[Letter to Mr Minoo Masani]

Summary

This three-page English-language file contains an official Lok Sabha Secretariat letter dated March 23, 1967, addressed to Minoo Masani and signed by Deputy Secretary M.C. Chawla. The first page concerns the constitution of nine Lok Sabha committees for 1967–68, including the Business Advisory, Privileges, Petitions, Rules, and Subordinate Legislation Committees, as well as the nomination of ten Lok Sabha members to a Joint Committee on members’ salaries and allowances. Masani is asked to indicate his group’s committee preferences and submit panels of three nominees for each committee, with special consideration for former members on the Subordinate Legislation Committee. The letter also requests that potential nominees not be informed until the Speaker has made a final selection.

Pages 2–3 are a typed statement, heavily annotated in manuscript, about the Congress for Cultural Freedom. The statement describes the organisation as an international fellowship defending intellectual freedom against totalitarianism and unwarranted censorship, lists prominent figures associated with it, and responds to reports that CIA-linked foundations had channelled funds to the organisation. It says the Congress investigated the matter, rejected further contributions from endowments other than the Ford Foundation, and protested what it characterises as a campaign to smear the organisation. The relationship between this statement and the administrative letter on page 1 is not explained in the rendered file.

Key points

• The Lok Sabha Speaker was to constitute nine parliamentary committees for 1967–68.
• The committees listed include the Business Advisory, Privileges, Petitions, Rules, House, and Subordinate Legislation Committees.
• The recipient’s group was asked to rank its committee preferences and provide three nominees for each.
• Former members were to receive special consideration for the Subordinate Legislation Committee.
• The statement on pages 2–3 defends the Congress for Cultural Freedom’s commitment to intellectual freedom.
• It addresses reports of CIA-linked funding and states that the organisation rejected further endowment contributions apart from Ford Foundation support.
• The file contains a significant unexplained shift from Lok Sabha committee administration to a statement on the Congress for Cultural Freedom.