Texas Hindu charity that fundraised to demolish churches in India faces calls for investigation

A coalition of Christian and interfaith leaders in Texas are calling on members of U.S. Congress to condemn “anti-Christian hate and bigotry” from a local nonprofit they say is raising funds to demolish churches in India.

The Federation of Indian American Christian Organization in North America (FIACONA) held a news conference Tuesday, warning that the Texas-based Global Hindu Heritage Foundation (GHHF) is raising money in the United States to level churches and forcibly convert Christians and Muslims in India to Hinduism.

A Dec. 13 letter obtained by The Christian Post and addressed to U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Internal Revenue Service and others alleges GHHF is “one of many Hindu supremacist groups” using the U.S. as an “operating base” to promote violence against Christians in India.

Founded in 2006, GHHF advocates an ideology known as Hindutva, or extremist Hindu supremacism, which holds that India belongs solely to Hindus to the exclusion of an estimated 220 million Indian Christians and Muslims, according to the statement.

The letter — which was also co-signed by Church of The Way in Frisco and Concerned Indian American Christians in DFW — accuses GHHF and similar groups of “funding and actively promoting” attacks on churches in India, including vandalizing prayer spaces, harassing Sunday worshippers, molesting women and breaking into church buildings.

In addition to the letter, a copy of an invitation to a Nov. 27 gala dinner hosted by GHHF was also shared at the news conference. 

The invitation — which includes the GHHF logo and contact info for its chairman, Dr. Prakasarao Velagapudi — states that part of the event’s agenda included “Ghar Vapsi,” which is the forced religious conversion of Indian Christians and Muslims to Hinduism and Sikhism. 

“We find it extremely disturbing and dangerous that GHHF would use U.S. soil and Texas land to explicitly advertise their goal to cause such great harm to Indian Christians, who already face enormous persecution daily,” the letter stated.

GHHF did not respond to a request for comment from CP.

In front of a large Christmas tree outside Frisco City Hall, several pastors and other Christian leaders joined members of the local Indian Christian community to call for lawmakers to take a closer look at the activities of GHHF.

One of those who spoke at the press conference was Pastor Bryan Nerren of the International House of Prayer Ministries in Shelbyville, Tennessee. Nerren was detained in India for seven months in 2019 after an airport customs dispute.

Nerren’s ordeal ended in May 2020 when India dropped all charges against him and returned his passport.

Read the full article here.