Hi Abhinav,
I think this discussion will have a better direction if it is first done on the Wikimedia India community mailing list[1]. I say so because, many Wikimedians in India (non-members) and active affiliates (such as user-groups) haven't heard from the Chapter for a long time about its status (WMF compliance, legal, financial, etc.) and issues faced. We only heard about the state of the Chapter from this email. Otherwise, we are unaware of the situation.
It will be better if there is a discussion first on the Indian mailing list where WMIN's leadership can explain the current state in detail to the community (what happened till data - including AffCom conversation, and the future actions planned to take). Personally, as Wikimedian from India, I was surprised to see this email on wikimedia-l without any prior information or discussion on about the Chapter or this issue on wikimediaindia-l.
Best, Krishna
[1] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
On Tue, Jul 9, 2019 at 3:37 PM Paulo Santos Perneta paulosperneta@gmail.com wrote:
Hello,
Reading about these developments in India has been absolutely painful, and a sad reminiscent of a number of past situations.
Most of all, the case with Wikimedia Portugal, when AffCom started imposing restrictions and "mediation plans" without having any kind of official hearing with the chapter; the whole environment of secrecy and power/fear games; the prerogative of making all kinds of unsubstantiated affirmations, presented as if they were god's truth; the notice of suspension for the chapter, based on information which remains to be substantiated till today; the feeling of hopelessness.
Then the old, cold case of Brazil, where back in 2010, like in India, the WMF decided to experiment with local WMF representations, with very tragic consequences, heavily disturbing the progress of the local Wikimedia community, and hindering its progress for about a decade; the reckless approval by AffCom, and subsequent WMF support of clone/conflicting local affiliates with the one (s) already existing in the region; and the way it was unilaterally "solved" by AffCom, dismantling a community which was hanging around Wikimedia since 2008.
And then the recent case which happened to myself where an old and exclusively Wikipedia-related case was somehow morphed and cooked in secret inside WMF, deceitfully presenting it as affiliate related, and secretly judged, with false accusations and sanctions issued without even informing the target of what was happening.
One thing common to all those situations is the environment of secrecy and obscurity cultivated by AffCom, completely at odds with the values of the Wikimedia Movement - starting with the way AffCom deceitfully defines and presents itself - "a Wikimedia community-run committee" [1], when it is all but run by the Wikimedia community. It's not even chosen by the community, to start with, but by the committee itself. But the main question probably is: Why is AffCom cultivating all this environment of secrecy and obscurity in what should be straightforward and clear proceedings? What may be secretive at all, in the quest of a group of Wikimedians to become an affiliate? Why those processes do not occur in daylight from their start till the end - with the obvious exception of sensitive information involving privacy, such as real names? And then - who is AffCom accountable to? Who oversees AffCom? The BoT? Are they monitoring AffCom? Does the BoT agrees with this way of acting?
All this cult of secrecy by AffCom and other powers-that-be inside WMF creates a very unhealthy and toxic environment for everyone. I personally appreciate and hold in high esteem a number of members of AffCom, possibly the majority of them. And it has been very much mind-boggling watching the way AffCom choses to act as a whole. I've suggested to the Strategy WG of Roles & Responsibilities that AffCom should be wholly redefined, to make it more transparent, community-connected and accountable. The way it is now, I don't believe it is properly filling and complying with its role.
I really hope things improve, and our Wikimedian brothers at WMIN - who I believe have made the right decision of bringing their case into the clarity of daylight - will manage to revert the suspension and continue working for a world of free knowledge accessible to everyone, despite the difficulties they are passing through at this moment.
And it would be much more motivating for everyone if we could get out of this kind of Age of Darkness at AffCom (and WMF in general).
[1] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee
Best, Paulo
Abhinav srivastava abhinav619@gmail.com escreveu no dia terça, 9/07/2019 à(s) 08:10:
Hi Lodewijk,
I will try and simplify
(a) *What is the exact and complete set of reasons that Affcom put the chapter on suspension?* This has been listed under six bullet points in my initial mail. I encourage you and everyone reading here to have a look at them. I have further shared a synopsis for the same again in part (c) along with WMIN responses.
(b)* what additional complaints are part of the big picture ?* The trouble of having a Staff-based organisation (CIS-A2K) at national level where there is lesser transparency such that there MoU is not in public domain [1] and the trouble caused to India Chapter like
attribution
grabbing for WMIN's self-financed projects etc. [2]
(c) w*hat is the response from WMIN.* Our primary concern remains that Affcom on a good-faith could have asked for a clarification and if found they could have proceeded with the suspension. They took an official position without even hearing us once. There basis has been further described again in brief
- Legal Structure : Affcom asked WMIN to resolve their necessary
financial
licenses. WMIN informed them that Government directives [3] have been restrictive in this regard, however, to keep the movement active, activities have been happening by members self-financing programs. Affcom has further cited problems with WMIN's leadership. WMIN regrets such statements, it is a nation-wide problem.
