NEW DELHI: A day before the India-EU summit on March 30, international human rights watchdog Human Rights Watch wrote to the European Union brass complaining how the Modi regime was using the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act to restrict foreign funding oto Indian NGOs like Greenpeace India and ones run by activist Teesta Setalvad , besides stifling free speech by those critical of the government.Intelligence agencies have taken note of the "lobbying" by the HRW to show Indian government in poor light ahead of crucial negotiations with the EU. This conforms to the pattern, highlighted in an earlier Intelligence Bureau report against Greenpeace India, of international NGOs using adverse inputs from Indian NGOs funded by them to weaken New Delhi's hand in international trade negotiations.In a letter written on March 29 to European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission president Jean-Calude Juncker, Human Rights Watch's EU advocacy director Lotte Leicht and its Asia division executive director Brad Adams, states that even as Modi seeks greater foreign investment for initiatives like Make in India, "showcasing Indian democracy and diversity abroad, it uses laws like FCRA to restrict foreign funding for civil society groups.Getting into specifics, the watchdog alleges how Setalvad, "well-known for her work supporting victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots and for seeking criminal charges against scores of officials, including Prime Minister Modi", is being targeted in what "appeared to be acts of intimidation". The letter also raises the issue of offloading of Greenpeace India activitist Priya Pillai.Also talking about free speech allegedly coming under attack in India, the reports recalls how this has invited condemnation from scholars and activists around the world.The HRW consequently requests EU to use the India-EU summit to ask the Indian government to repeal the sedition law and amend FCRA so that "it does not interfere with freedom of expression and cannot be misused to choke the...peaceful activites of civil society organisations".The watchdog also raised with EU the alleged perception among Muslims and Christians that they were at risk with the authorities not doing enough to protect their rights. "Some leaders of the ruling BJP have made inflammatory remarks against minorities while militant Hindu groups, who often claim to be supporters of the Modi government, threatened and harrassed Muslims and Christians," it alleges.It goes on to urge EU to encourage the Indian govenrment to eliminate abuses against Dalits, religious minorities and other marginalised communities.Interestingly, the HRW also raises the hanging of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon last year to allege how it sparked a debate on the merits of retaining death penalty. Stating that like EU, it was opposed to the use of death penalty under any circumstances, HRW asks EU to encourage India to abolish capital punishment.