In today's episode of Editorial, Sujit Nair talks about The Indian Express' investigative report that found $21 million of USAID money, which DOGE highlighted, was meant for Bangladesh and not India
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[00:00:00] Namaskar Welcome to another episode of Editorial. Yesterday I spoke to you about President Trump and before President Trump, the DOJ that is Elon Musk and his team saying they paid 21 Million Dollars to India for water turnout. They were saying why are we paying India? Why should we be paying India for water turnout?
[00:00:32] Now according to a report in Indian Express, it turns out that the 21 Million was not given to Delhi, it was given to Dhaka. American President Co. Mistake O Gaya. So he confused Delhi possibly with Dhaka. This is what happened. Let's get right into the show.
[00:00:53] Now, a lot of y'all asked me yesterday, why are we discussing America giving money and all that? What is 21 Million Dollars? What 175 odd crores? What is 175 odd crores? What is that? Why are we discussing it? You see, if that 175 crores, 175 crores,
[00:01:23] had come into India to influence a particular political party, to influence our election, then it is a topic of grave importance to us. You see, if some other country tries to influence our politics, tries to influence our electoral process, then we are in imminent danger.
[00:01:49] Because then, one day, very soon, that is, if this is true, or this could have been true, then we would be a puppet to that particular person who is spending the money.
[00:02:04] Not just a country, even an individual, if that individual spends huge amount of money into Indian politics, into Indian elections, for a particular political party, it is dangerous for our country, because end of the day, we could turn to be, we could, the entire government could be a puppet in that particular person, stroke countries, stroke governments hand.
[00:02:26] And, which is dangerous for us. And that is why I talk about it. And that is why I take these, these stories, these, these information very seriously. So yesterday, I spoke to you about the fact that American President claims that India got 21 Million, which is like I told you some 175, 180 crores, as a donation for voter turnout. And he was wondering why?
[00:02:54] The story goes, and this is what Indian Express says, this is an Indian Express exclusive. So all credit to their investigating department, Indian Express exclusive. Where Indian Express says that he paid to India, it didn't come to India, wrong, wrong, he got the Dhaka and Delhi wrong.
[00:03:17] So what Dodge, that is Elon Musk first flagged 16th of February, then what Trump said 19th of February, then what Trump repeated 20th of February, all this was based on an error, mistake. Something that went to Dhaka, they said it went to Delhi.
[00:03:42] Our CEC then, the Chief Election Commissioner of India in 2012, when the sanctions and the MOU was supposed to have been signed, he constantly kept on saying that we have not taken a penny. Not a penny, not a penny, not a penny, we have not taken a penny.
[00:04:05] There was some exchange from one of their partnering institutions for technology and understanding and management systems and all of that. That's okay. But beyond that, we have not taken a penny. And we actually, in front of a screen, you can see, we actually went through the contents of the MOU and the day the MOU was signed and all of that.
[00:04:29] And yes, we have, there is no mention of a penny either taken or given by the Government of India or the Election Commission of India. So the fact remains that, S.Y. Khureshi had constantly maintained it. Now Indian Express says that, hey, papa, the paisa, the paisa went to Dhaka. Now, if you have seen my editorial yesterday, I spoke to you about USAID and how USAID does not directly fund projects.
[00:04:58] They don't directly fund projects. What they do is they've got some 10,000 people, staff, but they don't directly fund projects or these 10,000 people don't directly work on projects. They work through organizations. They work through NGOs. They work through various organizations.
[00:05:15] So the political electoral process, the process in which they fund electoral processes, this process, this funding is done through this consortium called the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening.
[00:05:34] Now, CEPPS is the one that takes money from USAID and then hands it over to various different organizations in various different parts of the country. So that is where it is. Now, CEPPS was meant to receive 486 million dollars from USAID. This corpus included 22 million dollars from USAID.
[00:06:03] This corpus included 22 million dollars from USAID, which was supposed to be given to Moldova and according to Dodge, according to Dodge, 21 million dollars from USAID was supposed to be given to Voter turnout in India. That is what Dodge had said. Now, actually, what has happened is the first award of CEPPS was in September 2016. That is the first tranche of money for CEPPS was in September 2016 to promote an inclusive and participatory political process in Moldova. That was the first tranche.
[00:06:33] And the federal identification number for the money was AID 117LA160001. And through this identification number, they had sanctioned 13.2 million dollars up to July 2026. This was for Moldova. Nothing to do with India.
[00:06:58] Now, the USAID 21 million grant that Dodge and Mr. Elon Musk spoke about was meant for Bangladesh. This was meant for Bangladesh. This 21 million that Dodge flagged was meant for Bangladesh. Each federal grant comes with a specific place of performance.
[00:07:24] The country where it is meant to be spent, according to the official open data source of U.S. federal spending, there is no U.S. head funded CEPPS project in India since 2008. So, CEPPS has not funded any project in India since 2008.
[00:07:45] So, 2012 MOU, then getting money, then trying to change the government, or then changing the person, or getting somebody else voted out, all that does not arise at all. Does not arise at all.
