New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Wednesday that the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for a "more broad-based consultation", while the Opposition attacked the Centre alleging an "organised attack" against minorities in the country.

The Central government's resolution to refer the FCRA Bill, 2026, to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was accepted by the Lok Sabha earlier in the day amid massive uproar by the Opposition members.

Speaking to IANS, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said: "FCRA is an important bill. Naturally, it has been referred to the JPC for more broad-based consultation and stakeholders' view. I am sure that the Bill will be even more robust and will be more refined by the exercise of the JPC, wherein more stakeholders will be consulted, more consensus will be built, and experts will be consulted to make the bill more comprehensive."

BJP MP Naveen Jain termed the FCRA Bill as the "country's demand".

"It is being opposed only by people outside India or by those living in India and misusing it. The government should know whether foreign donations are being used for activities by anti-national elements or for activities that are weakening the country. Every citizen of the country and the government has the right to know this," he told IANS while adding that the Bill is not harming the interests of anyone.

"I believe that whether they are Congress leaders or others, this should not be viewed through the prism of vote-bank politics. The national interest should be paramount," Jain asserted.

BJP leader Pratul Shahdeo also said that if "checks and balances aren't put in place, foreign funds may be misused by anti-national forces".

"Christian Missionaries have been accused that a part of them used these funds for religious conversion," he alleged while expressing optimism that the Bill will become a law one day.

However, the opposition leaders lashed out at the BJP and the RSS for "choking funds" meant for NGOs.

Addressing reporters outside the Parliament House, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said: "This Bill is meant just so that the BJP can ensure all funding remains only for the RSS. The RSS is supposedly an NGO, but it is unregistered. It has huge properties worth thousands of crores...it's not open to audit or any scrutiny."

"Today, the FCRA is aimed only at choking funds for every NGO, for every charitable organisation, especially belonging to different denominations, belonging to the Christian and to the Muslim faith. Anything non-RSS is going to be choked," she alleged.

Congress MP Hibi Eden referred to the FCRA Bill as "an organised attack against the minorities of this country".

"The minorities and NGOs have been tirelessly working in the fields of education and healthcare in the tribal and in Naxal areas. You must have heard of the Missionaries of Charities which was established by Sister Mother Teresa...All these organisations who have been receiving foreign funds are working in social sectors. And this amendment clearly shows how the attack on minorities has been imposed by the Union government," he told IANS.

CPI-M leader Hannan Mollah said the Union government "had to take a step back under pressure" while saying: "Our opposition is against the basic flaws of the Bill."

"They (Centre) have already carried out a lot of activities to take away the property of Muslims in the name of the Waqf. Now since Christians have a lot of property like colleges, universities and research institutes, this is a conspiracy to take over the Christian property under the guise of such laws. What they say publicly is one thing, but the conspiracy within is based on the RSS formula. The RSS started with the idea that there are three enemies of our country: Muslims, Christians and Communists," he alleged.

Earlier, Congress MP K.C. Venugopal said that instead of bulldozing the FCRA Bill amid the din, the Union government was sending it to the JPC.

--IANS

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