RFI Urges India’s Parliament to Oppose a Bill Threatening Christian Ministries

July 24, 2026, Washington, D.C. – The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) urges opposition yet again to a proposed amendment in India’s lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha, that would be disastrous for religious freedom. Now with its “Monsoon Session” underway, many observers expect movement on the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, which was introduced in March and would threaten religious organizations in India that receive foreign donations. Especially vulnerable are Christian churches, hospitals, clinics, schools, media organizations, food ministries, and many others that benefit from the generosity of American donors.

Responding to the proposed amendment, RFI President David Trimble said:

It is long overdue for Members of the Lok Sabha to take legislative action that protects, rather than restricts, the freedom of Christians living, serving, and teaching in their midst. Threatening the freedom and very existence of Christian organizations that receive financial gifts from American and other foreign donors is a violation of the ‘free profession, practice and propagation of religion’ set forth in India’s Constitution.

Christian ministries serving in India have endured discrimination and other forms of maltreatment for a long time. According to reporting in Christianity Today from April 2024, approximately 16,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) held active licenses under India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Such licenses authorize NGOs with foreign donors to operate in the country. By contrast, just under 21,000 NGOs had their licenses cancelled by that time. Now, the number of NGOs with an active license in India has fallen below 14,500, and the number of organizations with cancelled licenses has risen above 22,000. India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, the office that administers and enforces the FCRA, reports that another 15,000+ NGOs have had their licenses deemed to be “ceased.”

First enacted in 1976, the FCRA requires organizations that receive foreign contributions to register with the Ministry of Home Affairs. The law has been amended multiple times since, always in a more restrictive direction. That repressive pattern continues to the present. In March, the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 was introduced in India’s lower House of Parliament, which has the authority to enact changes to the FCRA without review or approval from the upper chamber. During the amendment’s introduction, India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, claimed as its main justification the misuse of foreign funding by faith-based NGOs to promote religious conversions.

Responding to that argument, Trimble said:

Promoting one’s religious teachings as true and worthy of consideration by those in one’s surrounding community is itself integral to religious freedom. Accordingly, its undue restriction is an affront to this fundamental human right. The current FCRA licensing regime certainly constitutes such an undue restriction, and the proposed amendment would only worsen the situation. The reality now is that even a mere accusation of religious conversion is enough for an organization to lose its FCRA license.

The Indian government has for years been using FCRA provisions to impede thousands of faith institutions in receiving foreign contributions. For Christian organizations, especially, these restrictions have blocked their access to vital financial support or been wielded to force their exit from India altogether. Since 2020, Compassion International, World Vision India, and two Catholic organizations – Tamil Nadu Social Service Society and Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action – have lost their freedom to operate, in part or in full, in India.

The proposed FCRA Amendment would make the situation even worse. For example, it 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.

The U.S. government and American Christians have a role to play in countering the FCRA Amendment.

Trimble commented:

Peaceful religious exercise – whether through serving, healing, feeding, clothing, building, educating, or advocating – must be protected in law and respected in culture, not infringed by the state. The proposed FRCA Amendment does precisely the opposite. And, thus, it must be met with robust U.S. diplomatic opposition. Christians in America should add their voices to that opposition.

Along those lines, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-4) urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in advance of his visit to India back in May, “to work with his Indian counterparts toward the withdrawal of the FCRA amendments.” Smith continued, “Improving U.S.-Indian relations must include the freedom for faith-based organizations to operate in India without having their assets nationalized.” While the state of religious freedom in the world’s most populous democracy did not make any headlines coming out of that visit, Secretary Rubio’s track record as a longtime defender of this fundamental human right points to the conclusion that he likely raised it in some manner.

The United States should take practical steps to urge opposition to the proposed FCRA Amendment and to consider a broader religious freedom strategy that includes the designation of India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). If Members of the Lok Sabha pass the amendment, it would be yet another reason to add India to the CPC list, thereby making available to U.S. policymakers the associated diplomatic tools.

The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) works to secure religious freedom for everyone, everywhere. RFI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C.