The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) challenging the position that a minor Muslim girl can marry a person of her choice after attaining puberty.

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan questioned the locus standi of the child rights body in filing the special leave petition (SLP) against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order that had held that a Muslim girl can marry a person of her choice after attaining the age of 15.

The counsel representing the NCPCR argued that the SLP raised a question of law whether a minor Muslim girl can enter into a valid marriage on the basis of personal law. However, the apex court rejected the child rights body’s plea, observing that the impugned order sought to extend protection to the two individuals and the NCPCR had no locus standi to challenge such an order.

Dismissing the plea, the Justice Nagarathna-led Bench said it would not keep open the question of whether the age of marriage for a Muslim girl under the personal law conflicted with other laws of the land, including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

“If the High Court, in exercise of its power under Article 226, seeks to extend protection to two individuals, the NCPCR has no locus standi to challenge such an order,” it observed. Earlier, the Supreme Court had issued notice to the government and others on the NCPCR’s plea to decide upon the question of law, clarifying that its decision not to stay the impugned order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court may not be used as precedent.

It had opined that if the P&H High Court judgment — which held that a Muslim girl aged 15 years can enter into a legal and valid marriage as per personal law — was stayed, the girl might be restored to her parents against her wishes. The plea filed by the NCPCR said the Punjab and Haryana High Court erred in ignoring the fact that sexual intercourse with a minor girl below the age of 18 years is sexual assault as per the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and this legal position cannot be changed due to marital status of the child and that whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law.

In August last year, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that diverse views were being taken by different HCs across the country, resulting in the filing of multiple special leave petitions before the apex court on the same issue and pleaded for an urgent adjudication.

The P&H High Court order came on a habeas corpus petition filed by a 26-year-old man against the detention of his 16-year-old wife in a children’s home in Panchkula. It had noted that such a marriage would not be void in terms of Section 12 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006.

-IANS

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The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has recommended that all states and Union Territories discontinue funding for Madrasas and eventually shut them down.

In a letter addressed to Chief Secretaries of states and Union Territories, NCPCR Chairman Priyank Kanoongo also advised that non-Muslim children currently enrolled in madrasas be moved to mainstream schools, in line with the Right to Education (RTE) Act of 2009.

The recommendations are based on a comprehensive report prepared after studying the educational conditions of children from the Muslim community.

According to Kanoongo, this report aims to create a road map for ensuring that all children in India grow up in a safe and productive environment, ultimately contributing to national development.

“The report is prepared to guide us toward creating a comprehensive road map that ensures all children across the country grow up in a safe, healthy, and productive environment. By doing so, they will be empowered to contribute meaningfully to the nation-building process in a more holistic and impactful way,” the letter said.

Talking to IANS, Priyank Kanoongo said, “The commission has studied this issue for the past nine years and researched how children from the Muslim community are deprived of school education due to madrasas, detailing the violations of their rights. We have sent a report on this matter to the Chief Secretaries via letter and requested them to close the Madrasa Boards in their respective states. These Madrasa Boards have failed to serve the purpose for which they were established.”

“Currently, there are still over 1.25 crore children in madrasas with no connection to the Madrasa Boards. The Madrasa Boards are merely receiving government funding while accommodating 1.9 to 2 million children, including non-Muslim Hindu children, to create an illusion of educational support,” he further told IANS. The NCPCR, established under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act of 2005, is tasked with safeguarding the rights of children across India.

–IANS

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The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has held a meeting with Google and social media platforms like Meta, X, Snapchat etc., to discuss issues related to protection of rights and safety of children, along with several other issues. In a statement, the NCPCR said that it has recently convened a meeting with Google and social media platforms — YouTube, Meta (Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp), X, Snapchat, ShareChat, Reddit, and Bumble — to deliberate upon a host of issues like mechanisms for age verification, safety tools used by the sites, among others.

During the meeting, mechanisms for detecting and reporting Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and methods for restriction and blocking of CSAM were also discussed. There were also discussions on support (by the social media platforms) towards the law enforcement agencies, tools adopted for identifying deep fakes and tracing predators, and measures for protecting the victims as well as their privacy. The statement mentioned that the talks also focussed on parameters for reporting (matters of concern) to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and measures to protect children from explicit content on social media.

