Protests erupt in Kerala, Delhi over arrest of Keralite nuns in Chhattisgarh

The ruling front and the Opposition seem to have seized on the arrest of two Keralite nuns on “questionable charges” of forced conversion and human trafficking in Chhattisgarh last week as part of their larger political gambit to blunt the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) efforts to woo the electorally significant Christian community in the State ahead of the local body polls and the Assembly elections.

Seemingly stung by widespread criticism from civil society and Church leaders, and chary of losing the ground the party believed it had gained among Christians, the BJP in Kerala dispatched an express delegation headed by State general secretary, Anoop Antony, to Chhattisgarh to secure the early release of the nuns, Sisters Vandana Francis and Preeta Mary of the order of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI), and ensure an “unbiased investigation” in the case.

It also seemed not to help the BJP that Deepika, the mouthpiece of the Syro-Malabar Church, flagged an alleged dichotomy between the BJP’s words and actions, chiefly in BJP-ruled States, wherein Christians allegedly faced severe persecution. Church leaders, including Mar Andrews Thazhath, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), termed the arrest “unsettling, fear-inducing and unconstitutional”.