The word NGO is a very complicated word. Most people think NGOs are corrupt, lazy money laundering schemes. One may even say that those who can’t do anything in life end up opening a shady NGO just to avoid telling people that they are jobless.
The government of India is always suspicious of NGOs getting foreign funding and agitating against government and ruling party. The supporters of the ruling party hate all NGOs. Yet, the government itself works extensively with thousands of NGO partners across India. The RSS and other powerful bodies in India are NGOs.
When I decided to register this NGO, I was cautioned by many that now is not the right time to start an NGO, that there are serious funding issues with the government shutting down thousands of NGOs due to non-compliance of FCRA regulations.
So why did I still start this nonprofit organization?
Feminist Alliance Trust was envisioned to institutionalize some of the research and activism work I have been doing in the field of women’s rights, particularly, awareness on the topic of gender and public space and spatial justice for women. These are quite unique fields and not many organizations in India are working on them. While most charities or nonprofits tend to work on tangible welfare and benefit schemes like free education, food, skills training, which are often gendered, and so on, some of the knowledge production and awareness initiatives I wanted to take up are in the realm of feminist theories and philosophies. Feminist knowledge production, capacity building, feminist consciousness raising, legal aid and access to justice are some of the main thematic areas on which Feminist Alliance Trust will work.
I am also fortunate to have my friend Leher Sethi to join me in this endeavour who is not just a great support but also brings her own feminist values to the organizations. Ms Sethi has more than 15 years of experience working on social causes. Above all, her feminist values are brave and unwavering, just the kind of partner I needed for this initiative.
The story behind the name
The idea behind the name “Feminist Alliance” is to give a sense of collaboration and partnership. There are already thousands of nonprofit organizations in India who are working on various issues. We aim to form feminist alliances with them and work in partnership, instead of trying to re-invent the wheel ourselves.
Both Leher and I were confronted with the question whether the word “feminist” is too controversial, risky and restrictive. We were told by friends and well-wishers to chose a more accommodative name that does not ruffle the status quo of the patriarchal society we would be navigating. But, we decided to go with name because we wanted to give the message that feminism is for all. If it has become controversial then we should challenge that. We must challenge the negative stereotypes about feminism and work towards normalizing that feminism is nothing but equality and justice for all genders including men and masculinity.
Transparency and Authenticity
As I said, nonprofit organizations in India have severe trust deficit, so when I decided to register yet another NGO, I wanted to do things radically different. At Feminist Alliance Trust, we aim to be 100% transparent and authentic. On this website, we would document and share every activities and accounts of this new NGO starting from the registration to team buiding to donation and funding to projects and so on.
I hope, 20 years from now, by the time I would be ready to retire from work and life, this NGO would be my legacy. Our, Leher Sethi’s and my, legacy.
Signed
Dr Sanjukta Basu, Founder and Ad-hoc Executive Director, Feminist Alliance Trust