The statement further mentioned that during the meeting, a consensus was reached between the social media platforms and NCPCR on several key points. “For the safety and security of children on platforms, the social media platforms must follow robust Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and Section 9 of Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which is an Act passed by Parliament, and we all have to maintain its sanctity,” it read. Deliberations were also held on the mandatory reporting of CSAM.

“Pursuant to the provisions of Section 19 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, online platforms must be legally obligated to report instances of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) directly to local law enforcement authorities,” the statement read. Besides, it was also stressed that social media platforms should be permitted to enter contracts with minors only upon obtaining explicit consent from their parents or legal guardians, and the platforms must display disclaimers in English, Hindi and local/regional languages before showing any adult content. “These disclaimers should warn parents that they may be held liable if a child views adult content under the aforementioned legal provisions,” the statement noted.

“Furthermore, social media platforms are requested to provide data on the total number of cases submitted to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for the period of January 2024 to June 2024. This data should include categories of image or video hashes (unique digital fingerprints), content details (e.g., child pornography, child exploitation), time-stamped logs, metadata, and any other relevant information shared. It is requested to ensure the implementation of the above recommendations and to submit an Action Taken Report to the Commission within 7 days of the issue of this letter,” the NCPCR statement read.

–IANS

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NGO watchdog Legal Rights Protection Forum has filed a formal complaint with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) against Calvary Ministries, based in Bellampally, Mancherial District, Telangana.

The complaint accuses one Pastor R Praveen Kumar and Ms. Sharon of medical negligence and cruelty towards a young girl in the name of “Miracle Healing.”

“Pastor R Praveen Kumar, President of the Calvary Ministries Trust, and his wife, Ms. Sharon, are organizing massive Miracle Healing shows in Bellampally and Hyderabad in the name of religious prayer meetings. Pastor Praveen Kumar and Sister Sharon are creating a false impression among the people of poor, uneducated and marginal & weaker sections that they can cure any critical medical problems with their prayers, which doctors and medical experts cannot. In this regard, they are arranging a few people who appear during the massive gatherings and give false testimonies that their medical problems were healed with the prayers of Pastor Praveen Kumar. These testimonial videos are being uploaded in their official YouTube channels for publicity.“, the complaint said and referred to a video posted on May 16, 2024, on the official YouTube channel of Pastor Praveen Kumar.

In the video, a mother described taking her critically ill daughter, suffering from kidney failure and under ICU treatment at Niloufer Hospital, Hyderabad, to a Miracle Healing Show organized by Calvary Ministries. Ignoring medical advice, the parents took the girl directly from the ICU to the healing show, where she was allegedly forced to walk during the event.

The video allegedly shows the young girl, who was just brought from the ICU, being subjected to cruelty and forced to walk by Pastor Praveen Kumar and Ms. Sharon. The complaint highlights that this act was video-graphed and uploaded to YouTube, violating the child’s dignity and privacy.

The complaint cites a previous FIR (No: 46/2019) filed on May 25, 2019, against Pastor Praveen Kumar, Ms. Sharon, and others for the death of a 21-year-old due to similar negligence. The deceased had attended a Miracle Healing Show hoping to cure his severe fever, but was prevented from seeking medical help and subsequently died at the church premises.

The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, prohibits advertisements of magic remedies for certain diseases and disorders. LRPF has urged the NCPCR to direct the Director General of Police, Telangana, and the Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Government of Telangana, to conduct an inquiry and register an FIR regarding the girl’s removal from ICU and transfer to the Miracle Healing Show.

The complaint also requests the Government of Telangana to identify the young girl and ensure her current health condition is assessed and immediate medical care is provided if necessary.

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As the election campaign intensifies, an unexpected development has emerged. A POCSO case that was filed against Congress scion Rahul Gandhi has again made headlines. 

Hey @INCIndia,

Could you please explain to me which POCSO case is against @RahulGandhi, your PM candidate?

INDIA, think twice before you cast your vote! pic.twitter.com/da1d8m7YAU

— महारथी-മഹാരഥി (@MahaRathii) April 2, 2024

Netizens wondered if this was just speculation or actual news. Upon digging a bit, it was found to be indeed true. A POCSO case was filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. 

The case stems from an incident in 2021 when Rahul Gandhi allegedly disclosed the identity of a victim protected under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and her family members on Twitter. NCPCR Chief Priyank Kanoongo stated that a case was registered against Gandhi under Section 23 of the POCSO Act, Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, and Section 128 A of the Indian Penal Code.

