Nuns’ arrest: Kerala BJP begins damage control, meets CBCI president

Raipur/Kochi, Aug 1 A week after two Kerala-based nuns were arrested and remain in jail in Chhattisgarh, the Kerala unit of the BJP on Friday launched a damage control exercise.

State BJP president and former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar met with Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), to discuss the issue.

Emerging from the meeting, Archbishop Thazhath said the Church had conveyed its deep concern over the continued detention of the two nuns, who, he asserted, had done nothing wrong.

"One of the nuns has been working in the region for over three decades, primarily serving leprosy patients. Their arrest has shocked us. We have urged Rajeev Chandrasekhar to ensure their immediate release," Thazhath told reporters.

He added that Chandrasekhar was the first political leader to reach out to the Church following the arrests, and that Congress leaders had also visited and expressed solidarity.

"We seek only justice. After today's meeting, we are hopeful, especially since Rajeev conveyed that both Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are aware of the matter and have assured support. We also raised concerns about the increasing insecurity faced by our missionaries working outside Kerala,” he said.

Speaking to the media later, Chandrasekhar said that both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister had assured him "two days ago" that justice would be served.

"It’s now clear that the Chhattisgarh government will not oppose the bail plea. This is a legal matter and should be allowed to follow due process. Some are trying to politicise it, but that’s not necessary," he said.

He added that the BJP was extending help not for political gain but out of principle. "There has clearly been a misunderstanding. It must be noted, however, that issues like conversion and trafficking are sensitive."

Chandrasekhar left for Delhi soon after the meeting, reportedly to follow up with Amit Shah and other senior leaders to expedite a resolution.

Meanwhile, in Chhattisgarh, hectic efforts are underway to secure the release of the nuns. On Friday morning, three Congress MPs -- Kodikunnil Suresh, Anto Antony, and Dean Kuriakose -- arrived in the state, joined by two former CPI(M) MPs from Kerala, P.K. Sreemathi and C.S. Sujatha. They are expected to meet the detained nuns.

The two arrested, