SACRAMENTO — A joint statement from Rev. Samuel Rodriguez and Rev. Johnnie Moore:
We write as Christian leaders who love India — its people, its civilization, its promise. We write also as men who count India’s leaders among our friends. It is precisely because of that friendship that we must speak plainly.
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced March 25, 2026, would empower a government authority to seize assets built by religious and charitable organizations whenever their FCRA registration lapses or is canceled — even through bureaucratic delay. We call on the Government of India not merely to defer this bill, but to withdraw it.
India’s Christians Are Not the Problem — They Are a Blessing
We understand India’s legitimate security concerns. Terrorism is real. Foreign interference is real. But India’s Christians are not a security threat. For decades, Indian Christian churches and their global partners have built schools, hospitals, and orphanages serving millions — especially tribals communities, and the rural poor, standing where the state has often not. India’s Christians are patriotic citizens who have served in its military, courts, and civil service. They are not agents of foreign powers. They are Indians.
We also state clearly: India’s Christian community categorically rejects forced conversion, coercive proselytization, and every vestige of colonial-era religious imperialism. The Christianity practiced in India is Indian Christianity — rooted, indigenous, and centuries old. This legislation sweeps up faithful, law-abiding citizens in a net designed for bad actors who do not represent them.
A Breach of Trust — and a Historical Warning
This bill would authorize seizure of assets built not by foreign governments, but by the generosity of ordinary believers — church members in Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, and the United States — who gave sacrificially for Christian ministry among India’s poor. They gave to build hospitals and schools, not to enrich any state.
History offers a sobering parallel. The confiscation of Jewish communal properties in 1930s and 1940s Europe was accomplished through mechanisms that appeared procedural and administrative. We do not suggest equivalence of intent. We raise it because the structure is recognizable: regulatory authority used to transfer minority religious assets into state hands. The world learned that lesson at great cost.
We anticipate that American donors whose contributions are now subject to potential seizure will pursue every available legal remedy. This is not a threat — it is a foreseeable consequence. Those donors gave to serve India’s poor, not to subsidize the Indian state.
Our Request
Indian organizations operate freely in the United States, raising funds openly under full legal protection. That same standard must apply to Christian organizations in India. Partnership cannot function on asymmetric terms.
We are encouraged the government has deferred this bill. We ask it go further: withdraw it, and open genuine dialogue with India’s Christian communities before any further action is taken.
India is one of the great civilizations of the world. This bill would tell the global community of faith that India’s regulatory apparatus can dispossess a religious minority of assets built through sacrifice and trust. We do not believe that is the India Prime Minister Modi wishes to present to the world. It is not too late to choose differently.
Signed as loyal friends and supporters of India —
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez
President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
Chairman, The Congress of Christian Leaders
Rev. Johnnie Moore
President, The Congress of Christian Leaders
Former Two-Time Commissioner, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
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