He had visited the family of the nine-year-old Dalit girl who was raped, murdered, and hastily cremated by the perpetrators. Gandhi tweeted a picture with the girl’s parents. Following this, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued a notice to Twitter India regarding a photo shared by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, which allegedly revealed the identity of the family members of a rape victim, violating the POCSO Act and Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act. The NCPCR requested Twitter (now X) to remove the post and asked the Delhi Police to take action against Gandhi. 

A complaint was also filed against Rahul Gandhi by a Delhi-based lawyer, resulting in an FIR against him. The photo in question showed Gandhi with the parents of a Dalit minor who was allegedly raped and killed. In his post, with the image, he wrote, “The parents’ tears are saying only one thing – their daughter, the daughter of this country, deserves justice. And I am with them on this path of justice.”

Despite Twitter’s claim of taking down the tweet, NCPCR argued that the offense of disclosing sensitive information still stands.

This POCSO case that was filed in 2021 looms over Rahul Gandhi’s head. 

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On 18 December 2022, villagers of Maruvapalli village, Andhra Pradesh caught a Christian priest, red handed with young children who were lured into the church, despite several earlier warnings by the minor children’s parents and village elders, against unsolicited invitation. The villagers had been complaining for a while about church authorities inviting children as young as six and seven into the Church with incentives like sweets, chocolates and biscuits, luring their children into the Church for conversion activities.

The villagers, including parents of the young children, were shocked to find that the priest and his helpers were getting ready to offer “wine” to innocent minor children. This incident targeting minor children took place at the FMPB Church – a church belonging to the Friends Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB) missionary organization. Plenty of self revealing information regarding this Christian group’s fanatic beliefs and their stated mission of “Evangelize the nation (India) with the Gospel of Jesus Christ”, is available on the missionary organization’s website.

The villagers of Maruvapalli village, Satya Sai district in Andhra Pradesh, alleged that Pastor ‘Keneth Kaniyappa’ of FMPB Church had targetted their children by offering biscuits, chocolates, and cakes in order to convert them to Christianity. The villagers had warned the Church authorities several times, not to target their innocent children for illegal conversion to Christianity through inducements. They suspected that the church was offering their children, free food and snacks and in the process forcing them to listen to stories from the Bible, mentally grooming the young ones for an eventual conversion to Christianity. The villagers appeared to be aware of the typical conversion tactics of christian missionaries via inducements of all types including free food, education, small loans and employment opportunities.

On Sunday, 18th Dec, the villagers searching for their missing children, suspected that their children were taken to the Church without their permission and consent.

With the help of VHP and Shiva Shakthi volunteers, they entered the Church and found their children in it. They also found a tray with small glasses of coloured liquid from a bottle marked “wine” that was ready to be offered to the gullible children.

They informed the local police immediately and expressed their suspicion that the church was using missionary tactics to convert their children to Christianity and if necessary, even drug them with what was labelled “wine”.

The local Police visited the spot, listened to the complaints of the residents and took samples of the “wine” for testing. However, the Police department has not yet registered a case against the church authorities as of this date, even though it has been several days since the disturbing incident, coupled with recorded video proof of overwhelming evidence that the church was indulging in predatory conversions among not just vulnerable adults but innocent young children through inducements.

There are plenty of witnesses to this case of aggressive missionary tactics, hence the villagers are disappointed by the lack of timely action on the Church by the local police department and the local politicians. The villagers are left wondering about the results of the samples of a coloured liquid specifically marked “wine” on a bottle found in the church, that was taken by the Police for further investigation. They have not yet been given updates on any laboratory tests done on the sample of the “wine”.

A few videos taken of the incident show the concern and anxiety of the villagers and their helplessness against the predatory tactics of the church members, in spite of stern warnings. The videos capture footage of young children confirming that the church invites them for free food tasty snacks and asks them to listen to Christian preachings. The children admit they go to the church for the free food but appear confused about the purpose of the teachings in the church, indicating that the church is targeting them early to take advantage of their innocence.

The video also shows the anxiety of the agitated villagers as they complain to the police with their children’s statements as evidence. Videos of angry villagers questioning the christian pastor and holding up a bottle marked “wine” are also in circulation.

