Following the complaint filed by Legal Rights Protection Forum, another organization has filed a complaint against India Rural Evangelical Fellowship (IREF), a Christian evangelical organization based in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh run by Mr. Rebba Emmanuel.
The latest complaint filed by Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), a legal activism organization working for human rights of tribal communities has petitioned for the cancellation of IREF’s FCRA license and an investigation into the misuse of funds.
“While scrutinizing the activities of India Rural Evangelical Fellowship, we have come across many distressing facts which point out to the deliberate misuse of funds received by it via FCRA donations”, LRO told The Commune.
LRO in its complaint, accessed by The Commune, drew attention to the by-laws stated by India Rural Evangelical Fellowship Inc. in the State Of Illinois Office Of Secretary Of The State under Article III – Purposes and Policies which states
“to promote, with the help of God, the gospel message of Christianity within the state of Andhra Pradesh, South India; to print and publish Christian literature; to establish and maintain individual churches until they are able to stand alone; to establish and maintain Christian schools; to establish and maintain homes for poor and destitute children; to provide financial assistance in supporting medical services for the rural poor; and to encourage human development through the creation of self-help projects.”
LRO told The Commune that this blatant declaration seems as if an agreement has been entered into between the corporation and its Indian NGO to evangelize Andhra Pradesh. It also stated that the said NGO seems to have obtained registration in USA.
LRO added that this in itself was violation of India laws as India does not officially subscribe to any religion. It also stated in its complaint that it was in violation of Section 23 of the Indian Contract Act.
“The matter to be noted is that this NGO has been running shop in India for 45 years right under the nose of the laws of the land on the basis of this illegal agreement!”, LRO in its response said to The Commune.
The complaint also drew its attention to another appendage of IREF in United Kingdom with registered Scottish Charity Number SC033100 which said
“The advancement of the Christian faith amongst the people of Andhra Pradesh, India, through the support of Indian pastors and evangelists and in other ways charitable in law; b) the advancement of education amongst the people of Andhra Pradesh, India, through the support of Indian children and teachers, and in other ways charitable in law; c) the relief of poverty and sickness amongst the people of Andhra Pradesh, India, through the provision of medical teams and supplies and in other ways charitable in law; d) the general benefit of the people of Andhra Pradesh, India, in whatever ways are considered appropriate and charitable in law.”
“This is another such agreement with the Indian pastors and evangelists for proselytization of Andhra Pradesh which again contravenes Section 23 of the Indian Contract Act. The fact to be noted is that the object clause openly states that it aims at ‘the advancement of the Christian faith amongst the people of Andhra Pradesh, India, through the support of Indian pastors and evangelists and in other ways charitable in law’ that is to state that mere existence of charitable laws in India and/or their lacunae will be used/misused to evangelise Andhra Pradesh in particular and India in general”, the LRO said in its complaint.
The LRO also submitted proofs of unlawful activities indulged by the said NGO. Here are some of them:
1) Slandering other religious communities: The website of IREF give a clarion call for conversion to Christianity through which states “As Christians in India experience increased persecution, join us in continuing to spread the love of God and praying for protection.” It also goes on to say “The transforming power of God is underneath all that we do at IREF and evangelism is at the heart of our mission. But Christians are facing aggression from Hindu organizations who believe that India belongs to Hinduism.”
The LRO said that such mission or vision statements and proclamations warranted severe action under Sections 295A, 298 of the Indian Penal Code, provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act apart from the cancellation of FCRA license.
“The purported hunted is the hunter who unabashedly goes to every nook and corner of Andhra Pradesh to hunt down and eliminate the ethnic and tribal minority religions by ripping them off of their rich cultural and religious diversity. It fails to lead by example the principles of tolerance and is always conniving to go against the secular principles of this country, by ruthlessly preying on tribal and rural people and making them its sacrificial lambs!”, LRO told The Commune.
