News of 22,000 inmates in the homes run by Missionaries of Charity (MoC) across India being hit with basic food and medicine shortage was accompanied by reports (officially confirmed) of the accounts of the charity (MOC) being frozen. Evening brought a new twist to the tale however through a PIB press release. According to the late evening statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs “State Bank of India informed that Missionaries of Charity itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts”!

The government has claimed that it “did not freeze bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity (MoC)” and added that the renewal application under application under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for renewal of registration was “refused due to adverse inputs”. It added that “no request / revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity for review of refusal of renewal”. The renewal was refused on Christmas day, December 25 2021, for “not meeting the eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011,” stated the government.

The MHA stated that the “Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was registered under FCRA vide Registration No 147120001 and its registration was valid up-to October 31, 2021. The validity was subsequently extended up-to December 31, 2021 along with other FCRA Associations whose renewal application was pending renewal. However, while considering the MoC’s renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of MoC was not approved.” However, it has not shared what those “adverse inputs” were or if the MoC had been informed. It sounds strange that the Missionaries of Charity “asked” State Bank of India to “freeze its accounts”!

This has been called out by Member of Parliament,  All India Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien, as a “”a filthy hit job on Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity” adding that the official statement by MHA is “spin doctoring” and a “cover up”.

After a filthy hit job on Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity on December 25,now MHA doing what it does best: SPIN DOCTORING & a COVER UP.

India has an Opposition that will fight the good fight. And I have a leader who will always stand up for the oppressed @MamataOfficial

— Derek O’Brien | ডেরেক ও’ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) December 27, 2021

According to John Dayal, former president, All India Catholic Union, and member of the now defunct National Integration Council,  the Sisters and Brothers of the Missionaries of Charity, the movement started by Bharat Ratna and now Catholic Saint, Mother Teresa, do not run plush schools or private universities but “run homes for new-born infants abandoned and left on the streets and garbage dumps” and those “for afflicted young that no government or charitable orphanage would willingly care. And they nurse the destitute and dying, lending some dignity to their passage.” While the nuns and brothers get no salary, they do have staff members who need to be paid a salary, and need to buy medicines and foodstuff. “This FCRA ban is tantamount to starving them, and torturing the children and old in their care, to bring them to submission,” he said adding that the MoC is “is a global movement, working in areas where few dare go, bringing hope if no life to those in abject risk.” And the ban has come on Christmas week “putting salt on the wounds of the community.” 

Christmas Day itself saw attacks on churches and congregations.   “I am amazed at the hypocrisy of the Indian establishment. The President of India goes to the Sacred Heart Cathedral Cathedral in Delhi to see the Holy Crib, a photo opportunity, without government making any public statement denouncing the many statements by political leader calling or a genocide of Muslims and Christians. The prime minister sends a late night Christmas greeting in a telecast where he is detailing the new covid vaccination protocol,” he added

According to well known peace activist and writer Fr Cedric Prakash SJ, “a very effective strategy of fascists and dictators from time immemorial is to denigrate, demonize, divide and destroy the other!” He said “Christians of India have always been a ‘soft target’ ; in their ascent to power since the late 1990s the BJP and their ilk in the Sangh Parivar- have systematically targeted the community in different ways and all over the country.

The ‘bogey’ of forced conversion, the desecration of sacred objects, the attacks on Christians and their  places of worship and institutions, the myriad threats, intimidation and harassments, the spreading of canard- are all  part of a wider game plan to polarize the majority community and put Christians in bad light!”

The Missionaries of Charity, said Fr Cerdric, “are high – up  at the receiving end of this viciousness and vilification! Mother Teresa and her legacy which is continued selflessly today – embody the highest of Christian Charity- reaching out to the dying destitute, the poorest of the poor, the orphan and widow, the unloved and rejected , the lost, the lonely, the last and least – irrespective of one’s religious belief! False cases are now  foisted on the Sisters like that of ‘conversion’; besides,latest reports say that the Foreign Accounts of the MCs have also been frozen.”

He also recalled that the MoCs care for “thousands of the rejected of India: day-in and day- out without counting the cost” and asked that the Government “reconsider this terrible decision and restore the good name and work of the MCs; if there are any laxities or shortcomings the MCs must be helped to rectify/ address them; and above all, to ensure that those who are cared for in the MC institutions are not deprived of this basic humanitarian assistance!”