- Open Governance : WMIN has repeatedly informed Affcom that a member
need
not be in physical presence to cast vote or raise voice during assembly. To do so as claimed by Affcom, WMIN would have to change it bylaws and
also
inform WMF as per Chapter Agreement. No evidence have been brought to notice for any violation.
- Active Contributor Involvement : Affcom claims we do not have members
and
have made some allegations (check initial mail for details) but haven't provided any evidence. WMIN is always open to sharing its member's data base with them after discussing privacy.
- Capacity : Affcom claims that WMIN has not been doing activities and
Chapter has repeatedly informed that WMIN has been hosting zero-budget, self-financed activities. All reports are available [4]. Affcom has also cited concerns over delay in report submission and WMIN has informed
about
problems with government regulations. Detailed response in initial mail.
- Organizational Best Practices : Affcom claims that WMIN has not been
abiding to Best Practices, however they haven't informed the respective areas. WMIN has shared the document with them, however they say late submission hence proceeding with de-recognition.
- Action Plan : Based on all five points, WMIN has been asked to prepare
an
action plan. WMIN continues to contest all the five basis and asked
Affcom
to review Organizational Best Practices to understand the action-items. Affcom claims late hence proceeding with de-recognition.
Also responding to few other statements categorically from your mail
- *It sounds more like they heard your responses *
As stated in my initial mail, WMIN has been providing justifications in writing over mail however Affcom does not address them and invites for a Call and shares expectation gap response over Cloud Document. Hence,
during
Call,clarifications are again provided for they being not justified (eg - Affcom finding WMIN's leadership flaws when 13,000 institutes struggle with foreign funding) however nothing is taken into consideration.
- *it is their job to make the best decision both for the best decision
both for the movement as a whole and the Wikimedia movement in India.* Absolutely, it is for the very reason I ask them to make this public. If Affcom is more transparent about its investigation and decision making, community can provide valuable inputs and no reason to question them.
- *I was unable to find the resolution that explains this decision*
WMIN has been repeatedly asking Affcom to put everything in public domain including the resolution. Please find Annexure [A] in my initial mail.
[1]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2013-November/010627....
[2] Board of Directors at CIS, acknowledged in March, 2019 for a
compliant
made in August, 2018 for CIS-A2K Staff not doing their duty to the order. [3] Foreign Currency (Regulation) Act, 1960 compliance do not permit
India
Chapter to receive money from its primary fiscal sponsor, Wikimedia Foundation. [4]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters/Reports/Wikimedia_India#W...
On Tue, 9 Jul 2019 at 08:52, effe iets anders effeietsanders@gmail.com wrote:
Thanks Abhinav for your email. I'm having a hard time splitting the
out in a) what is the exact and complete set of reasons that Affcom put
the
chapter on suspension. b) what additional complaints are part of the
big
picture. c) what is the response from WMIN.
I realize it is really hard for you to separate these components,
because
you have been living this discusion for the past 8 months (at least),
if
I
read this correctly.
You mention that AffCom has not heard your objections, but from the
rest
of
your email, it sounds more like they heard your responses (you mention
both
written and oral communication), but they hold a different opinion on
the
value of those objections. That may be because of a different set of expectations. I know these discussions are always painful for everyone,
and
I'm confident that AffCom does not enjoy suspending chapters. While
this
is
no legal procedure, it is their job to make the best decision both for
the
movement as a whole and the Wikimedia movement in India.
Anyhow, I was unable to find the resolution that explains this
decision,
so
it's hard to really understand it. I do hope that you and affcom will
be
able to work towards a solution together - probably by addressing the underlying concerns.
Best, Lodewijk
On Mon, Jul 8, 2019 at 4:19 PM ravinder jadeja tnkpndy@gmail.com
wrote:
It is such a long message and what I understand a very painful one
for
the
writer. Asking Affcom to come in public with data is a right demand everyone can read then.
I know FCRA is very tough thing today and I feel sorry reading that
point
What is this problem with CIS I am new and would like to know.
