By Matters India Reporter

Panaji, India, April 4, 2026: The All India Catholic Union (AICU), has rejected the Indian government’s temporary suspension of the controversial Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, calling it “nothing more than political expediency” and demanding its complete withdrawal.

Founded in 1919, the AICU represents Catholic laypeople across 120 diocesan units nationwide, and is Asia’s largest Catholic laity confederation.

In a press statement issued April 3 from Panaji and New Delhi, the organization said the Christian community “cannot be fully satisfied until the Union Government withdraws the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, in its entirety from both Houses of Parliament.”

The bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25, seeks to empower a “designated authority” with sweeping powers to seize, manage, or dispose of the assets and funds of any organization registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.

That includes churches, schools, hospitals, orphanages, and charitable trusts, if their registration is canceled, suspended, or not renewed.

The AICU warned that such provisions represent “an extraordinary encroachment upon the rights enshrined in Article 26 of the Constitution,” which guarantees religious denominations the right to manage their own affairs and administer property in accordance with law.

The union said the proposed amendments also raise “grave concerns” about compatibility with Articles 25, 29, and 30, which safeguard freedom of conscience, religious autonomy, and minority educational rights.

AICU National President Elias Vaz said government attempts to erode church institutions “will hurt the Indian people.”

He emphasized that these institutions were built “over the decades and centuries by the community with its own money and assistance from fellow Christians across the globe, without government funds.”

AICU rejects temporary suspension as expediency

The union rejected the government’s decision to defer the bill, which it said was “seemingly calibrated to the electoral calendar in Kerala and other states.”

According to the statement, “Mere withholding or deferral of the said Bill offers neither relief nor satisfaction to the community.”

The AICU added, “Such a temporary suspension would constitute nothing more than political expediency, revealing a tactical approach rather than a principled adherence to constitutional values.”

The organization argued that partial or provisional measures “serve only to erode public trust with the government’s Damocles sword perpetually hanging over the autonomy and dignity of religious institutions.”

The AICU also pointed to what it described as a pattern of selective enforcement of FCRA rules since 2014, with widespread cancellations of licenses disproportionately affecting Christian organizations engaged in education, healthcare, and social service.

It said this has created “an environment of uncertainty and constraint.”

Pattern of selective enforcement raises concerns

The press statement linked the bill to broader concerns about the treatment of religious minorities under the BJP-led government.

It cited “the weaponisation of laws, the propagation of calumny, the deployment of dog-whistle rhetoric, the encouragement of targeted hate campaigns, and a consistent institutional silence in the face of violence.”

According to the union, independent monitors recorded more than 700 incidents of targeted persecution against Christians in 2025, including lynchings, desecration of graves, and disruption of worship services.

The Christmas season alone saw “at least 150 verified cases involving disruption of worship, vandalism of property, physical assaults on believers, and threats to religious leaders across multiple states.”

Community contributions and demands for action

The AICU said local authorities often failed to intervene, and in some cases appeared to align with aggressors. “The absence of strong condemnation or decisive action from the national leadership has compounded the sense of vulnerability and injustice,” the statement said.

Highlighting the community’s contributions to nation-building, the union reminded the government that Christian institutions have facilitated social mobility and human development “without precondition or discrimination.”

Any effort to restrict this work, it said, “imperils the pluralistic social fabric that has defined India’s civilisational strength.”

The AICU issued five demands, including the immediate withdrawal of the FCRA Amendment Bill, 2026, a formal assurance in Parliament that church assets and religious freedom will not be targeted, and an independent review of FCRA actions affecting more than 6,000 Christian organizations since 2014.

It also called for stronger measures against hate speech and violence, along with structured dialogue between the government and Christian leadership on minority rights and institutional autonomy.

“The All India Catholic Union rejects this approach in the strongest terms,” the statement concluded, underscoring that the community seeks not temporary relief but a principled guarantee of constitutional freedoms.