Irked by the government's decision to freeze accounts of Greenpeace India, social activists on Thursday dubbed the move as 'unconstitutional and illegal'.
Satinath Sarangi, an activist working for victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, said that it was a very crude way to muzzle dissent and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA Government of destroying the environment of the country.
"This step by the government is thoroughly unconstitutional and illegal and it's a very crude way to muzzle dissent. This government is bent upon destroying the environment of this country and muzzling those who are trying to protect the environmental heritage of our country," Sarangi told ANI.
In January, the Delhi High Court had given Greenpeace a green signal and unfrozen their assets, but this move was undone causing distress to the organisation.
"The High Court of Delhi had clearly said what the Ministry had done in terms of freezing the assets of Greenpeace were totally illegal and they had unfrozen those assets. This is basically just another attempt of the Modi government to muzzle dissent of people who are raising voices that you cannot sell a country's assets to multinational corporations," said another activist Rachna Dhingra.
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday suspended Greenpeace India's Foreign Currency Regulation Act (FCRA) registration under which it receives funds from abroad.
The Government also issued a showcause notice to Greenpeace India asking why its registration should not be terminated.
