There was a time when India prided itself on its brand of secularism, which did not privilege any one religious tradition but was not hostile to religion either and, indeed, was open to engagement with all of India’s diverse religious traditions. Such is no longer the case and since the accession of the BJP to power there has been an increasingly strident Hindu nationalism which has taken the place of Gandhi’s and Nehru’s vision of a multi-religious society.
The Muslim community (the largest Muslim minority in the world) has been a special target of the extremists, with accusations, often unfounded, of the slaughter of the sacred cow and of proselytisation of Dalits. An undercurrent of feeling is being created that Muslims belong in Pakistan and that is where they should all go!
There is also growing harassment of Christian communities, churches and NGOs. For centuries Christians have offered quality education in their schools, colleges and universities, with the majority of the students studying there being from the Hindu community. They have cared for the poorest, run orphanages, hospitals and community development programmes, without any strings attached and simply for the love of India’s teeming masses.
For the last several decades, they have increasingly been accused, without evidence, of inducing people to convert to Christianity, with offers of material assistance and access to education and healthcare. A growing number of Indian states have passed anti-conversion laws in blatant disregard of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which India is a signatory. There has been repeated incitement to mob violence against churches, pastors and priests, arrests without foundation and the destruction of church and private property.
For some time now, the government has required NGOs and Church bodies to register under the Foreign Contributions Registration Act (FCRA), if they are in receipt of foreign funds for their educational, medical or development work among the poor and excluded. The government is now proposing to further amend this Act to make it possible for it to seize the funds and property of organisations that are denied registration under the Act or have it suspended or cancelled. Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity have already had their registration cancelled. It was restored only after a global outcry.
A number of prominent representative Christian bodies, such as the National Council of Churches, have also been deprived of their licences. The fresh government-backed amendments coming up in the summer (or monsoon) session of Parliament will seek to confiscate the assets of de-registered bodies and vest them in the Government of India, without recourse to due process or judicial appeal until after the seizure of assets. The government will be able to dispose of the assets as it sees fit and, even if an appeal succeeds in the courts, it will be liable to return only what is left of the assets. Property may be seized even if it has been built or purchased with both domestic and foreign funding.
It seems that organisations which pursue policies deemed to be critical of government policy are particularly liable to be victimised under the Act and these amendments, if they are passed by Parliament. India claims to be the world’s largest democracy and a land where the courts are open to all, whatever their caste or creed. How is such an egregious violation of freedom of thought, belief, expression and action consistent with the claims it makes domestically and internationally? Why is it that this Act and its amendments cannot be challenged in the courts as ultra vires the nation’s own constitution, before assets and properties are seized?
Churches and NGOs in the United Kingdom have been involved in providing assistance to India’s poorest and the victims of caste-based and other kinds of discrimination for decades, if not centuries. Can they stand by and watch the valuable work of years come to nothing? Should not the FCDO be representing the interests of charities and individuals that have assisted, with hard-to-come-by funds, those in India who work with the poor and marginalised?
In the Commonwealth – and bilaterally – India is a very important political and economic partner of the United Kingdom. Such partnership must be based on common values and a common recognition of fundamental freedoms, of which freedom of religion is one of the foremost. Experience has shown that the profit motive alone is not a secure basis for a rounded relationship with a partner as important as India.
Those of us who have observed in admiration India’s experiment with a Gandhian polity, which is deeply spiritual but also plural and tolerant, are alarmed at the turn of events in a country which ought to be a beacon for freedom and diversity.
Christian, including Catholic, Members of Parliament should now be at the forefront of campaigning for our government to make urgent representations to the Government of India to rescind the plans for introducing these amendments in the Lok Sabha this summer or monsoon. If there is little favourable response to these representations, consideration should be given to raising the matter in the United Nations and particularly in its Human Rights Council. Joint representations with allies in the Commonwealth, across the Atlantic and in Europe should also be considered. The sacrifice, labour and generosity of centuries, both in India and from the United Kingdom and beyond, cannot be allowed to be undone by an emerging sentiment contrary to India’s own founding principles.