- Vincent Kundukulam
The arrest of two nuns from Kerala, Sr. Vandana Francis and Sr. Preeta Mary of the Order of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate, at Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh on 25 July 2025, has given a great blow to the pseudo “friendly-image” BJP has been trying to build in the minds of the Christians in Kerala, in their pursuit of becoming an alternative political alliance to both the left- and right-wing parties in the state. The initiative taken by the BJP leaders of Kerala, including Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Anoop Antony, unveils that they have smelled the danger, and the set-back they may have in the coming elections to the panchayat bodies and legislative assembly.
There are various factors that force us to think that it is not a mistake happened to certain goons. Firstly, somebody in the train informed the Bajarang Dal (BD) workers about the nuns travelling in the train along with the women. Who is that individual? Why did he call upon the BD volunteers instead of reporting his suspicion to the police? Secondly, why the police did not release the sisters once the latter could disapprove the charges levelled against them by producing the necessary documents? Thirdly, the women, whom the BD accuses of having been converted by the sisters, are all adults and they stated that they were willingly going to Agra along with the sisters for job, with the consent of the family members. Even then, the police acted in favour of the BD assailants.
“The Church is fully aware that border disputes, although presented as mere territorial issues, are often exploited for political purposes”, Archbishop Arpondarattana explained in the interview. He said “these tensions may be manipulated to stoke nationalist sentiments”, distract the population “from domestic issues” and “serve the interests of specific political actors”. According to the Archbishop this places “short-term political opportunism” above the well-being of the population and hinders a peaceful, sustainable long-term resolution.
Besides, the families connected to the caught-up women demanded the release of the nuns through a written submission given to the Narayanpur Police on 26 July. It said that they were aware of the fact that their family women were being taken for job. Yet, there was no positive response from the part of the officials. The malevolent planning is also evident from the justifying attitude of the chief minister of Chhattisgarh regarding the action of the BD men and the police. All these indicate that everything happened as the result of a well-orchestrated conspiracy.
The charges levelled against the nuns also need to be examined. The charges of kidnapping, human trafficking and forced conversion are the sections difficult to get bail from the court. It means that the criminals set everything ready to put the sisters in jail. The choice of these allegations conveys varied messages: the power and freedom the BD enjoys under the BJP rule, its courage to execute any sort of violence against the minorities, its opposition to the freedom of religion given by the Constitution, and beyond all, its intention to terrorise those who work for the liberation of the oppressed classes in Inda.
The charges of kidnapping, human trafficking and forced conversion are the sections difficult to get bail from the court. It means that the criminals set everything ready to put the sisters in jail. The choice of these allegations conveys varied messages: the power and freedom the BD enjoys under the BJP rule, its courage to execute any sort of violence against the minorities, its opposition to the freedom of religion given by the Constitution, and beyond all, its intention to terrorise those who work for the liberation of the oppressed classes in India.
At this crucial time, some of the reactions coming from the part of ecclesiastical spokesmen are despairing. According to one, the BJP cannot be blamed for the crimes committed by the Bajrang Dal, as the latter is an independent movement. This is exactly a defensive argument told by the BJP governments, whenever and wherever they are accused of heinous crimes committed by the people affiliated to any of the Hindutva movements. Since 1948, when the RSS was for the first time banned by the Congress government, it had begun several filial associations with multifaceted objectives: to reach out to people of different professions, to organize staunched Hindus in diverse fields of social life, to make it possible to continue its work under a different label while any of its affiliates is ceased by the State, etc. The above-cited response of certain Church authorities discloses either their ignorance of the opus operandi of the RSS or their conscious attempt to save the BJP, to which they are indebted to, as some say, for certain benefits received and foreseen.
However, thanks to the social media, many, including certain Christian authorities, have boldly unmasked the dubious game played by the BJP in Kerala and in the North. The secular minded thinkers across all religions and ideologies have expressed their concern over the increasing “culture of a mob-prosecution” under the BJP rule in the country. Recalling the past incidents of attacks perpetrated by the Hindutva forces – the murder of Graham Staines and family in 1989, the killing of Sr. Rani Maria in 1995, the persecution of the Christians at Kandhamal in 2008 and the attack on the Christians at Manipur from 2023-2024 -, I feel that it is high time for the BJP supporting centres and groups within the Kerala Church to realize the wrong political choice they have made in the recent past, in contrast to the line generally followed by the Christians in India.
- Kundu1962@gmail.com
