Top American lawmakers expressed concern over the alleged curbs imposed by India on a Christian charity organization. Earlier, the charity representatives appeared before a Congressional hearing seeking change in New Delhi's policies related to foreign funding of NGOs.

Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the powerful House Foreign Relations Committee joined by other lawmakers and representations of human rights bodies and Compassion International (CI), the Christian charity organization that is often accused of being engaged in religious conversions in India.

Ed Royce said that, "It is my hope that by bringing attention to this issue, as we're doing here today, the 145,000 children will not be tragically denied the services they desperately need, and that American families can continue to send the USD38 a month for food and education fees to the poorest of the poor."

"In India, it (CI) is the single largest contributor of aid for children living in extreme poverty. We have spent nine months and hundreds of hours dealing with the Indian bureaucracy on this, and it looks like the bureaucracy is trying to run out the clock," Royce said.

Congressman Eliot Engel, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that, "Civil society plays a pivotal role in democracy, holding government accountable and standing up for the rights of marginalized groups. So it's troubling that a country with such a long tradition of an empowered and active civil society might be going down this path."

"We cannot avoid the hard questions or avoid discussions simply because they are difficult conversations to have. This is how democracies work, warts and all," he added.

"Most recently, MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) has prevented the return of USD 330,000 in aid that Compassion attempted to transfer to its Indian partners. The money cannot be received by the intended partner in India or returned to Compassion. This low-level harassment and intimidation by MHA is widespread and not limited to Compassion," Stephen Oakley, general counsel and vice president of the General Counsel Office at Compassion International said.

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Nandini