09/09/2020 India (International Christian Concern) – According to the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), the Home Ministry of India has canceled four Christian organizations’ licenses to receive foreign donations. The move reportedly comes with no explanation from the government regarding why the Christian organizations have lost their licenses.
New Life Fellowship Association, Evangelical Churches Association of Manipur, Ecreosoculis North Western Gossner Evangelical, and Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church have all recently had their licenses under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) canceled. Without these licenses, these four Christian organizations will be unable to legally receive donations from outside India.
“From time to time, relevant matters concerning FCRA norms are reviewed, and government actions are taken,” an official from the Home Ministry told UCAN without citing a specific reason why the four Christian organizations’ licenses were canceled.
Christian leaders claim the BJP-led government has used FCRA licenses to further their pro-Hindu agenda by cancelling the licenses of Christian organizations. In 2017, Compassion International, a US-based Christian organization that sponsored more than 100,000 impoverished children in India, was forced to stop its operations after its FCRA licenses was canceled.
Other organizations critical of the BJP-led government have also had their FCRA licenses canceled. In 2015, approximately 10,000 organizations lost their FCRA licenses including the Ford Foundation and Greenpeace.
For interviews, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org.
