India freezes accounts of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity after Christmas religious tension

The government of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on Monday froze the bank accounts of the Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa in West bengal, as reported by the state’s political leader on Monday, following the weekend protests by the Christmas celebrations.

Hindu watchdog groups disrupted the mass of Christmas in some parts of India, including the main Modi territory, ahead of local elections in the coming months.

Hardline Hindu groups affiliated with Modi’s party have repeatedly accused the Missionaries of running religious conversion programs under the guise of charity, offering poor Hindus and tribal communities money, free education and accommodation.

“Shocked to hear that (on) Christmas, the Union Ministry FROZEN ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India!” wrote Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of the state, in a tweet.

“Its 22,000 patients and workers have been left without food and medicine. Although the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised,” said Banerjee, leader of the opposition and critic of the Modi government.

Mother Teresa, Roman Catholic nun Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and died in 1997, she founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950.

Based in the state of West Bengal, the Missionaries of Charity have more than 3,000 nuns around the world who run hospices, community kitchens, schools, leprosariums and homes for abandoned children.

Missionaries of Charity officials were not available for comment, while the federal Interior Ministry said the government will issue a statement once an initial investigation has been completed.

“I urge the press not to mix the financial irregularities of a charity group with religious sentiments. (…) The decision to freeze the accounts has nothing to do with Christianity,” said an official, requesting anonymity for not be authorized to speak to the media.

The Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, Dominic Gomes, said the freezing of West Bengal accounts was “a cruel Christmas gift to the poorest of the poor.”