By the end of the working day Missionaries of Charity (MoC) also issued a statement that echoed the government statement. They said that as the renewal of the FCRA renewal application was “not renewed” they have asked their centres not to use FC accounts “till the matter is resolved”.

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As the coronavirus spreads its tentacles in the country, people from all faiths have joined hands to help those in need and curb the spread of the infection.

In Jharkhand, to help the vulnerable and marginalized amid the ongoing 21-day lockdown, the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity have joined hands with the district administration and opened a community kitchen that will feed 600 impoverished people every day for a month, reported The Telegraph India.

The Ranchi administration had reached out to different organizations for help with kitchens and shelters and many such organizations came forward too.

One such community kitchen was formally opened for local residents, many of whom are inflicted by leprosy and on the verge of starvation with their stock of ration about to dry up. It was inaugurated by Archbishop Felix Toppo and Auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas at Indiranagar Colony in Jagannathpur.

The archdiocese opened 14 shelters across the district for migrant labourers, who are stranded in the district. While shelters at Muri, Tamar and Khelari have some occupants, others are ready to receive more as and when they arrive.

A source from the Ranchi Catholic Archdiocese explained how the community kitchen is ensuring that the community comes together at this time. Contributions for the endeavor have poured in from individuals too, apart from the church taking up the onus to run the kitchen. The district administration is set to provide rice and pulses, while a donor called Punit Poddar has agreed to supply cooking oil, onion and garlic. The church is set to procure vegetables, potatoes and firewood. The food will then be cooked by the villagers under the guidance of the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity.

“We have always been doing our bit to help the poor and the needy and will continue to do so,” said a sister at the Missionaries of Charity, adding they would soon open such a community kitchen in another area in collaboration with the Catholic Charities.

Even the Vasai Diocese in Mumbai, are taking care of Dalits and tribals, migrants of every caste and creed who are rendered homeless due to the lockdown, said Archbishop Felix Machado, the Secretary General of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India.

“The Church is always a Mother, looking after her children, especially those in need, and in these special times, the Church in India is indeed a Mother, providing for her children, the Tribal, Dalits migrants. In Vasai, there are particular parishes, where these people are concentrated. All help is being given to them,” Machado told Crux.

In Nashik too, Bishop Lourdes Daniel who heads the Diocese there and is serving all who come to the church in need, said, “No one will go hungry. In these times, with the lockdown, many of our migrants have lost their jobs, but our Church is for everyone, a place for refugee for every Dalit and Tribal migrant without discrimination; our priests are helping our people.”

Serving people in Nagpur, Archbishop Elias Gonsalves told Crux, “My heart goes out to them. I have instructed both Nagpur and Amravati social work directors to start the relief work especially for daily wage labourers and brick kiln workers. May God help us to help others.”

In Bangalore, Archbishop Peter Machado has taken initiatives to distribute grocery items to the poor and provide temporary shelter to those stranded.

In Uttar Pradesh, Father Anand Mathew, the convener of the Sajha Sanskriti Manch (United Forum for Cultural Diversity) is carrying out relief efforts throughout Varanasi, serving the lease privileged and marginalized Dalit communities – the ‘musahar’s or ‘rat eaters’.

He said, “This campaign has been a big blessing for them because they have no money in the hand: They live a life hand to mouth. This campaign will go on as long as the lockdown continues and as the funds keep coming from individuals in the city and their friends in different parts of the country.”

In Lucknow too, Bishop Gerald J Mathias, with the help of the social services wing of the local Church is providing families with rice, pulses, lentils, sugar and hygiene products.

Migrants, daily wagers and contract labourers were the most affected by the 21-day lockdown. After the lockdown was announced, hundreds of them started walking back to their native villages for security and sustenance. Some even died on the way – some due to the cold, some in accidents and some due to starvation. The government hadn’t factored them in, when the lockdown was announced and when the relief measures were announced, they were too little and too late.

Before the government aid could trickle in, it was different volunteer organizations and religious organizations like the church which came to the rescue of such marginalized people. It is heartening to see members from all faiths and communities stepping up to provide aid and relief to the last person in need, especially at a time when such impoverished are short of means to sustain themselves.

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