George Soros, who has now declared war against India and is a Hungarian-American businessman, is not just one of the richest men in the world but also the US’ most politically influential philanthropist. He was born in a Jewish family and survived the holocaust by impersonating himself as a Christian. He later moved to England and became protégé of a radical positivist, Mr Karl Popper, who had a significant influence on his ideology which eventually resulted in the formation of the Open Society Foundation.
Initially, in London, he worked as an investment banker and in the year 1956, he moved to the US where after a few years he established a hedge fund under the name of the Quantum fund. The fund was famous for its aggressive investment policies accompanied by high returns for investors. In the year 2000 Soros renounced from the active management of the fund due to a series of huge losses.
In 1984 Soros used some of his profits to propagate global outreach of his so-called philanthropic work and created the Open Society Foundations, an organization that included a network of foundations. Open Society Foundation’s (OSF) professed object is “to work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people.” This object serves as the foundation for OSF’s often indiscreet activities in both closed and democratic societies that includes hefty funding of political NGOs.
Read: “You are a liar Mr George Soros”: Savio Rodrigues hits out on billionaire who committed USD 1 billion to ‘fight nationalism’ in India
Soros has been a prominent donor to the US Democratic Party along with sponsoring of the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. He even tried to block the Brexit by donating a large amount of money in support of the Anti- Brexit campaign.
Manipulator Of The Global Order
It was in September 1992, during the Black Wednesday crisis, when Soros earned the reputation of a ruthless and mythical trader. By waging that the pound was priced too high against the Deutschmark he made Britain suffer a loss of approximately 5.5 billion dollars forcing pound to exit from the European exchange rate mechanism. This earned him international acclaim and a nickname ‘ the man who broke the bank of England’.
In the year 1997-1998, just before the Asian financial crisis, the quantum fund sponsored much graver and controversial trades against a basket of Asian currencies, currencies of Thailand and Malaysia in particular. The consequence was a surge of currency devaluations and the stock market falls, first affecting Southeast Asia, and then impacting the rest of the region. Thailand, which had to be bailed out by the IMF to the tune of $16.7 billion, branded Soros as ‘economic war criminal’. Though Soros denied his involvement he came under severe criticism by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad who held him responsible for the financial turmoil.
Read: NGO that filed complaint against Rafale Deal is partners with George Soros’ Open Society, Misereor and Oxfam among others
The Open Society Foundation (OSF) is well known for funding highly biased political NGOs worldwide. For instance, the list of grantees of the OSF includes a number of Israeli NGOs that also includes some beneficiaries that deny the legitimacy of Israel.OSF has also funded Palestinian NGOs Al-Haq and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, both of which have ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.
The OSF has been banned in Russia on the grounds of ‘threat to national security’. Soros birth country, Hungary, also passed legislation titled as ‘Stop Soros’ to put a halt on Soros notorious objective of filling the country with illegal migrants.
The Indian Nexus
Recently, speaking at the world economic forum, Soros has said he will commit $1 billion to start a global university to ‘fight nationalists’, whom he referred to as ‘authoritarian governments’. He accused the Indian Prime Minister of ‘creating a Hindu nationalist state’.
Soros debut as a businessman in India took a swing in the year 2013 via Aspada Investment Company which is primarily an Indian investment initiative that aims to build an investment platform for businesses aimed at providing better livelihood to the people. Aspada is directly funded by Soros’s Economic Development Fund. Aspada has a Pan-India presence and has invested in a plethora of sectors including food(Scheduler Logistics,), agriculture (Waycool Food Products) and education (Shiksha Financial Services).
Read: George Soros vows to fight PM Modi and Nationalists: Here are some Indian ‘intellectuals’ and NGOs connected to him
As regards his philanthropy work, Soros’s OSF grasped stronghold in India during the Obama regime. Ever since its entry in India, it has tried to interlope in the internal affairs of the nation through the vast and interconnected network of organisations funded by him. These organisations play a vital role in manipulating the original narrative and take the help of the judiciary and media to hinder the national interest.
The Human Rights Law Network has been a chief campaigner against the Indian sedition laws and has even been providing legal aid to the Rohingya Muslims. The French NGO, Sherpa, that filed the complaint against the Rafael deal is also funded by the OSF. Another such organisation facilitating the agenda of George Soros is Amnesty International which is also funded by the OSF. The organisation has recently told the US lawmakers that the Citizenship Amendment Act stands in violation of not just the Indian Constitution but also international human rights law. Amnesty India has been criticising the government for the removal of Article 370 from the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
George Soros is not just connected with the NGOs functioning in India but also has links with a cultivated class of intellectuals who have constantly criticised the current government. For instance, Amartya Sen, along with George Soros, is part of the advisory council of NGO Namati (funded by OSF) that works for ‘environmental justice’ in India. Amartya Sen is not just a regular speaker at the OSF but George Soros has made a documentary with Sen Titled, ‘Amartya Sen:
The Content of Democracy’. Sen was recently in the news when he claimed that chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ is not part of the Bengali culture. He has constantly been criticising the governmental policies and has been complaining about the rising ‘intolerance’ in India. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, the member of the board of directors of Namati, has extensively written newspaper articles against the CAA. It is pertinent to note that the NGO run by the famous Supreme Court senior advocate, Ms Indira Jaising, also receives money from the OSF. Harsh Mander is another such example, who is the chairman of the OSF’s human rights initiative board. He has been accused of publishing false reports in relation to the CAA that has incited violence in college campuses across the country. His NGO has openly supported religious conversions.
Concerns for India
George Soros is an elitist who pushes his propaganda by investing his money where he thinks he can meddle with the internal affairs of a country by creating a situation of turmoil and instability and head towards his ultimate goal of establishing a ‘new world order’ sans nationalism.
The OSF was placed under the ‘watch list’ by the government in the year 2016. It has recently, after the remark made by Soros against Narendra Modi at Davos, moved the Delhi High Court against the centre’s decision.
It is very natural for India to be concerned and alarmed as George Soros has openly declared a war against nationalism. Narendra Modi has risen to the present position by defeating such elements but the number of Indian organisations and people under the influence of the OSF is very high. Thus, there remains scope of such elements to create an environment of unrest and chaos in the nation.