On 22 December 2022, the Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF), an legal activism organization fighting for rights of Dalits and tribal, filed a complaint with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), urging action on the church for converting minors by inducing and drugging.

“The said act of the Church is a suppression of the Right to Freedom of Religion of the children and is in contravention of Article 25 of the Constitution of India. Though the said incident is very serious in nature and attracts the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, no FIR has been registered by the police to date.With this email, we seek your kind intervention into this matter and notice to the Director General of Police, Andhra Pradesh to register FIR under relevant provisions of the law against the Church authorities.”, the complaint read.

About FMPB Church

FMPB Church is a church belonging to the Friends Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB) missionary organization. Their stated mission of “Evangelize the nation (India) with the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.

The FMPB is a missionary movement of Indian Christians with, having established 1150 churches and over 6600 congregations.

The main emphasis of the early period was evangelization of the nation. A ten-year plan was formulated which had the following goals:

• 11 states- Jammu Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Orissa
• 220 districts
• 440 missionaries

The information published on the missionary organization’s ( FMPB) website points to a fanatic, extremist belief that the whole nation of India needs to be converted to Christianity. It becomes clear that this missionary organization employs aggresive conversion tactics aimed not only at poor, gullible adults but at innocent children as young as six, seven years and older. It is also clear that the organization is well funded.

Excerpts from their published information on the website are disturbing, to say the least:

“FMPB has different kinds of training programs to cater to the needs of different people with a desire to grow spiritually. Church elders, women and young people are trained to grow in the Lord and to do evangelism. Local Evangelists’ Training programs are conducted with systematic methods and curriculum”., the website reveals.

The following statement speaks of their relentless, ruthless expansionist ambitions:

“Its ministry in the unreached frontiers begins with a ‘survey’ which leads to opening of mission stations in receptive areas to preach the Good News, teach the believers, plant Churches, appoint elders, raise Evangelists, train the native leaders and strengthen the Church to become self-supportive, self-governing and self-propagating. These are then integrated with the nearest mainline church bodies so as to continue the cycle of activities described above in unreached areas”.

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Following the complaint filed with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) against Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi, the child rights body has asked the Election Commission of India to take action for misusing children as political tools.

The Congress party kicked off the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a fancy road-trip from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in an attempt to give a new lease of life to the party in the run up to the various state Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

As part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Bharat Jodo Bacche Jodo campaign is organised by ‘Jawahar Bal Manch’ which as per its official Twitter handle, is a department of Indian National Congress.

Rahul Gandhi as part of his political campaign has been visiting schools, and interacting with minor children making them participate in political campaigns and inculcating political ideology in them.

The party through its social media handles has been publishing several videos of Rahul Gandhi’s yatra and his interactions. There are several images and videos that have been circulating in social media that shows children being targeted and made to participate in the campaign with a political agenda under the slogan ‘Bharat Jodo Bacche Jodo’.

The minor children participating in the campaign were seen holding Indian National Congress party flags and shouting political slogans.

A complaint was filed by NGO-watchdog Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF), stating that a political party has set up an internal department to mobilise minor children in its activities which are contradictory to the provisions under section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The complaint also stated that the Election Commission of India and quasi-judicial bodies, including the NCPCR, had made it clear that parading children during election or political campaign is a clear violation of children rights.

The NCPCR in its letter to the ECI stated “Since, INC is registered as a political party, any separate wing
established/organized by the party is a part of the party that is political in nature. Therefore, ‘Jawahar
Bal Manch’ is a political wing of the INC….Membership of a party shall be open only for adult Indian citizens (i.e. above l8 years of age). In this regard, INC is also violating these guidelines by the Election Commission and its own rules submitted to the Election Commission.”.

“In view of the allegations stated in the complaint, the Commission deems it appropriate to take cognizance u/s l3l (i) O of CPCR Act, 2005 since there is a prima-facie violation of child rights.”, the letter stated.

The NCPCR letter also stated that use of children as props to fulfil political agenda is child abuse which can have a severe long term impact on their mental health and is against Article 21 ofthe lndian Constitution.

“The commission thereby requests your good offices to look into the matter and have a thorough inquiry ofthe events and take necessary action against the political palty and its members who have been mentioned in the complaint.”, the letter concluded.

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Ahead of the Supreme Court’s hearing on the Thanjavur minor Hindu girl’s case, the apex court has allowed National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to submit documents in a sealed cover about alleged religious conversion by the Christian institution where the deceased girl was studying.

