Having been declared an obstacle to economic development in India as a result of its campaigns against coal-fired power stations, Greenpeace now finds itself on the end of something of a crackdown by the Indian government.
In a letter dated 13th June, the Ministry has directed the Reserve Bank of India that all foreign contributions originating from Greenpeace International and Climate Works Foundation — two principal international contributors to Greenpeace India Society — must be kept on hold until individual clearances are obtained from the Ministry for each transaction.
Of course, being against most state controls, I'm not at all comfortable with the Indian government action, but you can still make a good case that the government has a right to prevent foreign interference in India's internal politics - at the end of the day, whether coal-fired power stations get built in India should be down to the Indian people alone. But if middle-class donors in the UK want to fund campaigns to keep millions of Indians in picturesque destitution then, while I think their behaviour immoral, I shy away from use of state power to stand in the way of their doing so.
But we should be pointing out, again and again, what a shameful thing it is to give money to Greenpeace.