in connection with Omidyar Network has stated that:

If one accepts what givers like Omidyar et al say, it becomes apparent that rather than participating in traditional acts of charity, they are using their resources for Social Engineering, to artificially change the structure of society to what they think it should be…. 

This is dangerous for India which already suffers from many divides. Interestingly, when an investigation by Indian authorities, against ONI’s nefarious activities was launched, ONI announced the winding up of its activities in India – which indicates the dubious character of ONI (Roy and Bhalla, 2023). 

Other Examples of Activities Aimed at Destabilizing India 

Some Other examples would deal with:

• Espionage: Among the BRICS group of emerging nations, which featured quite high on the list of countries targeted by the secret surveillance programs of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) for collecting telephone data and internet records, India was the number one target of snooping by the American agency (Bajoria, 2024a). It has also been observed that armed forces personnel and DRDO scientists have been targeted by Pakistan-ISI through its network in India (Singh, 2023).   
• Trade Warfare: China-sponsored companies in India, and China’s clandestine investments in Indian Start UP through questionable Indian companies are stark examples (Bhowmick, 2021).  Dumping of cheap goods in India by China through white labelling -aided and abated by shady Indian companies in Dubai is another. 
• Media Warfare: India is suffering incredible media warfare waged by The Guardian, and BBC India, which bought out Indian media and television Channels. For Example, One of the Wire founders is Siddharth Varadarajan, an American citizen of Indian descent, and editor of The Hindu newspaper. His wife Nandini Sundar is a DU professor who has been accused of deep links with Maoist terrorists (OpIndia, 2018). Further, with ‘False Reports’, 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: India (USDS, ND) had stated that “Significant human rights issues included credible reports of unlawful and arbitrary killings,…. including extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents”.  Such reports need to be taken with a pinch of salt.  
• Misuse of Educational Institutions:  This is an important aspect which needs to be studied by examining the activities of entities like Harvard and Pulitzer Center, for their Efforts to Destroy the Indian System. In the days of the British Raj, the discourses about India were controlled by Oxford University. Now Americans seem to have taken over this recolonization project, with Harvard University playing a lead role.                                                                                                               The speed and scale of these efforts are also typically American. In effect, the East India Company has returned in a new incarnation with Harvard University stepping into the shoes of Oxford. Many of Harvard’s ideas have entered Indian government organizations and businesses. They started with a subtle introduction of CRT in India. Harvard is now transforming CRT into Critical Cast Theory (CCT) and applying it to India. Some of the ideas associated with CCT state that:
  • Casteism is baked into Indian society
  • Meritocracy is a mask for privilege and oppression
  • Caste-based categories intersect with race, gender, and class
  • Understanding the intersectional aspects of caste, race, gender, and class is important.

Application of Western Oriented Critical Cast Theory to India will be impractical and will create chaos. Unfortunately, Indian billionaires are funding this work. Ironically, it is India’s scholars, funding, and resources that Harvard is using to train a new sepoy army of scholars for Breaking India from the top down. Here structural casteism is being dressed up as the foundational problem responsible for all kinds of social, cultural and political challenges facing India. Furthermore, to dismantle social abuse, the strong position being advocated by CCT is that Hinduism, the Indian family system and the merit-based system all need to be dismantled. This new social theory is popularly called Wokeism. This Wokeism of Harvard-trained intellectuals will destroy the very cultural fabric of our nation (Malhotra and Viswanathan, 2022). Harvard and its stooges in India, thus, need to be stopped dead in their tracks. 

CSO Menace in Other Countries 

After analyzing the alarming domestic scenario, it would be appropriate to briefly examine how CSOs play in other countries. 

USA 

Ironically, the USA, which uses a bag of tricks and toolkits to destroy Indian culture and systems, itself gets paid in the same coins by outside agencies. For Example, Sponsored Social Media has been causing political polarization in the US.  It has been observed that Social media has been subjecting many US organizations to online outrage, both within their ideological networks and outside of their network. 

The USA has started muzzling civil society organizations by using a widening array of threats. New restrictions on protest and attacks on freedom of expression have been imposed in recent years, particularly at the state level. Civil society organizations and activists are encountering legal and political intimidation tactics (Schuman, 2017).

While the USA is facing the menace of Civil Society and clamping on it, it instigates Civil Society in India against Indian systems and culture and blames India for restricting the functioning of Civil Society – the best example of the double standards. 

Bangladesh 

The regime change in Bangladesh was tumultuous. It seems that US-China-Pakistan had a hand in the happenings there. 

It would be interesting to note that Mr. Donald Lu visited Bangladesh in May 2024, and the Sheik Hasina government collapsed in Aug 2024, an unbelievable coincidence. It is understood that the US was unhappy with Sheikh Hasina’s regime because of her open criticism of the US for religious polarization and pressure on Bangladesh to establish an airbase in the country. 

China was unhappy with the Sheikh Hasina government because of its good relations and its award of many infrastructural projects to India and open criticism of China-supplied weapons and spares, by Bangladesh. Pakistan-ISI had been unhappy with Sheikh Hasina’s government because of her democratic way of functioning and opposition to the Islamization of the country. 

The above trio probably provoked and used student organizations to launch protests, which soon escalated to riots due to media misuse. This foreign-managed unrest ultimately resulted in the Sheikh Hasina government’s overthrow. Bangladesh is now likely to get a fundamentalist government, which would be good for neither Bangladesh nor India (Deshmukh, 2024b)

The abovementioned trio is unhappy with India too for various reasons and examples of their activities in India have been analyzed earlier. Accordingly, abundant caution on the part of India will not be out of place. 