The Supreme Court is examining an appeal made by the DMK government in Tamil Nadu against the CBI probe into the suicide of the minor girl.

Following the appeal, the Commission filed an application to intervene in the proceedings.

NCPCR lawyer Swarupama Chaturvedi told the court that over 3,500 complaints were received by the Commission following the death of the 17-year-old girl on January 19.

She told the apex court that a wealth of evidence were came to light when the Commission conducted its spot enquiry  on January 30 and 31. The commission which submitted its report earlier this month pointed out that there were several procedural lapses in the way the investigation was conducted by the investigation officers.

The NCPCR had also found gaps in the investigation and on its own inquiry found that the institution in question was not a hostel but an orphanage whose license had expired.

Children were staying at the institution illegally and district authorities were unaware of the fact that children were housed in the institution, the panel stated in its application.

“The NCPCR is apprehensive that there has been a grave injury and violation of the rights of the child victim when she was alive which has led her towards the decision to take her precious life,” the commission said.

The Supreme Court has upheld the Madras High Court’s verdict which ordered for the case to be transferred to CBI.  The High Court had noted that the police wanted to “suppress” the conversion angle and that three state cabinet ministers had issued public statements in support of the institution in question skewing the investigation.

The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Congregation whic runs the school in Thanjavur has denied the charge of religious conversion linked to the girl’s death.

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The death by suicide of a minor Hindu girl in Tamil Nadu has sparked off widespread outrage across the nation. The girl’s dying declaration as recorded in a video show her alleging pressure on her to convert to Christianity and being forced to do menial tasks at the hostel where she was staying. Upon refusal to convert, she faced discrimination and humiliation. State police officials have denied the conversion to Christianity charges. The matter is currently under investigation. Hindu organisations and political parties have demanded transfer of the case to Central Bureau of Investigation for a free and fair probe.

The practice of targeting tender minds for evangelism and proselytization has been practiced by Christian evangelists since several centuries. In 1849, the American Tract Society published a book “DR. SCUDDER’S TALES FOR LITTLE READERS, ABOUT THE HEATHEN”. This book contains several stories portraying Hindu religion and Hindu social customs in bad light and how the same should be drilled into Hindu children’s minds while positive things should be told about the greatness of Christian religion. A sample text from the book is as follows:

“Their fathers and mothers teach them to pray to gods of gold, or brass, or stone. They take them, while they are very young, to their temples, and teach them to put up their hands before an idol, and say, “Swammie.” Swammie means Lord. As idolatry is the root of all sin, these children, as you may suppose, in early life become very wicked. They disobey their parents, speak ad words, call ill names, swear, steal, and tell lies. They also throw themselves on the ground in anger, and in their rage they tear their hair, or throw dirt over their heads, and do many other wicked things”

 “… By the ceremonies which are performed just before death, this wretched people expect to secure the pardon of all the sins of the deceased. Alas, what a delusion! 0, that Christians had sent the Gospel to this dark land in the days when they sent it to our heathen fathers. Then might the Hindoos now be seeking the expiation of their sins, through the blood of the ever-blessed Redeemer. Of this Redeemer, however, they know nothing”

The above texts show the contempt and disdain with which Hindus were viewed by Christian missionaries in the last 400 years. These attitudes have been drilled into Christian converts in India. Even today, the Christian missionaries evangelists through their sermons, speeches, writings and preaching show exactly the same contempt for Hindus and their religious beliefs, as was displayed by their Christian supremacist European/ American masters.

In the past many instances have been recorded of minors being influenced upon to leave their ancestral faith and convert to Christianity. As far back as 1903, a dalit student Munuswami (later Swami Sahajananda) was asked to convert to Christianity and upon refusal, was forced to pay for his educational fees, boarding and lodging. He joined the American Christian School in Tindivanam in 1901 to pursue higher education. The priests persuaded him to convert to Christianity. He refused to convert to Christianity. The Christian school asked reimbursement from him in 1903 for the education he had, for refusing to convert to Christianity. They also charged his father Rs 60 for the room and food he was staying at the hotel. He was ordained in 1907 at the age of 17 and changed his name from Munusamy to Sahajananda.

