New Delhi /Thiruvananthapuram, July 30: Protests broke out in Kerala and outside Parliament in New Delhi on Monday after two Keralite nuns were arrested in Chhattisgarh last week on charges of kidnapping, human trafficking and forced religious conversion, triggering bipartisan political outrage and sharp reactions from Christian groups.
The two nuns — Sister Vandana Francis and Sister Preeta Mary of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate — were taken into custody on Friday at Durg Railway Station, where members of the Hindu right-wing Bajrang Dal alleged they were attempting to convert three women, including a tribal woman, by taking them to Agra.
MPs from both the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) staged a rare joint protest outside Parliament, denouncing the arrests as “trumped-up” and driven by anti-minority sentiment. UDF lawmakers accused Bajrang Dal of holding a “kangaroo court” and influencing local police to act on false accusations.
“The Sangh Parivar orchestrated this arrest. Christian clergy live in fear in BJP-ruled states,” said V.D. Satheesan, Leader of the Opposition in Kerala, after visiting the family of one of the detained nuns. “This is fascism in action.”
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the immediate release of the nuns and calling the arrests unjust. LDF MP John Brittas also moved an adjournment notice in the Rajya Sabha and wrote to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai.
The Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, George Kurian, said the matter was sub judice and refused to comment on the details of the case. However, he added that BJP Kerala chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar was working with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) and government officials to resolve the issue.
In Kerala, the protests found echo in church circles. Deepika, the official publication of the Syro-Malabar Church, criticised the BJP for what it called a “dichotomy” — attempting to court Christian voters in Kerala while allowing Sangh Parivar groups to intimidate them elsewhere.
Orthodox Syrian Church Metropolitan Yuhanon Mar Meletius wrote on social media that symbolic gestures such as honouring church leaders in Delhi were inadequate in the face of persecution.
State ministers from Kerala also waded into the controversy. Education Minister V. Sivankutty accused church leaders of silence and called for open resistance. Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh said many within the Christian community failed to recognise the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology as a threat. “The RSS views Christians, Muslims and communists as enemies from within,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) defended the arrests, alleging that the nuns were trafficking an underage tribal girl. “The CBCI is trying to hide the facts,” said VHP Kerala secretary Anil Vilayil.
The case has become a political flashpoint in the ongoing national debate over minority rights, religious conversions, and growing concerns about religious freedom in BJP-governed states.
