The BJP Government banned the Compassion International, an American Charity, from working in India. The Compassion international has been working in India since 1968 and currently it was helping 1,40,000 children to get access to education and other benefits.

The BJP government stopped it from receiving money from America by cancelling its Foreign Contribution Registration (FC) under Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA). The allegation is that the Compassion International converts its beneficiaries to Christianity. As a follow-up, the American Government has taken up this issue with the Indian Government and in bilateral talks the issue has been raised.

The BJP Government is saying that the NGOs should follow the law of land. Fair enough. In an interesting twist, 107 members of American Congress has written to India’s Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, to allow Compassion International work in India. It is true that the NGOs working in India must abide by the law of land, after all the NGOs work in tandem with the Government for the welfare of the citizens, which is the prime object of both the entities. Going against the national law is not permissible.

But if we look at the NGOs operated by the RSS, they are involved in the anti-national activities. They have easy access to foreign money. The UK parliament even warned of what is called “Saffron Dollar”: the money sent to various NGOs under RSS from the western countries.

The RSS NGOs instead of doing welfare activities and pro-people activities undertake large scale conversion of people into Hinduism. This has been done through a network of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and other affiliates of RSS. The tribals have been lured into the Hindu fold whose traditional way of life was based on nature worship.

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The tribals were not only hinduised, but were used as the frontal line of attack against the Muslims in the Gujarat riots. The forcible conversion is wrong, but the Indian constitute permits its citizens to practice and propagate their religion without force. India is not a Hindu State. If it become a Hindu state, in reality, it will become a vassal state of Brahmans. Despite of the democracy, India is still run for the Brahmans, by the Brahmans, and the state organs truly belong the Brahmans.

This is possible become most of the Indian citizens believe that they belong to Hinduism and the Brahmans have successfully blended Indian nationalism with Hinduism, masking the major contradiction in the Indian society. The contradiction of caste. The Brahmans have right to propagate their religion, but not the religions that they do not belong. They can promote Vedic Brahmanism, but they are not the custodians of the religious founded by the great people like Tukaram, Namdev, and Chokhamela.

The Brahmans even try to co-opt the Buddha as one among them. This thirst to identify with great people if it is genuine is fine, but if it is selective, it become political. In the similar vein, the India’s elites should not have any antipathy towards the great figures of other religions like Christianity and Islam.

So the pretext that the Compassion International was spreading Christianity through its charitable work is applicable to the RSS led NGOs who try to convert non-Hindus into Hindu fold and they should also be similarly banned. But this will not happen as RSS is now politically strong enough to not only attract foreign funds, but also use the organs of the Government to further its only goal: the supremacy of the Brahmans by all means!!

If the BJP government takes this approach, in the long term Indian communities abroad will face many challenges. It is harmful in the long term for India’s interest to stop NGOs from doing their work. The harmful agenda of the BJP Government is also evident in stopping leading Dalit organisations like Navsarjan to receive funds from abroad.

The Navsarjan is Gujarat-based NGO which has been doing great work to eradicate the practice of untouchability. It has a great network of Bhim Shala (Bhim Schools) in Gujarat. It has worked with reputed institutes in both India and abroad. Its work is lauded and exemplary. Even then its funding is stopped.

As India is seeking foreign investments to further its economic interests, Indians also need foreign funds for social sector. The Global NGOs can at least give access to some assets to the asset-strapped people in India.

The BJP Government attitude is therefore dubious. It stops an American NGO to work in India but pleads to the American Government to retain H1B Visa regime.

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