In our country, The National Child Rights Protection Commission – NCPCR, has been  entrusted with the task of protecting the rights of children and has been mandated to monitor the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. The Commission has initiated a number of measures to protect vulnerable children. In 2018, it published an exhaustive report on the status of Child Care Homes (CCI) functioning all over the country.  This report gives an insight into composition and background of the children residing in various CCIs. As per this report, bulk of the children did not fit into the definition of orphans. Many had parents or at least one parent/ legal guardian living. Only 56,198 out of a total of 3,77,649 children  living in various categories of Child Care Homes in the entire country were categorised in the registers of CCIs/ Homes as being either orphan or abandoned or surrendered living in CCIs/ Homes including Specialised Adoption Agencies (336 SAAs) across the country.

In October 2019, the NCPCR had written to all the state Chief Secretaries / Principal Secretaries of Women & Child Welfare departments to ensure that the religious rights of vulnerable children are protected and upheld. The commission observed as follows:

On the other hand, it was observed during visits in government as well as NGO- run CCIs that there is another set of Homes where children are placed in CCIs irrespective of their religion, but religious texts pertaining to a specific religion are being taught to all children such as Bible was being taught in some CCIs visited during inspection. Children who are in need of care and protection face multiple deprivations and are vulnerable to get influenced. The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that “States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference”.

In September 2020, NCPCR gave directions to CCIs on repatriation of children to respective families keeping in consonance with UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child. In a media interview, the Chairperson of NCPCR, Sri Priyank Kanungo said: “ The principle of the Juvenile Justice Act is to keep children with families, and keeping children in child care homes must be the last resort till all attempts are made to give them an atmosphere of home. It was observed in south India that some CWCs (Child Welfare Committees) are ordering to keep children in children homes due to the poverty of the family. You cannot take away the right to family from a child because of poverty. It is the failure of the state if due to poverty the child is forced to reside in child care homes. It is the duty of the state to strengthen the family so that they could take care of their children.”

However, the directions of NCPCR were challenged in Supreme Court of India by various NGOs running CCIs. Their argument was that NCPCR’s decision could push children back into insecure and abusive environment. The order had to be rescinded and the decision to identify which child is to be repatriated to the family was left to District Child Welfare Committees of respective districts. The court was accordingly informed that restoration/repatriation of children in CCIs would be done only after a thorough scrutiny by Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) about the suitability of children for such repatriation/restoration and the eligibility of the parents to receive them, as provided under Section 40(3) of the Juvenile Justice Act of this decision.

The question naturally arises as to why organisations running CCIs are very adamant that they will not send back children to their families? Why they want to deprive children of their family environment? Does not the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child say that:

“Convinced that the family, as the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it can fully assume its responsibilities within the community,

Recognizing that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding”

The dual standards of NGOs running Child Care Institutions can be gauged from the fact that in countries in South American continent and poorer European countries like Armenia, Romania they allow the poor children to stay with their respective families and then support the family and the child. But in India they want to snatch away children from their parents and keep them in isolation in CCIs. Why not keep the children with the parent or guardian and support them in their natural family environment? In the latest incident of suicide in Tamil Nadu, the argument advanced in Supreme Court – ‘insecure and abusive environment’ was not at the home of the deceased but at the CCI where she was staying and where she was subjected to physical, mental and spiritual humiliation! The girl’s dying declaration talks of abusive environment at the CCI where she was staying!

To understand the obstinate attitude of CCIs in insisting on children staying away from their families, one has to read the following prayer appearing in the news letters of a large Christian NGO running educational institutions/CCIs/ pastor training/ church planting from Andhra Pradesh.

“Please pray for IREF staff and students as they prepare to close the 2019-2020 academic year in March and April. Many of these young people return to idol-worshipping families for the summer holiday and need your prayers as they stand firm for Christ”

This prayer was repeated in most of the newsletters, every time the school close for vacations and re-opened. This is the real reason why the NGOs running CCIs want to isolate the children from their families / guardians. All the Christian brain washing they do day in and day out will not be possible if the children stay with their families. The argument of ‘insecure and abusive environment back home’ advanced in Supreme Court against repatriation of children to their families is just a hogwash. The hatred for the ancestral faith of Hindu children – idol worship and polytheism comes out openly in each and every newsletter of the NGO.