Measures India Needs to Put in Place 

The analysis above has shown that CSOs and NGOs can be detrimental to the development and security of a country. Activities of Deep State elements and their modus operand of working through various CSOs and other agencies to destabilize India have also been examined. It has emerged that CSOs/NGOs have created problems for the government. In some cases, civil society groups have challenged the authority of the state and undermined its legitimacy, leading to social unrest and instability. 

They have been found to act against our social, cultural, economic and security interests and would like to destroy everything Indian. Thus, we are not left with any other choice than to fight this Civil Societal cancer through effective counters. The measures need to be threefold: at the Individual level, at the Collective level and at the National Agencies and governmental level. 

1. At Individual Level:

• Be conscious about the actual domestic and global, geo-political and economic scenario. Do your study and analysis. 
• Do not fall prey to false propaganda and educate the masses with correct facts and figures
• Rise above cast, creed, colour, religion and inculcate national spirit – always remember ‘Rashtra Hai to hi Ham Hai’ (We will exist only if nation exists).
• Do not allow Bhartiya Sanskruti, culture, ethos, family structure and education systems to be hijacked by Western Culture and associated indoctrination

2. At the collective level:

• Do not allow any disruptive politics/religious/fanatical organizations to indoctrinate the young minds or tear the national fabric of Unity in Diversity 
• Report unlawful activities, false propaganda, and misuse of media by any individual, group, or Civil society
• Be helpful to those in need (as money can be a big lure) and make them understand the dangers posed by unscrupulous Civil Society 
• Cultivate National Spirit and be ready to protect the nation’s honor 
• Always help national agencies to protect the dignity of individuals, and maintain law and order 

3. At National Agencies and Governmental Levels:

• Make Registration and audits compulsory for all the elements of Civil Society 
• Have strict regulations for control of the inflow and outgo of foreign funds to/from Civil Society
• Have restrictions over ex bureaucrats, and educationists from starting NGOs and make them money-making or money-laundering factories  
• Make Law Enforcement agencies watchful of the disruptive activities of civil society and make them accountable for breaches of law and order. 
• Keep a watch on Indian entities who get involved with foreign organizations to aid and abate their activities in India
• Make appropriate rules for control of the foreign universities setting up campuses in India and corrupt our Indian education system 
• Control unscrupulous surveys, which falsify data and use that to create disturbances in India or spoil its image

Conclusion  

Undoubtedly, Civil Society is a watchdog to keep a check on the government and the CSOs are expected to work for betterment of the society. But many times they act differently. 

The Deep State elements in India are a major cause of worry and they have been found to work through funded CSOs, NGOs, bought-out people, politicians, mass media, TV broadcasters, press et al. The Deep State funds all these activities through both overt and covert means. Deep State elements have also used CSOs/NGOs to spread misinformation about government agencies (Hindenburg-SEBI/ USDS false reports about Human Rights violations in India) and instigate long-running protests (Shahin Bagh and Farmers’ Protests). 

As far as Civil Society is concerned, India has promulgated a set of rules and regulations for their lawful functioning. However, many CSOs have succeeded in bypassing those rules and carrying out anti-national activities in India, through unfair means and their Indian cohorts. It has been observed that many CSOs had not followed their charter of duty and were involved in the misuse of funds, funding terrorist and anti-national activities and sometimes money laundering. So far, more than 120 CSOs/NGOs have, therefore, been banned and more than 6800 CSOs have been put on the FCRA watch list, for their nefarious activities in the country, by the relevant authorities. 

Analysis has revealed that many foreign organizations have either based their branches in India or are funding selective Indian NGOs- to implement their disruptive agendas. Some foreign organizations have even taken over media/educational institutes/press which work against India’s national interests. India, thus, needs to be vigilant about anti-India organizations like the Open Society Foundation (of George Soros) and Omidyar Network India. 

It also needs to be cautious about foreign university collaborations with Indian Universities and institutes set up by Indian Billionaires, as such collaborations invariably result in anti-India indoctrination of the students’ bodies or promote undesirable activities. India needs to be especially cautious about Harvard University as it has managed to penetrate Indian polity and establish strong roots in India, for its Berak India Initiative, through Critical Cast Theory aka Wokeism. 

India should also be aware of the dynamic involvement of countries like the USA, China and Pakistan in activities to destabilize India, both economically and militarily, and active support being rendered to those countries by many Indian political organizations/ billionaires/ institutions, to serve their vested interests. Recent happening in Bangladesh should sound an ominous warning to India and it should put in place comprehensive and multi-tiered measures- to minimize the impact of such destabilizing activities, on the country’s security and stability.  India is standing at a very critical juncture at this time and it cannot afford to be complacent. 

Sun Tsu’s following words would serve as an apt advice for India (Goodreads, ND):

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”.

Thus, it would be better for India to be fully vigilant and be victorious. 

Jai Hind! 

Title Image Courtesy: HT

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of India and Defence Research and Studies

References: 

1. Bradley Joseph P, ND, BrainyQuote, Retrieved from: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/joseph_p_bradley_687034, Accessed on: 02 Oct 2024

2. Asian Development Bank, 2008, Civil Society Organization: SOURCEBOOK: A STAFF GUIDE TO COOPERATION WITH CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS, ADB, Online, Retrieved from: https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/32629/files/cso-staff-guide.pdf, Accessed on: 30 Sep 2024

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