On Tue, 9 Jul 2019 at 00:04, Subhashish Panigrahi <
psubhashish@gmail.com
wrote:
Forwarding esp. for those Indian Wikimedians who are on the
Wikimedia-l
list
Subha
---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Abhinav srivastava abhinav619@gmail.com Date: Sun, Jul 7, 2019 at 2:20 PM Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Open Letter to Affiliations Committee :
Wikimedia
India's Demand For A Fair And Transparent Hearing To: Wikimedia Mailing List wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Dear Friends From Affcom,
I am posting an open public request for your notice of Suspension
moved
at
Wikimedia India (WMIN) which we continue to contest and to our
ignored
demand of having a public hearing as shared with you all over mail
and
shared again here under Annexure [A]. You have taken an official
position
on suspension without even hearing us even once, unexplained
accusations
have been provided and we continue to believe Affcom has been insufficiently investigating facts before making judgements. We
repeatedly
over and over again provided justifications over Mail but you never
took
them to your notice and only over calls you heard us, provided your rationale for expectation gaps but never took our oral commentary
which
refutes your claims,in any action, anywhere. Now you say WMIN won’t
remain
a Chapter after 14th September and be transformed into a User Group.
Republic of India happens to be one of the only few countries where besides volunteer driven Chapter and User Groups has a full-time staff based
WMF’s
Allied Organisation CIS-A2K [1]. Wikimedia India activities [2] may
be
less due to no source of funds [3] however, Community Members from India
put
their efforts, strive hard to take the movement ahead. Whether it
be
the
previous financial year or the present, no Wikimedia Foundation
Grants
like Rapid Grant, Project Grant etc have been applied by Wikimedia India members to support any Chapter activity. They remain self-financed. We
received
your notice last year when Wikimedia India was contesting a dispute
with
CIS-A2K over attribution grabbing for our self-financed projects and ignoring Chapter at important National level initiaves [4]. While
working
with virtually no source of funds and struggles with WMF’s Allied Organisation, your notice of suspension was the least bad we could
have
had.
We continue to contest your suspension notice. It was Suo Moto (on
its
own) decision making and as found and re-stated above and below in
detail,
there were gaps and misunderstanding in your basis. We also continue to
contest
there has been a Rush-to-decision making. No written responses via
to
Chapter’s clarification are being provided and invitation for calls
are
initiated where brief responses are shared on a Cloud Document. It
has
been subsequently found by both parties on there being gaps in
communication.
However, even after clarity during call, Affcom has not taken any
action
over them.
The basis of your suspension notice has been shared here for the
wider
audience.
Legal Structure : Affcom asked Wikimedia India to resolve and
obtain
its necessary license in order to obtain funds. At present, as per Government of India restrictions it is difficult to obtain foreign funding. Wikimedia India informed the Affcom on roughly 13,000 Non-Government Organisations (NGO)s [5] are struggling with a similar crisis to which Affcom responded, “reconsider applying for a User Group.” and “no
evidence
that the current organization’s leadership will be able to drive this problem toward resolution”. Chapter efforts and commitment in resolving
the
said crisis cannot be dusted in few words. A Government restrictive
policy
which has an impact on 13,000 NGOs and Affcom finding flaws in WMIN
Board
Members capability. WMIN would leave it for public interpretation.
Why not a capability audit for hosting zero-budget activities? While
most
of the time are being spent on resolving the said crisis, WMIN
continues
to undertake activities as listed. Taking the Open Knowledge Movement
forward
remains a commitment for the Chapter irrespective of whatsoever
political
climate may remain. Affcom was asked two questions respectively in
this
regard however no response has been attained. The questions are
Would zero-budget activities, those self-financed not meet
sufficiency
? Please elaborate for us to stand better and to improve upon. 2.
Would resolving Legal Structure and being able to receive WMF
Grants
be
a necessary criteria for WMIN to meet sufficiency or continued activities not meet the fulfilment criteria?
(2) Open Governance : Affcom informed Chapter that a member needs to
be
in
physical presence at the Chapter Assembly to cast vote and raise
voice
and
asked The Chapter to change its bylaws. This information is anything
but
false. This was communicated during the Call but Affcom did not
bring
anything in action. Also, as per the Chapter Agreement between WMF
and
WMIN, a copy of bylaws was provided in English Language to WMF. The
bylaws
were approved by the then Chapter’s Council. No evidence has been
brought
to notice on WMIN violating the Clause 7.2 of the Chapter’s
Agreement,
“The Wikimedia Chapter shall be required to advise the Foundation of
any
planned or actual change in the bylaws or status of the Chapter
which
might affect the Foundation or the continued existence or effectiveness of
this
Agreement.”
