The NGO, Greenpeace India, has claimed in a statement that the Government has cancelled its FCRA licence that means it will no more able to accept foreign donations. The home ministry also confirmed the NGO’s claim.

According to the NGO statement, "The Greenpeace legal team has learnt that the Ministry of Home Affairs has notified the Delhi high court that Greenpeace's FCRA registration has been cancelled. This news comes just a day before a scheduled hearing at the Delhi high court that was examining the merits of MHA's arbitrary action.”

Vinuta Gopal, Greenpeace India’s Interim co-executive director, said in a statement that Greenpeace will continue to campaign undeterred and will run a new creative campaign to emphasize on the nationwide onslaught on civil liberties.

Gopal said that the cancellation of its FCRA registration is the latest move by the government in an onslaught that is relentless against the rights of the community to dissent. He described it as another attempt to calm down campaigns that are actually intended for a sustainable future besides creating transparency in public processes.

"Cutting access to our foreign funding may be a desperate attempt to get us to cease our work, but the MHA probably didn't count on our having an amazing network of volunteers and supporters who have helped us continue our work despite the government crackdown. Since the majority of our funding comes from Indian citizens, most of our work can indeed continue,” Gopal added.

“We are responding to this latest melodrama by launching a new creative online campaign and are confident that people will show they are ready to fight back in style, and send a clear message to those in power: you just can't muzzle dissent in a democracy.”

The banks accounts of Greenpeace were frozen by MHA and a show-cause notice was issued on April 9.

-Sumana