India Freezes Accounts of Mother Teresa’s Charity
India is a hotbed of anti-Christian violence.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Monday froze the bank accounts of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity (MoC) in West Bengal, the state’s political leader said on Monday, after weekend protests over Christmas celebrations.
Hindu vigilante groups disrupted Christmas mass in parts of India, including in Modi’s core territory ahead of local elections in the coming months.
Hardline Hindu outfits affiliated to Modi’s party have repeatedly accused the MoC of leading religious conversion programmes under the guise of charity by offering poor Hindus and tribal communities money, free education and shelter.
“Shocked to hear that (at) Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India!” Mamata Banerjee, the state’s chief minister, wrote in a tweet.
“Their 22,000 patients & employees have been left without food & medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised,” Banerjee, an opposition leader and vocal critic of the Modi government, said.
Nobel-laureate Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun who died in 1997, founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950.