Congressmen Urge India to Stop Discriminating Against Christian Charities

One hundred and seven members of Congress wrote a letter to India's Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh asking him to allow Compassion International to continue its work in India. 

While they are "long time supporters of U.S. - India partnership" the Indian government's targeting of Compassion Internaional has "caused serious concern within the U.S. Congress," the lawmakers wrote.

The Christian charity spent decades providing care to thousands of India's poorest children. However, it recently closed its doors in the country after the government accused the charity of converting the children to Christianity. 

A Ministry of External Affairs official told the New York Times that the charity's "partners were violating Indian law by engaging in religious activities."

India stopped processing the aid sent overseas to fund Compassion's programs, essentially starving the charity of money. 

The letter urged India to process Compassion International's wire transfers and allow the charity to operate again. 

"It is our sincere hope that this situation can be resolved quickly by your issuing a temporary reprieve," it sais. "This would allow Compassion International to process their wire transfers and keep their programs serving the Indian people operating until a more permanent solution can be found in accord with India's laws."

John Prabhudoss, President of Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations, says the Indian government is trying to stop the gospel from reaching the nation. 

"We believe that this action by Modi government against Christian aid agencies is an attempt by the political-Hinduism to hijack the rich religious traditions of religious Hinduism and the people of India," he said in a statement. "The hardline approach of the Hindu nationalist government under Modi has the potential to cause serious damage to the US-India relationship."