[00:08:00] The only USAID grant to CEPPS matching the denomination of 21 million and the purpose of voting was sanctioned with federal award identification number 72038822LA00001 in July of 22. For USAID, Amar vote Amar means my vote mine in Bengali. This is a project in Bangladesh.
[00:08:33] It was not given to India. Now, in November 2022, the purpose of this grant was modified to USAID's NAGRIC, that is, citizen NAGRIC program. USAID political process advisor in Dhaka confirmed a diss on social media while on US visit in December 2024.
[00:08:58] USAID funded 21 million through CCEP NAGRIC project, which he said he manages. Now, the story is like this. Initially, this 21 million under identification number 720, etc., etc., etc., was supposed to be given to Amar vote Amar. My vote mine. It was supposed to be given there, but then they changed. They changed. They changed the story in November 2022.
[00:09:27] And they said, Amar vote Amar ne, we are going to give it to NAGRIC project. They said, we will change and we will give it to NAGRIC project. Who confirmed this? It was confirmed by the project director. So, 21 million was the same. But the project, they said, changed from July 2022 to November 2022. Amar vote Amar was changed to NAGRIC vote project. So, this is what the funda is.
[00:09:56] But end of the day, 21 million was not for India. 21 million was for Dhaka. Okay? Clear till here? Let's go further. You see, the dangerous part of it. The dangerous part of it is, you know, you remember 5th of August when Sheikh Hasina was thrown out of Bangladesh. He had to come running to India, take asylum in India and all of that.
[00:10:22] One month after that particular incident, Professor Anzul Islam, who was the director of University of Dhaka, he said that, you know, he had written a post, he had written a social media post, which was titled as, it is not suddenly spring, he said. He said, 544 youth events and programs in the university campuses across Bangladesh was organized.
[00:10:53] 544 youth events and programs since 2022. To promote youth democratic leadership and civic engagement directly reached 10,264 university youth through 221 action projects and 170 democracy sessions amongst others.
[00:11:18] End of the day, you know, all those student protests that you saw, according to this gentleman who is the director of University of Dhaka, his name is Ainul Islam. Ainul Islam says that, we reached 10,264 universities through 221 action projects and 170 democracy sessions. Why? So that they could create that student's unrest.
[00:11:47] And what happened with that student's unrest? That student's unrest ensured that Sheikh Hasina was thrown out of the country, thrown out of her chair. And he says that, all these were possible with the generous support and partnership of IFES and USAID Bangladesh under the NAGRIC program. Now you understand? Let me get back to the chronology.
[00:12:16] USAID was offered for Amar Wat Amar July 2022. Then USAID changed. That was in November 2022. And that was the NAGRIC project. And according to Ainul Islam, the director of Dhaka University, he says, we brought about the student's protest,
[00:12:42] thanks to the generous aid from USAID and the NAGRIC, through the NAGRIC project. Now, this is what has happened. Firstly, if this report has to be believed, if this report is fundamentally correct, then the fact is, the USAID had a lot to do with removing the person from his chair.
[00:13:11] And that person was not an Indian. That person was a Bangladeshi. And she was Sheikh Hasina. If this report has to be believed. So, Trump saying that, you know, we wanted by paying 180 crores, we wanted to kind of influence the voters, or they wanted to, you know, have somebody else in the chair, or, you know, put another person in the, in the seat and all that, was, technically, wrong, fake.
[00:13:41] Because, that didn't happen at all. Like, our, then, Chief Election Commission said, it didn't happen at all. Now, the point. You see, the point is, the President, the Prime Minister, these are positions, where, it is not just that, 10 people sitting in front of you, listening to you. It is not even that, one country listening to you.
[00:14:11] It is the whole world, that listens to you. So, you know what is important? What is important is, every word that you say, every word, these words, should be, first, checked, rechecked, fact checked, and then, spoken. You measure, every word, every figure, every sentence, you make. Why is that?
[00:14:40] In the recent years, we see so many of, leaders, world leaders, making statements, which are absolutely, factless, absolutely, factless, loose talks, loose talks, jokes. Are you a world leader, or are you some, some, some local, stand-up comedian? What are you? number one. Number two, you know, there is a, there is a very,
[00:15:11] very relevant, saying in Gujarati, where they say, that, when Elon Musk, is running a country, then it is bound, he is bound to flag, such issues, which were, which are absolutely, no, head or tail, where the money, went to Dhaka,
[00:15:41] and he is talking Delhi. He is bound, he was the first, his dodge, was the first, to flag this, bound such, such, such statements, such, issues, are bound to, be flagged off. And that's, the point, I wanted to tell you. Like I said, once again, please understand, whether it is, one rupee, one crore, one seventy crore, if, had this money, been spent, on Indian,
[00:16:11] politicians, Indian politics, for, to influence Indian, political system, then, it is our problem, and possibly, one of the most important problems, that we should be talking about. As of now, by the look of it, it seems to be, somebody else's problem, for the time being. This is the point, I wanted to make, till I see you next time. That's tomorrow at 10. Namaskar. Stay ahead, with our cutting edge news app.
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