India, April 26 -- It's a paradox - to put it mildly - that just as the Bharatiya Janata Party was doing its best to reach out to Christian voters in Kerala, its government in Delhi tried to pass the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill. It's now been deferred till the next session of Parliament, perhaps because the government realised it would work against its interests in the Kerala elections. But the damage, I fear, has been done. Archbishop Joseph Dsouza, the President of the All India Christian Council, has called the amendment bill "dangerous and deeply alarming". Let's first look at the proposed amendment bill. The original Foreign Contribution Act gives the government the power to cancel the foreign contribution registration of institutions and, Archbishop Dsouza says, this is usually done without explanation and without recourse to appeal. Newspapers report that since 2015, registrations of more than 18,000 NGOs have been cancelled. As of April 3, there are only 14,965 FCRA-registered NGOs active in the country. They are entitled to receive foreign contributions for social, educational, religious, economic and cultural purposes. Now, the amendment creates a "designated authority" with the power to take permanent control of the foreign contributions and assets of any organisations whose foreign contribution licence is cancelled, surrendered or lapsed. This means that if the government denies renewal or simply fails to act on a renewal application in time, the assets of the concerned organisation can be taken over. However, that's not all. Once the assets are vested in the "designated authority", it can transfer them to any ministry, department or agency of the central, state or local governments or dispose of them through sale with the proceeds credited to the Consolidated Fund of India. In other words, the "designated authority" can do with the assets whatever it wants. The conclusion is simple: If this amendment passes, the government will have both the power to deny renewal or cancel foreign contribution licences and then, subsequently, assume control of the funds, properties and assets of the organisation concerned. This, as far as the Church is concerned, is power to take over other peoples' property and do with it precisely what the government wants. The Catholic Bishops' Conference says this is "undemocratic, unconstitutional and contrary to the principles of natural justice". Archbishop Dsouza is more blunt. He says: "The proposed new FCRA amendment is merely a ploy for the government to take over properties and assets run by Christian institutions." Consider what this means if his fears prove correct. Not only might the functioning of the Church itself be at risk but institutions that the Church runs, such as schools, hospitals, and orphanages could also be at risk. It's not just their foreign funding that would dry up, ownership could pass into other hands. The strange part is the government has not given a clear reason why it wants to amend the FCRA bill. It simply claims it's to ensure that the incoming foreign money does not affect national interest, public order or national security. But the newspaper, Christian Today, reports that Nityanand Rai, the minister of state for home affairs, has said the objective is the same as that of the conversion acts the BJP has passed. This suggests the allegation is that assets created by the Church through foreign contributions are used for conversion. That only adds to the anger of the Church. Archbishop Dsouza asserts the government is flogging a dead horse. The Archbishop says it's not just the anguish and anger of the Christian community in India the government is provoking. It could also be creating what he calls "a perfect storm globally". As he puts it: "What the government and the FCRA authorities have forgotten and ignored is that they are walking into a perfect storm globally in terms of being seen as an anti-Christian India, an anti-Christian BJP and an anti-Christian FCRA." That's hardly the response you want to provoke from Donald Trump's America! It would be best if the deferred bill is quietly forgotten and dropped. Don't you agree?...