Be a Bit Giving, Bitgiving? Jignesh Mevani’s Crowdfunding Closed

Bitgiving has closed Dalit Rashtriya Adhikar Manch’s crowdsourcing page.

Crowdfunding platform Bitgiving has intimated Jignesh Mevani, Convenor, Una Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti via email that the crowdsourcing page for the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch has been closed. In a Facebook post, Mevani shared the correspondence he received from Bitgiving, closing the campaign.

According to Mevani, the campaign Dalit Asmita aur Astitva ki Ladai was set up to gather funds by the Ahmedabad based non-profit Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch. He said that because the dalit movement in an unfunded one, not even having money to print posters and placards, suggestion of crowdfunding the movement seemed the best possible way. Once the campaign went live, about Rs 50,000 was raised in just half a day, he said. Mevani is away campaigning for his Rail Roko movement, scheduled for 1 October.

The email, from one Prarthana Gupta from Bitgiving, reads:

Keeping recent events in mind, and the recent FIR that has been filed against you, we will need to close your campaign, as this is something that is against our guidelines.

Unanswered Questions

The Quint got in touch with Bitgiving for a response. We received an email with a press release which is being reproduces ad verbatim below:

“The campaign, Dalit Asmita aur Astitva ki Ladai has been closed as it was brought to our notice that it violates our guidelines. We do not allow religious or political campaigns on BitGiving (Here is the link). We would also like to clarify that as opposed to the conversation on social media, this decision was not taken due to any external interference or pressure. All funds raised till now have been refunded to the contributors. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to all those involved.”

After receiving the aforementioned release, we sought a few more clarifications with them. There are several questions which the statement keeps unanswered. Like, why was the campaign hosted in the first place if political or religious campaigns aren't allowed? The correspondence Jignesh Mevani received cites his recent detentions and arrests as the immediate and primary reason for closing the campaign. What constitutes a campaign as religious? The involvement of organised, registered political parties? Fundraising for elections? How does Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch gets categorised as a political campaign?

We haven’t received any correspondence from Bitgiving regarding this.

Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch and Disorganised Responses

Bitgiving is not a free platform. It charges a percentage of the money raised through any campaign. Mevani says that a lot of NGOs are raising money through Bitgiving, but when an NGO working towards gathering funds for Dalits, how does a mere 11 lakh rupees become a problem?

Mevani is on a campaign at the moment and hence could not be contacted further. According to their Facebook page, the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch is an NGO based out of Ahmedabad. The Quint spoke with one Kaushik Parmar, campaigner for the Manch. Parmar came across to be somewhat unclear and ill-informed about the campaign and abruptly ended the conversation, bringing up an urgent meeting.

Just days before Mevani launches his country-wide Rail Roko Abhiyan, with a huge rally in Delhi in the offing, the cancellation of the crowdfunding programme may come across as a little purported. Questions are being raised if the crowdsourcing platform gave in to governmental pressure.