The West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has taken to Twitter on Monday, December 27 to claim that the central government has frozen all bank accounts of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.
“Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India! Their 22,000 patients & employees have been left without food & medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised,” tweeted the West Bengal CM.
Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India!
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 27, 2021
Their 22,000 patients & employees have been left without food & medicines.
While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised.
Mamata Banerjee’s Tweet came shortly after CPI(M) state secretary and Opposition leader Surjya Kanta Mishra also tweeted the same. “Yesterday,Christmas Day the Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. The Govt has frozen all the accounts in India, including cash in hand. Their 22,000 patients, including employees, are left without food and medicines”, wrote the CPI(M) leader.
#ShockingNews
— Surjya Kanta Mishra (@mishra_surjya) December 27, 2021
Yesterday,Christmas Day the Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. The Govt has frozen all the accounts in India, including cash in hand. Their 22,000 patients, including employees, are left without food and medicines.
Local media house ABP Live has quoted sources as saying that all of the accounts of Missionaries of Charity have been frozen on the behest of the central authorities. Directions have been given to suspend all kinds of financial transactions taking place through all the accounts of the NGO.
Bengali ABP Live said that the officials at the Missionaries of Charity have agreed to be aware of the development but refused to divulge any details regarding the same.
Top Church official reacts to bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity being frozen
Though the reasons for the bank accounts being frozen are still unknown and there is no official confirmation about the same by the central government or the Home Ministry, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Calcutta, Fr Dominic Gomes issued a statement calling the action “a cruel Christmas gift to the poorest of the poor”.
Statement of the Vicar General, Archdiocese of Calcutta, Fr. Dominic Gomes on the freezing of the bank accounts of the Missionaries of Charity Sisters and Brothers congregations. pic.twitter.com/YddNJXBkgI
— Vijayesh Lal (@vijayeshl) December 27, 2021
The statement of Fr Dominic Gomes read:
In freezing the bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity Sisters and Brothers congregations, Government agencies have given a cruel Christmas gift to the poorest of the poor. Besides over 22000 direct dependants and beneficiaries at their centres across the country, MC Sisters and Brothers reach out to uplift tilousands and are often the only friends of the lepers and social outcast no one will even venture near. Overlooking the fact MCs of St. Mother Teresa give up all worldly goods, sleep on the floor and, and earn no money — giving whatever they have in service to the poorest in every corner of the earth, especially our poorest of Indians – this latest attack on the Christian Community and their social outreach is even more a dastardly attack on the poorest of India’s poor, who the MC congregation serves. We condemn the Government action against the MC and are appalled by the timing and lack of empathy to consider the humanitarian disaster this decision will cause.
Note: The bogey of “Conversion” always been raised as justification, is more than patently false, boggles the mind with its incredulity — had any Christian organisation seriously tried to “convert” with the efficiency they run their educational, medical and social intuitions; there would indeed be many more Christians converted in the 2000 years Christianity has been on Indian soil that the 2.3% minority today. Christianity, across the globe — is not defined by conversion, but by their unappalled love for their neighbour in action through their social outreach and social justice in society.
Scandals surrounding Mother Teresa’s NGO
After the Missionaries of Charity’s alleged babies sale scandal came to light in July 2018, Jharkhand CID had written to the state authorities recommending a CBI probe into alleged violations of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act, 2010 by 88, mostly Christian missionary-backed NGOs including Missionaries of Charity.
According to reputable sources, NGOs under investigation were found to have reportedly broken many regulations. These NGOs had been reported to have received in excess of Rs 250 crore funding between 2013 and 2016 under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Moreover, there was evidence that some of these organisations were participating in proselytization.
In fact, recently, on the 14th of this month, the Makarpura police in Vadodara, Gujarat, has registered an FIR against Missionaries of Charity, an organization founded by Mother Teresa, on the charges of allegedly hurting Hindu religious sentiments and luring young girls to convert to Christianity.
