The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 (FCRA Bill) amends the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, which governs how NGOs, trusts, societies, educational institutions, and religious organisations receive and utilise foreign donations in India. The FCRA Bill proposes to set up a ‘designated authority’ which will take control of the foreign contributions in case an entity’s FCRA registration stands cancelled, surrendered or lapsed.The assets created out of such foreign funds will initially come under the control of the ‘designated authority’ and may subsequently be transferred entirely if the entity fails to reacquire its registration within a specified period. The authority will also hold the power to manage assets and monitor the activities of such entities if required. Let us look at the real provisions of the Bill:“16A (1) The foreign contribution and the assets created out of foreign contribution of any person – (a) whose certificate has been cancelled under section 14; or (b) who has surrendered the certificate under section 14A; or (c) whose certificate has ceased under section 14B or any rules made under this Act, shall, from the date of such cancellation, surrender or cessation, vest provisionally in the Designated authority in such manner as may be prescribed.16A (6) The Designated authority shall apply the foreign contribution and the assets permanently vested in it for public purposes and may, by order–– (a) transfer such assets to any Ministry, Department, authority or agency of the Central Government or of a State Government or any local authority, in such manner as may be prescribed; or (b) dispose of such assets through sale or any other appropriate process, in such manner as may be prescribed and credit the sale proceeds together with any unutilised foreign contribution to the Consolidated Fund of India.”It is the Section 16A(6)(b) that reveals the devious and ominous agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. The objective is to seize the properties and assets (mostly of Christian institutions and charities) and hand them over in a plate to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or its affiliated agencies who are flush with funds but do not have the capacity to build institutions and organisations of character and excellence. RSS targeting the minority is not new. M.S. Golwalkar, who had been its sarsanghchalak (supreme leader) wrote this in 1938: “The non-Hindu people in Hindustan must adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence the Hindu religion, and must entertain no idea but those of the glorification of the Hindu race and culture… They may stay in the country wholly subordinate to the Hindu nation, claim nothing, deserve no privileges, far less any preferential treatment, not even citizens’ rights.” (We or Our Nationhood Defined)In the same vein Golwalkar gave this dastardly call: “Hindus, don’t waste your energy fighting the British; save your energy to fight our internal enemies, which are Muslims, Christians, and Communists.”In the last 12 years, having reduced most Muslims to second grade-citizens and unleashing brazen capitalistic oligarchy to combat the Communists, BJP/RSS is now turning towards the Christians. Since in terms of population, Christians constitute only a microscopic minority, RSS is targeting its educational, healthcare and charity institutions where this community is punching far above its weight. They feel that by seizing and breaking their institutions, it can crush Christians and reduce them to second grade citizens.Also read: The Modi Government’s False Comparison of FCRA With Western Transparency LawsAnd this is being done in a regular and sustained manner. For instance, on December 25, 2021, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) refused to renew the registration of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity (MoC) under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 for no rhyme or reason. The ministry said that the organisation’s application was rejected because “while considering the MoC’s renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed.” In the event the MoC’s registration expired on December 31 and after that the bank accounts under FCRA could not be operated. MHA’s refusal to renew the FCRA registration disabled the MoC from utilising the funds and resulted in effectively ceasing all their services and activities. It is a different matter that under intense pressure the registration was renewed.Representational image of a Christian cross. Photo: Saurabh Sharan/Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0.If this had happened after the enactment of the current FCRA Bill almost all of MoC’s charity institutions, Shanti/Sishu Bhavans, homes for the dying destitute and leper homes would have been confiscated by the designated authority throwing thousands of inmates and hundreds of Mother Teresa’s Sisters on the streets.This cancellation of registration did not happen in isolation. Targeting of Mother Teresa and her MoC, by the RSS/BJP big guns has been going on for quite some time. At the height of the deeply polarising ‘ghar wapsi’ (homecoming) campaign soon after the BJP came to power in 2014, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had this to say about Mother Teresa while inaugurating a mahila sadan (women’s home) at Bharatpur, Rajasthan: “Her service may have been great but there was an objective behind her social work: she wanted to convert people to Christianity.”Also read: Proselytisation Undefined, No Flexibility for Community Needs: New FCRA Rules Get Many Things WrongLater at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, then Member of Parliament and current Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath dropped these pearls of wisdom: “Teresa was part of a conspiracy to Christianise India…When people are not able to provide medical aid to their sick or differently-abled children due to poverty, these people (missionaries) provide them facilities. During that period, they brainwash and make them Christians.”These are nothing but unadulterated lies which is the trademark of the RSS and its agencies. RSS has not left out Christian educational institutions of excellence. Take for instance the case of Loyola College, Chennai, a higher educational institution (my own alma mater, among the top in the country) run by Jesuits (Society of Jesus) and catering to multiple faculties of Arts, Science, Commerce, Mathematics, Management, Engineering and Education. On February 2, 2024, RSS’s mouthpiece Organiser ran a story titled “Tamil Nadu: Loyola College in Chennai surrounded by controversy over allegations of mismanagement and misuse of funds.” Besides certain wild allegations the write-up contained a brazen lie: “Controversies have also arisen regarding the land occupied by the institution. Social media posts suggest that the college, approaching its centenary, is situated on temple land leased for 99 years during British rule, with the lease allegedly expiring last year. Critics argue that the institution, with purported support from the DMK, has altered records to assert ownership and accuse it of promoting anti-Hindu ideologies.”This lie was immediately repudiated by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments minister P.K. Sekar Babu. He said: “Following allegations raised in social media regarding Loyola College, HR&CE authorities and I have verified the department records. I was found that the college is not built on any temple or encroached lands. The Revenue department has also confirmed this. Those who raised this allegation did not specify the temple land on which the college is built. However, on verification, we found that the allegation is not true and that it is not built on any temple land.”It is obvious that the RSS has been eying the assets and properties of Christian institutions and charities. And they have now brought about a law to formally acquire the power to seize and possess these assets and institutions.An illustration with an image of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteers participating in a programme to mark the organisation’s centenary year, in Bengaluru, Karnataka on October 12, 2025. Photo: PTI.Imagine a monolith unregistered organisation without any regard for law or rules, driven only by communal bigotry and hatred owning and running these institutions presently catering to all sections of society, particularly the poor, disadvantaged and the needy. During the past several years, attacks on churches, arrests of pastors, mob assaults during worship services, and accusations of forced conversion have risen sharply across multiple BJP-governed states. Many of these incidents occur under the framework of anti-conversion laws, which are deliberately vague and routinely weaponised against Christians.Thirteen Indian states currently enforce anti-conversion laws, many under BJP leadership or strong RSS influence. Although these laws are often presented as safeguards against coercion, in practice, they have enabled arbitrary arrests and fuelled vigilante violence against Christian communities.United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has repeatedly warned that the worsening conditions facing Christians and other minorities are not isolated incidents, but part of a broader systemic pattern tied to rising Hindu nationalism.The commission has recommended every year since 2020 that India be designated a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations of religious freedom. The U.S. Department of State, however, has yet to accept that recommendation. Be that as it may, the agenda of RSS-BJP combine is clear – to fulfil Golwalkar’s call to fight the internal enemy of Christians after taking care of Muslims and Communists. The chosen instrument is the FCRA Bill to crush Christianity and promote Hindutva. M.G. Devasahayam, formerly of the IAS, is coordinator of Citizens Commission on Elections.