It is to be noted that in the Rev. Stanislaus v. State of Madhya Pradesh And Others the Supreme Court held that Article 25(1) guarantees ‘freedom of conscience’ to every citizen, and not merely to the followers of one particular religion, in turn, postulating that there is no fundamental right to convert another person to one’s own religion.
“…If a person purposely undertakes the conversion of another person to his religion, as distinguished from his effort to transmit or spread the tenets of his religion, that would impinge on the ‘freedom of conscience’ guaranteed to all the citizens of the country alike….It has to be appreciated that the freedom of religion enshrined in the Article 25 is not guaranteed in respect of one religion only, but covers all religions alike, and it can be properly enjoyed by a person if he exercises his right in a manner commensurate with the like freedom of persons following the other religions. What is freedom for one, is freedom for the other, in equal measure, and there can therefore be no such thing as a fundamental right to convert any person to one’s own religion”, the Supreme Court in its judgement said.
The LRO stated in its complaint that the IREF conspires to create a fully Christian population in Andhra Pradesh.
2) Church planting: The website of IREF says “The seeds planted by our evangelists often grow into new churches. New believers begin gathering in a home in the village for fellowship. They share teachings and read the Bible together. As their community grows, IREF helps to construct a thatch-roof church, and eventually a church building. We have seen congregations as small as five grow to more than 100, with many people being baptized each week.”
It also openly invites other people for planting churches in ‘unreached villages’. “Let us know if you are interested in planting a church in an unreached village.”, the website states. This LRO has alleged that is violation of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as can be ascertained from the face of it!
“This interference with remote and far flung area dwelling indigenous tribes and their practice of religion is in violation of the Human Rights as well as the Fundamental Rights guaranteed to them under Articles 25, 21 as it intervenes with the liberty to lead their personal lives in all its freedom by coercing and force feeding its Christian belief.”, LRO noted in its complaint.
3) Proselytization: The organization has more than 200 evangelists and Bible ladies who travel into remote villages in India to proselytize. The IREF scouts for poor and gullible people in villages and entice the families with “free education with boarding and lodging”. However, the children of many of these non-Christian families are put through rigorous Christian education. They are trained to become missionaries in their villages.
IREF in partnership with ‘Subhavaartha’ (Good News) TV runs a programme called ‘Jeevaharam’ (Bread of Life) which it terms as an effective tool for sharing the Gospel in India. It even mentions about “crusades” to convert tribal and indigenous people of Andhra Pradesh in large numbers.
4) Fraud: This NGO’s parent organisation is a registered non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of Internal Revenue Code, USA. Check financial statements of the parent organisation at USA here and here.
It is to be noted that the India Rural Evangelical Fellowship with FCRA No.: 010190026 reported a whopping amount of ₹6,44,94,796 crore inflow from foreign contributions in the year 2018-2019 all of which have been contributed by IREF(USA) and IREF(UK) mostly to satisfy the conditions of the agreement for evangelisation of whole of Andhra Pradesh.
Though Annual Returns for the year 2019-2020 have not been filed yet, the Quarterly Returns from April to 2019 to March 2020 are available.
April to June 2019 – ₹11,425,762; July to September 2019 – ₹14,074,542; October to December 2019 – ₹11,135,199; January to March 2020 – ₹12,054,977 rupees, which when summed up shows an amount of 4,86,90,480 rupees all of which have been channelized only from IREF(USA) and IREF(UK). There is no mention of any other donors. It has spent a total amount of rupees ₹67,05,320 alone for creation of immovable assets in the year 2018-2019.
In the light of these serious offence, LRO has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Home Affairs to immediately cancel its FCRA license, investigate its financials and take serious action against the organizations and its pastor Rebba Emmanuel.
“This is neither the first nor the last NGO in India working at cahoots with foreign organizations, conveniently misusing the charitable laws in India to systematically eliminate the rich religious demography of India. A revamp of such Acts which pose threat to the tribal and indigenous cultures of our country is the need of the hour to mitigate future cultural loss!”, notes LRO.