Another newsletter of the same Christian NGO quotes a foreign evangelist team visiting the CCI and participating in evangelism and baptism of children as young as 10 years old. There is no mention of parental/ guardian consent for such baptism:

“I was overcome with emotion as I thought of the cost for these students to become Christians. I have never faced a decision nearly as difficult for my faith, and these students were only 10-21 years old. I know the Lord saw it as a costly offering to Him to choose Him above all else””

Another testimony reported in the newsletters goes as follows:

Haritha arrived at IREF in July 2018 and started her studies. She arrived with no personal faith in Jesus Christ, but after a few months all that changed! She committed her life to Jesus and began to pray for her family’s salvation…..  They prayed together for her mother’s salvation – and last month (January) they received news that her mother had thrown away all her idols and accepted Christ as her saviour! They now look forward to being baptised together – Praise the Lord!!

This is not an isolated instance of FCRA funded NGOs running educational institutions/ CCI indulging in blatant brain washing of children and forcing Christian prayers/ teaching every day on the inmates of the Child care homes. The intentions of Christian Evangelist NGOs running Child Care Homes is very clear – uproot the children from their families, keep them in isolation, brain wash their tender brains day in and day out till they accept Jesus and undergo Baptism, with or without parental/ guardian consent. For this purpose they will go to any extent as conversion of Hindus into Christianity is their raison d’etre. They will approach the highest court in the country, pay huge lawyer fees running into crores of rupees, spin stories, obfuscate facts, and give out evasive replies to enquiring officials. Another Christian NGO from Andhra Pradesh, whose FCRA license was recently cancelled, told blatant lies to NCPCR that they were not running any CCIs and all children go home every day. The fact is that this NGO runs not less than 5-6 CCIs where children stay for weeks on end.

The legal framework for protection of children was strengthened with the amendments made to Juvenile Justice Act in 2021. The amendments have empowered the District Collector/ Magistrates this means that DMs and ADMs will monitor the functioning of various agencies under the JJ Act in every district – this includes the Child Welfare Committees, the Juvenile Justice Boards, the District Child Protection Units and the Special Juvenile Protection Units.

The composition of the District Child Welfare Committees also assumes importance as they are at the forefront of protection of vulnerable children and monitor CCIs on an ongoing basis. It should be ensured that the CWCs are not infiltrated by the strong Child Care Home lobby. In several instances, the cronies of the CCI lobby are members of the District Child Welfare Committees. There is not much public scrutiny on the functioning of CWCs and in quite a few districts, they have come under the complete grip of the CCI lobby.

There are many instances of apathy of district administration in giving evasive or perfunctory replies to directions from NCPCR to conduct enquiry on complaints and send action taken report to the commission. In one case from Bina in Sagar district of MP, despite the children of a CCI giving statements that they were subject to Christian religious preaching, no action was taken. The commission concluded that the Sagar DM had simply failed to provide information which was tantamount to suppressing information. It also observed that the DM had not conducted its inquiry as per the desired protocols. In November 2020, the commission wrote to Iqbal Singh Bains, chief secretary of government of MP, directing him to take action against the DM of Sagar for failing to discharge his duties.

Such unsavoury instances can be avoided if the District administration and district CWCs play a proactive role and recognise that religious indoctrination of minor children is a serious offence no effort should be spared to ensure that the children in CCIs are provided adequate opportunities to profess and practice their ancestral faith. NCPCR has much bigger issues to tackle – child trafficking, child drug abuse etc. It is for the district administration to step in and treat religious indoctrination of children on par with any other crime against children.

This article was originally published in Nijam Today and has been republished here with permission.

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A team of officials belonging to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) headed by its Chairman, Priyank Kanoongo, will be visiting Thanjavur on January 30 – 31 to inquire about the suicidal death of minor Hindu girl who was allegedly subjected to forced conversion and torture.

The NCPCR in a press release said that the Tamil Nadu Government was not extending support in facilitating its visit citing Model Code of Conduct put in place for the upcoming urban local body elections.

The press release also said the concerned Superintendent of Police and Investigating Officer have been asked to be present.

The NCPCR team will be meeting the deceased girl’s parents and also interact with her classmates, school authorities, doctors who had treated her, doctor who had performed post morterm and also the locals there.

Earlier on January 24, NCPCR Chairman Priyank Kanoongo said in a tweet that severe action will taken on the basis of the statement of the 17-yr-old who committed suicide and her parents.

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