Amazon, one of the major online retailers, denied from helping any organization involved in illegal religious conversion in the Northeast.

The US-based ecommerce major said, “Amazon India does not have any relationship with All India Mission or its affiliates, nor does the AmazonSmile program operate on the Amazon India marketplace.”

Talking about the statement that followed claims made on Twitter that a few portions of Amazon customer purchases are transferred as a donation to the All India Mission. Twitter users claimed that All India Mission was engaged in the illegal religious activities of underprivileged youngsters in Northeast India disguised as an “evangelical missionary organization.”

CEO of Amazon India commented on the matter

CEO of Amazon India and senior vice president, Amit Agarwal, was requested to come and clarify in front of the NCPCR ( National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) on 1 November to address and clarify the allegations.

 Back in September this year, the NCPCR also sent a message to Amazon India informing for the same issue.

The NCPCR also asked Amazon India in a letter to investigate the situation and provide all the information regarding All India Mission and other orphanages that are funded by the business.

Talking about the issued summons over the problem raise, the commission made a statement asking about an taking action and submitting report within seven days. He added that no reply had been received from the organization in the matter so far. 

However, the AmazonSmile program is not running on the main website, but Amazon has asked the consumers if they might opt to make a donation to a charity or organization of their choice in locations where it did. However, the business also claimed that none of the charities participating in the campaign were supported or helped by its charitable program.

Amazon was earlier also highlighted in similar issues

This is not the first time Amazon was pulled into such matters earlier; also, Amazon India was in the spotlight with religious issues in the nation. For example, in August, the Hindu Janajagruthi Samithi filed a complaint regarding the e-commerce company in Bengaluru related to a vendor selling offensive caricatures of Hindu deities on Amazon.

In FY22, the marketplace of division’s net loss decreased by 23% to INR 3,649.2 Crore from INR 4,748.1 Crore in FY21. Also, in FY22, Amazon Pay India’s loss increased by almost 15% to INR 1,740.8 Crore.

All India Mission: What Is It?

 AmazonSmile is still featuring the All India Mission program despite the issue. The corps has its headquarters in Olathe, a suburb of Kansas, a US state. However, few people were not able to open the organization’s official website through the standard method as it was only accessible to users in India for viewing it. 

Although the site was accessible through a VPN, the website of All India Mission, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh claims it is home to more than 450 churches. In addition, the website says the organization has converted 25,000 people in the Northeast.

The organization claims to be building churches throughout the Northeast and several other parts of the nation and offering several donation options that ranges from $80 (INR 6,618) to $20,000 (INR 16,54,556).