India International Friendship Society

The India International Friendship Society (IIFS) is a prominent – though not the only[1] – voluntary organisation seeking to strengthen the ties between India and the international Indian diaspora (Non-resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin) in the hopes of utilising their potential for the benefit of the country, and at the same to build bridges of goodwill and amity between India and the rest of the world.[2] This is done principally by organising events in India and abroad, well attended by personages of influence both in and outside the limelight, including the yearly Global Friendship Day banquet in London. A highlight of such events is usually the presentation of awards to persons, both in India and abroad, deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to the aims for which the Society stands; chief among these awards is the Glory of India Award (Hindi: Bhārat Gaurav Sammān) an Indian non-governmental diasporic award. Prominent persons who have been awarded by the IIFS include:[3]

Though a private organisation, the IIFS was founded and is managed by persons prominent in Indian public, business and military life, which bestows its activities prominence[4] and the recipients of its honours prestige.[5] Even overseas indian, the "Official e-zine of Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs", has explicitly remarked on the prestigiousness of the awards of the IIFFS.[6]

Problems of depiction

This society operates as a networking organisation without a fixed public face. This is in keeping with various important organisations in India, but problematic when it comes to depicting its workings. As is common in Indian public life, authority and import are generated to a large part by the open and public association of prominent persons of public life with the organisation. This association is clearly evident from the documentation (pictures, letters etc.) on the IIFS websites and through the mention in various fora (e.g. newspapers, communiques of official and semi-official bodes etc.),[7] but is in many respects intransparent for persons not conversant with Indian modi operandi.[8]

Criticism

It is not surprising that, in keeping with the above, the IIFS has also been criticised for not drawing up and publishing clear guidelines for bestowing its awards. Furthermore, its award winning ceremonies are usually combined with a common banquet also attended by prominent persons of India or the respective country; participants are expected to pay for the banquet, the proceeds also going towards the funding of the awards themselves. This has drawn criticism too.

Another criticised aspect is that the IIFS also institutes awards for Indians within India for deeds seemingly not having to do with its self-defined aims.[9]. Chief among these awards is the Rāṣṭrīya Gaurav (Rashtriya Gaurav, i.e. National Glory) Award. However, the fact that important state officials both past and present attend and preside at the award ceremonies[10] relativises this criticism.

References

  1. ^ Another such well-known organisation is the NRI Welfare Society of India.
  2. ^ For further information see the websites of the IIFS and the Global Friendship Day.
  3. ^ The IIFS does not publish lists of the recipients of its honours. The few mentions here are only those of persons also mentioned in the Wikipedia.
  4. ^ This becomes very apparent when regarding the prominent speakers and award presenters at IIFS events, e.g. on http://globalfriendshipday.org/picture_presentation.php or http://www.indiainternationalfriendshipsociety.com/photo.htm
  5. ^ This prestigiousness is demonstrated by how recipients refer to awards of the IIFS in various public fora. A most interesting example is a medical publication (Renu Gupta: A Gateway to MDS – Encyclopedia of MCQs in Dental Sciences (Vol. 2: Basic). New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers 2005) on whose back cover fully 2½ lines of the short 5½ line CV of the author relate to her having received an award from the IIFS. Such examples highlight the status of this organisation and its awards in the Indian public perception.
  6. ^ "{M.J.} Warsi has also been selected for the prestigious 'Glory of India' award for 2007 by the India International Friendship Society (IIFS)". In: "PIO develops S. Asian language course in US", overseas indian (Official e-zine of Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs), January 29, 2010. Retrieved on August 18, 2010.
  7. ^ For instance, The Pearson General Studies Manual 2009 for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination in the section "Current Affairs: National Events" also takes into account awards given by the IIFS (cf., e.g., p. 7.85).
  8. ^ A most interesting case showing how important awards by this organisation are considered to be may be found on http://dharmabhoomi.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html, where the granting of an IIFS award is seen as part of a sinister conspiracy involving the government of the USA, the International Human Rights Defence Committee, J. Jayalalithaa and others to "attack Hindu institutions". Whatever the merits or demerits of this conspiracy theory, it is obvious from it that a great deal of importance is attached to the IIFS.
  9. ^ Note in this regard that the IIFS has two websites, one for the IIFS itself, and the other for the Global Friendship Day, which latter is primarily meant for persons not within India, and is, at least in the UK, held in collaboration with prominent figures of British public life.
  10. ^ See the picture galleries on http://globalfriendshipday.org/picture_presentation.php and http://www.indiainternationalfriendshipsociety.com/photo.htm