India has re-authorized foreign funding for a charity founded by Mother Teresa, Missionaries of Charity spokesperson Sunita Kumar announced on Saturday (January 8), days after a hiatus interpreted as further evidence of harassment of Christians under the Hindu nationalist government.
On December 25, the charity was refused the renewal of its license allowing it to receive foreign funding, according to the interior ministry Indian. The decision underlined that the Missionaries of Charity no longer fulfilled the eligibility conditions, without giving further details. This setback occurred a few weeks after the opening of an investigation targeting the Missionaries of Charity in the State of Gujarat (western India) to “Forced conversions”. The organization had fiercely denied such facts.
The Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic order founded in 1950 by Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun who lived and worked in India for most of her life, helping the poor in the city of Calcutta. The nun, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1979 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2016, has dedicated a large part of her life to helping the poor in India.
Discrimination against religious minorities
The organization operates foster homes across India. According to the daily Hindu, it obtained approximately 750 million dollars (662 million euros) of foreign financing during the fiscal year 2020-2021. Narendra Modi’s government has been accused of blocking access to foreign funding for charities and advocacy organizations working in India.
Last week, the Indian branch of the NGO Oxfam said it was blocking access to foreign funds, warning that this would have serious consequences for its humanitarian activities. Amnesty International announced in 2020 that it would cease operations in India after the government froze its bank accounts.
Human rights activists are also concerned about the increase in discrimination and violence against religious minorities since Mr. Modi came to power in 2014. The government denies any “hindutva”, draft Hindu hegemony, and insists on equal rights between all religions.