The Indian government has refused to renew a charity founded by Mother Teresa’s foreign-funding license.
Thousands of nuns work for the Missionaries of Charity, overseeing initiatives such as orphanages, schools, clinics, and hospices.
India’s home ministry declared on Christmas Day that the registration had not been renewed owing to “adverse inputs.”
Hindu fundamentalists have long accused the charity of converting people to Christianity through its programs.
These charges have been refuted by the charity.
It stated that its renewal application had been refused in a statement released on Monday, adding that it would not run any foreign financing accounts “until the problem is addressed.”
Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal chief minister, had previously faced backlash after tweeting that the government had stopped the charity’s bank accounts. However, both the government and the nation have disputed that the accounts were blocked since then.
Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun from Macedonia who traveled to India in 1950, created the Kolkata-based organization.
It is one of the most well-known Catholic charities in the world. Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian efforts in 1979, and Pope Francis made her a saint in 2016, 19 years after her death.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has attempted to limit foreign donations to Indian charities and NGOs. Greenpeace and Amnesty International’s bank accounts were frozen last year due to limitations.
Several assaults on religious minorities have also occurred in India.
According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India, there have been approximately 40 allegations of threats or violence in the southern state of Karnataka.
This year, Hindu vigilante groups disrupted Christmas celebrations across India, demonstrating outside religious gatherings and vandalizing a church in the north.
Hindus make up the bulk of India’s population. However, the country’s Christian population is estimated to be approximately 24 million, or around 2% of the total population, and it is home to Asia’s second-largest Catholic community, after the Philippines.
Authorities have attempted to put a stop to purported Hindu conversion operations to Christianity and Islam. Several BJP-led states have recently enacted or are discussing legislation prohibiting religious conversion for the purpose of marriage.