Missionary NGOs and India’s Development — Part 1 The CCBI Bioethics Forum was established in September 2021 by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India. They are writing against mining, dams, industrialisation, and even the Greater Nicobar project, the same projects that will give India a strategic advantage. The project is close to the Strait of Malacca, so it can become an important transshipment stop for commercial ships and a logistics hub for the Indo-Pacific region, as most of the world’s trade passes through this route. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also called the unsinkable aircraft carrier of India. From a military point of view, we can choke the entire strait, if needed, and stop global trade to gain negotiating leverage in case of war, like Iran, a small non-nuclear nation, does in the Strait of Hormuz. Remember, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party oppose the same project. Is it a coincidence that Catholic pressure groups and the Congress party align on the same lines? I leave it to you to judge. Mines not only generate revenue but also provide raw materials for the production of aluminium, iron, and other metals used to build modern India. Dams help with flood management and provide water for agricultural activities after the rainy season. Without dams, many people would be affected, displaced, or die, and their entire savings and agricultural livelihoods would be wiped out due to severe floods. Why do these Catholic bishop groups oppose development projects in India? The answer is that Christian missionaries convert tribals and poor people by giving them money and providing education and medicine in the name of God and social services through missionary NGOs. But where do they get this huge amount of money? Foreign governments, such as those of the USA, Britain, and other European countries, provide money to missionary NGOs to carry out charity work in India. Modi’s government came to power in 2014, and the UK government stopped its aid from 2015 onwards. Now, they are using different foundations, and Western companies provide funds through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to these missionary NGOs. In return, the missionary NGOs fulfil the demands of foreign states and companies by protesting against strategic projects such as dams, infrastructure, industries, and the Greater Nicobar project in the name of tribal welfare, ecology, and ethics.

There is an African proverb: “When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land.”