Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday. Lalduhom's party ZPM is not a BJP-led NEDA constituent. In 2023, BJP's ally in Mizoram, the MNF was ousted by the ZPM.
Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma on Thursday met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi and handed over a memorandum, expressing concerns over the proposed Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026.
Lalduhoma later said Shah has assured him that the Bill will not have any retrospective provision.
“The Home Minister assured me that the retrospective clause will not be there,” Lalduhoma said. Shah understandably also indicated that the FCRA Amendment Bill is likely to be taken up in the Lok Sabha on August 12. The ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament comes to an end on August 13.
Last two weeks proceedings in both the Houses were virtual washout.
The assurance about the Bill comes amid growing concern among Christian organisations over provisions in the proposed legislation governing assets created through foreign contributions.
The Centre is now likely to drop the retrospective clause before introducing the Bill in Parliament. Sources had also indicated that the government wanted the legislation to be debated in Parliament rather than passed amid disruptions.
Jonathan Lalremruata, adviser and coordinator of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), had said: that a delegation of the bishops’ body had received a similar assurance from Shah during a recent meeting.
“When the CBCI delegation met the Home Minister, we were promised that the law will not be retrospective,” Lalremruata had said.
The assurance is seen as a "part of the party’s outreach to minority communities.
“It is a promise that the BJP has given to the minority groups,” the leader had said.
The Bill would demolish all the propaganda by the Congress and other vested interests that this is targeting Christians. The Bill has become politically sensitive for the BJP because many churches and institutions run by Christian organisations have been built using foreign contributions regulated under the FCRA. With the party seeking to expand its footprint among Christians, particularly in Kerala, it is keen to address concerns over the proposed law. Even an US lawmaker has expressed his opposition to the draft law.
The controversy pertains to a new chapter proposed to be inserted into the FCRA. Section 14B introduces the concept of “cessation” of an FCRA certificate, deeming a certificate to have ceased if an organisation does not apply for renewal, its renewal is refused, or it expires without being renewed.
Section 16A provides that once a certificate has ceased, foreign contributions and assets created from them would vest in a government-designated authority. If the organisation subsequently secures a fresh or renewed registration, the assets may be returned.
Otherwise, they would permanently vest with the authority, which could transfer them to government departments or agencies or dispose of them in accordance with the law.
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