India has cut off foreign financing to a charity founded by Mother Teresa, a move that opponents have seen as another proof of the Hindu nationalist government’s persecution of Christians.
Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun who spent most of her life assisting the destitute in Kolkata’s eastern district, created the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and afterwards made a saint.
Her organisation operates shelters all over India. According to the Hindu newspaper, it received roughly $750 million in foreign aid in the fiscal year 2020-21. The renewal of the charity’s licence to receive donations from outside was “refused” on December 25 – Christmas Day, according to the Indian Home Ministry.
The reason was “not satisfying the eligibility standards” under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act after “adverse inputs were identified,” according to a statement released on Monday.
The news, according to Dominic Gomes, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, was “a harsh Christmas gift to the lowest of the impoverished.”
The announcement came two weeks after authorities in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, launched an investigation into the organisation for suspected “forced conversion” of Hindus to Christianity, a common charge levelled by conservative Hindus in India.
The news, according to Dominic Gomes, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, was “a harsh Christmas gift to the lowest of the impoverished.”
The announcement came two weeks after authorities in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, launched an investigation into the organisation for suspected “forced conversion” of Hindus to Christianity, a common charge levelled by conservative Hindus in India.
Activists claim that since Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, religious minorities in India have witnessed greater discrimination and violence.
For the first time since 2004, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom designated India as a “country of special concern” in 2020.
Modi’s government rejects a hard-line “Hindutva” (Hindu hegemony) agenda, insisting on equal rights for people of all faiths.
In recent years, India’s government has intensified pressure on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that receive foreign financing, especially human rights organisations.
In a statement, the Missionaries of Charity said it had told its centres not to utilise any foreign currency accounts “until the problem is resolved.”
However, the organisation denied claims that its financial accounts had been stopped.
