— T.S. Venkatesan
Hyderabad based Legal Rights Protection Forum has written to Joint secretary, FCRA division, Ministry of Home affairs, The Director FCRA division and marked copies to Home Minister Amit Shah pointing out various violations of FCRA provisions by the foreign funded NGOs namely the Archdiocese of Madras Myalapore and Tamil Nadu Bishops Council seeking action against them.
In its letter, LRPF claimed violations like “ Promoting a particular political ideology and supporting political parties who are following a similar political ideology; Indulging in propaganda against the Government of India through its publications and attempting to influence voters on religious grounds against the ruling political party at the Centre.
It said with this letter “we are bringing to your kind attention the matter of FCRA violation of the Archdiocese of Madras Mylapore and Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council by involving publication activities which are political and against the interests of Government in nature.
“ The Archdiocese of Madras Mylapore is a society. It is registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 vide FCRA No: 075900245. Tamilnadu Bishops’ Council is also a society and registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 vide FCRA No: 076040254”
The letter says “ George Antonysamy, the Archbishop of the Madras Mylapore is serving as the Chief Functionary of the both FCRA registered entities and the both the NGOs have been receiving huge amounts of foreign funds from Global Church organizations in the name of Social, Religious and Educational activities through the FCRA channel…. They are also involved in promoting political ideologies and propagating against the Government of India among the general public through Publication Activity”.
It said “ The Archdiocese of Madras Mylapore has been publishing an English fortnightly magazine named ‘The New Leader’ as its official magazine, through which it is propagating a particular political ideology and influencing Christian community to follow the same ideology. The official website of the ‘The New Leader’ says that the said magazine is a National Catholic Fortnightly of the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore, Tamil Nadu which brings news about the Pope, Vatican, of Catholicism and Christian Churches in various parts of the world and our own country (India)”.
Link to the official website of ‘The New Leader’: https://thenewleader.in/about-us.html
“It is apparent from the content of the above said magazine did not submit such a certificate to the Ministry of Home Affairs or even informed such activity of publication of the magazine on behalf of Jesus Redeems. This issue needs to be verified” the letter pointed out.
It accuses the “during the recent Lok Sabha elections, George Antonysamy made an attempt to influence voters on religious grounds against the Government of India by appealing not to elect the same party again…After going through the entire editorial, it appears that its sole objective is to influence the opinion of a section of voters on religious grounds…George Antonysamy made several false allegations against the present ruling political party at the Centre, the Parliament of India and the Indian judiciary. He even attempted to create fear psychosis amongst Christian voters and created an atmosphere of victimhood among voters of the southern states of India”.
In that editorial, the letter said, George Antonyswamy wrote “..today’s Union Government is destroying this diversity and imposing the ideology of one religion, one language and one culture on us. And along with fascist ideologies of single party, single leadership, non-opposition India, it is overturning the very democratic philosophy of India;. Christians and Muslims are branded as anti-nationals and their fundamental rights such as the right to worship, places of worship and religious celebrations are under attack; The right to profess, worship and propagate one’s religion, as found in Article 25 of the Constitution of India prohibited, thus closing the avenues to know and proclaim Christ; We know that people like the late Reverend Stan Swamy were imprisoned on trumped-up/fabricated charges; The government has tried to impose communal law on us in the name of common civil code; The worst part is that in both Houses of Parliament, which are supposed to be the voice of the people, chaotic conditions are created by the ruling government and opposition members are thrown out; consequently, laws that deprive the people of their rights are blindly passed; Southern states, including our state, continue to be neglected in tax distribution; The government, which continues to deny the rights of Dalit Christians is working against social justice by giving 10 % reservation to upper castes ; We will analyze the signs of the times based on gospel values and support the parties that protect freedom, equality, fraternity, democracy, social justice and the welfare of minorities in this election”.
It says “ a careful analysis of the above statements reveals the sinister agenda of poisoning the minds of voters from Christian community, other religious minorities and the common citizens of the country. Almost every democratic institution of this great nation has been accused of acting against the interests of Christians. The Parliament of the country has been accused of following dictatorial methods to carry on legislative business. The media has been accused of being under the total control of the Central Government”.
It accuses George Antonysamy of attempting “to insinuate the Indian judiciary system for convicting a notorious criminal Late Stan Swamy. He suppressed the fact that the Late Stan Swamy was arrested and charged by the National Investigation Agency under the UAPA for his role in the Bhima Koregaon violence took place in the year 2018…” Th LRPF says “ Father Stan Sami was ‘imprisoned on trumped up / false charges’ is a serious insinuation of the Indian judiciary”.
“Archdiocese of Madras Mylapore and the Tamil Nadu Bishop’s Council represented by George Antonysamy, is playing a dangerous divisive game of ‘North India Vs South India’ by stating, “Southern states, including our state (i.e., Tamil Nadu), continue to be neglected in tax distribution”. Such statements are potentially dangerous to the unity and territorial integrity of India. They tend to create hatred amongst citizens of the country and have the potential to tear apart the nation”, it underscores.
LRPF says “the above entities are receiving huge amounts of funds arising out of vast endowments made in the past for various benefactors to further the Christian faith. They are controlling several FCRA-registered organizations receiving foreign funds from abroad. Instead of utilizing the funds for the purpose intended by the donors, the entities are using the same to spew venom against the central government, judiciary, parliament and media. This amounts to blatant misuse of the FCRA funds”.
“ it is most pertinent to note that politicians from a particular party who share similar ideology have met George Antonysamy before and after the Lok Sabha elections and the agenda for such meetings are kept secret. We request you that an enquiry may be ordered against the activities of aforesaid entities and serious action initiated as per the provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act”.
