Christianity Today reports that many organizations in India are losing their license to receive foreign funds because of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. One family had to stop sending their children to school because one ministry, that was schooling for free, lost their license and began charging a fee. Around 120 students from poor neighborhoods, out of 300 students in total, had to drop out as a result.
Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) says that this law has been active since March. It allows the government to take permanent control of the foreign contributions and assets of any organization if the money it takes in is perceived to be used to convert an Indian away from their Hindu faith.
“No foreign money can be used for conversion activities. So, anything that would lead someone to change their religion, the Indian government would say, well, that's conversion activities,” Nettleton says.
Compassion International has already pulled its ministry out of India because of these laws. Other ministries, Nettleton says, will have to jump through the hoops and perhaps lose their buildings and funds or go underground. He continues by saying the law pretty arbitrary.
“I'm feeding hungry people, or I'm educating children that need an education. Sure, I'm saying I'm a Christian, and I'm here because I love Jesus, but I'm not forcing anyone to convert. The Indian government would identify almost all of those things as conversion activities,” Nettleton states.
He has talked with a human rights attorney from India who had quite the story.
“She was talking about churches being accused of enticing people with donuts and coffee, like you had donuts and coffee at your service. Well, that was an illegal enticement to get people to come in and change their religion. It's like, no, we just like donuts and coffee,” Nettleton says.
VOM’s Global Prayer Guide list India as a restricted nation, meaning the country has “government-sanctioned circumstances or anti-Christian laws” leading to Christians being “harassed, imprisoned, killed or deprived of possessions or liberties because of their witness.”
About 80% of the country is Hindu with over 10% Muslim. There is no accurate statistic regarding the Christian population, although it is estimated at 5%.