(3) Active Contributor Involvement :The November 10 email carried
the
statement, “The chapter lacks broad and diverse membership,
community
representation, as well as buy-in and involvement “ and “Membership
seems
to be sourced through university leadership rather than through open community participation and representation.” Chapter till date
received
no evidence or logic construction on how the said argument was reached.
Later
during the call, Affcom did acknowledge that there has been a communication gap. Chapter further floated the idea of sharing the Member’s data
base
after discussing privacy policy over them.
(4) Capacity : WMIN was able to submit its annual reports on 21st December, 2018 (3.5 months late) due to a notice by Income-Tax department
which
caused delay in preparing our Financial reports. Although we do not
have
any annual grants or use any money to support any activity, as per Chapter’s agreement, affiliate is required to submit Financial
Results.
Meanwhile, WMIN reported its activities on every quarterly basis and shared it with the wider Indian community via India Mailing List and also
other
channels [6], [7], [8],[9]. Annual activity report is a compilation
from
the quarterly reports.
Affcom claimed via Cloud document that no high level response
submitted
and repeated delay is not accepted. WMIN informed Affcom that previous
delay
needs to be looked at independently from earlier financial period
and
suspension notice (WMIN then had a grant), but we received no
response.
(5) Organizational Best Practices : Affcom asked us to ‘Resolve’
issues
relating to Organizational Best Practices, however, no information
had
been received on respective deliverables not been met. The November 10,
carried the statement, “There are concerns about whether” referring
that
Affcom was also not sure themselves. WMIN shared the best practices
after
placing it in front of the community on member’s mailing list for
more
than 15 days. To this Affcom responded that you are late with your
submission
hence we are terminating your contract. They never shared an
evidence
and
when WMIN took its time placed it in-front of the community and then submitted, they said delayed and instead of sending their response
in
writing over mail they again invited us for a call. We continue to
insist
on providing a written response via Mail but no action.
(6) Action Plan : Affcom asked us to submit an Action Plan and we
kept
asking what deliverable are needed. We cannot commit on resolving Government restrictions within a said timeline as more than 13,000
NGOs
struggle with the similar crisis. We emphasised again and again we
have
been running zero-budget activities and working for the movement. We
asked
them to review Organizational Best Practices, based on gaps we could
have
taken things into consideration. They rather said, you have missed
the
deadline, so WMIN has to be closed now.
To sum up, Affcom friends, you made up your own decision, you made
up
you
own hearing and you made up your own decision. It was a monologue
masked
in the name of a dialogue.
I encourage you all to be in our boots someday, hosting activities
on
zero-budget, fighting with the Government bureaucracy to attain some funding as a help, the challenge of having a staff-based
organisation
in
parallel, struggle with self-financing activities and most
importantly
working with Affcom to save yourself from their de-recognition
threats.
If you believe you are correct, please abide to the request made
under
Annexure [A] and put everything in public domain. Let community read
for
themselves and decide. If Affcom is more transparent about its investigation and actions then community would be able to better understand the work and provide an opinion.
Regards, Abhinav
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K
[2]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2019-April/013994.htm...
\
[3] Foreign Currency (Regulation) Act, 1960 compliance do not permit
India
Chapter to receive money from its primary fiscal sponsor, Wikimedia Foundation.
[4] Board of Directors at CIS, acknowledged in March, 2019 for a
compliant
made in August, 2018 for CIS-A2K Staff not doing their duty to the
order.
[5]
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/07/democracies-need-a-little-help-from-the...
[6]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2017-July/013030.html
[7]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2017-October/013089.h...
[8]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2018-January/013188.h...
[9]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2018-April/013295.htm...
Annexure
[A] Reallocating the Affcom - WMIN Communication To Meta : No communications over email, video call, social media, instant
messaging,
or
anywhere but wiki! While this would not just be aligned with the
editing
spirit, it would promote greater transparency and also helpful for
us
to
communicate the message to our community members. While, we
understand
Affcom had been advocating the same, however, taking care of privacy concerns, do let us. Once we hear from Affcom on having no privacy concerns, we may reallocate the discussions.
If there a consent to this, would request a green light also for
Archiving the entire email conversation over a cloud document and linking it to the relevant Meta page. 2.
Documenting Internet Calls in an attempt to resolve communication
gaps
and linking them to Meta page for greater transparency. 3.
Based on Principal of Free Speech, allowing anybody to use the discussion page for expression of their views. 4.
Any Volunteer is free to translate the text into the language of
their
choice. 5.
Upload All PDF sent via Mails to Commons and link them to the
Meta
Page. 6.
All relevant customs and procedures which exist for any Meta page
to
be
in action. _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe:
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