“Christian ministries serving in India have endured discrimination and other forms of maltreatment for a long time,” writes RFI President David Trimble in an article published this week in RealClear Politics. And these visible expressions of faith in society

may soon face even greater repression, particularly those supported by the faithfulness of donors outside of India. It is long overdue for members of India’s parliament to take legislative action that protects, rather than restricts, the freedom of Christians living, serving, and teaching in their midst.

First enacted in 1976, India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) requires organizations that receive foreign contributions to register with the Ministry of Home Affairs. The law has been amended multiple times since then, always in a more restrictive and onerous direction. “In March,” Trimble notes, “The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha, India’s lower House of Parliament, which has the authority to enact changes to the FCRA without review or approval from the upper chamber.”

The main source of alarm, Trimble explains, is that

The proposed FCRA Amendment would…establish a ‘Designated Authority’ that would enable the Ministry of Home Affairs to confiscate and control assets, including foreign funds, of any NGO that loses its registration — whether through cancellation, expiration, or bureaucratic delays. The amendment would also empower the Indian government to sell these confiscated assets and to retain the proceeds permanently for its own purposes. And the state can impose all of these punitive measures without any judicial proceeding or review.

Read the full article: “Christian Ministries in India Face Threat of Greater Repression.”