The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment will play a crucial role in scuttling proselytization
Bengaluru: The Modi-led Union government brought in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2020 (FCRA). The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on September 21 through a voice vote.
While the move to propose such a bill and pass it in Lok Sabha has been criticised by many, there are equal reasons as to why the FCRA is inevitable and necessary to check money flow from foreign countries.
SP Singh, BJP MP, while discussing Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill educated the nation in this regard. He said, “We know what happened in northeast, how things changed there in last 50 yrs & a particular religion rose. There's govt & intelligence report that how insurgency increased there with money under FCRA.”
The MP was referring to massive proselytization by missionaries in the northeast. The MP further gave the example of Graham Staines and his conversion activities.
In this regard, he said, “There was uproar over Graham Staines. What happened to him and his 2 children was wrong. But CBI, Odisha Crime Branch and Justice DP Wadhwa Commission probe concluded that tribals were being converted there. It was the biggest reason that people turned against him.”
It is not just in northeast. Even in Tamil Nadu, it is alleged that the FCRA will play a crucial role in halting conversion activities.
FCRA Bill will spell doom for conversion factories in TN. A good part of these NGOs benefiting so far has also left social reforms ineffective. Good to weed them out. This is a masterstroke, in my opinion.
— Sepiamniac🇮🇳 (@jananisampath)
A few days ago, it should be noted that the Union ministry of home affairs had suspended the Foreign Contribution Regulations Act (FCRA) licences of 13 NGOs after allegations were raised against them for indulging in forced religious conversions of tribals to Christianity in tribal-dominated areas. Also, the MHA had also frozen the bank accounts of these NGOs after intelligence inputs pointed out their conversion-related activities targeting the tribal areas of several states, including Jharkhand and Manipur.
The bill also proposes to restrain the funds to administrative purposes only.
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