A complaint has been filed against the “Gospel for Tribal Social Service Society” with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for misusing foreign funds and indulging in religious conversion activities in Telangana. The evangelical non-profit organisation registered under FCRA (010250092) is being brought to books for serious violations under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
The complaint registered by “Legal Rights Protection Forum” (LRPF) against the organization for involving in religious conversion of Janjatis (tribals) in Khammam district, reported the Organiser. Reports say that, an investigation led by LRPF found that the evangelical group set up poultry farm with a capacity of 2 lakh birds using foreign funds and have used the profits to fund large scale conversion activities. The complaint stated the NGO had received funds only for “Educational and Social” purposes until 2013-14. However, it was found that the NGO has been spending huge sums to acquire physical assets like land, building etc., while spending little on the stated objectives.
Filed complaint with FCRA Division against 'Gospel for Tribals Social Service Society'(10250092) for violating FCRA rules by:
– Establishing comercial Poultry Farm with FC funds
– Indulging in large scale Christian conversions targeting Tribal people at Khammam Dist, Telangana pic.twitter.com/NnUd8KjVrj— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) May 13, 2020
The complaint also noted that the organization is involved in establishing churches in small tribal hamlets, providing cycles and bibles to local men for door to door religious trading activities.
The preachers belonging to the evangelical organization are also accused of making communal speeches. The chief of the NGO Bishop Jacob has been giving hateful speeches not just about the local tribes’ religious practices, but also about the country. Bishop Jacob is accused of making false claims of Hindus burning churches and killing Christians. He is also said to have toured US and Europe allegedly making hate speeches in several languages.
In the guise of helping orphans, senior citizens etc as mentioned in their website, the NGO has set up foot soldiers in large scale to carry out conversion activities. The minors of the tribe compulsorily made to change their names, read bible verses and are ‘trained’ to become ‘Bible Graduates’.
Nearly 1500 churches, 1100 missionaries and 2,00,000 people are being converted to Christianity, but none of these activities have been registered by the NGO with the MHA.
The NGO has been bringing in foreign evangelical scholars under tourist visas who indulge in preaching and conversion activities (a clear violation of Visa rules).
The NGO has also violated section 12 of FCRA by showing false annual declaration of activities and funds as per the complaint made by LRPF.
LRPF has been vocal about the rights of tribes and exposing fraudulent organisations. They have called for a closer look at their account books and freezing of their bank accounts. It has demanded a thorough investigation into its activities and prosecute the key members of the NGO.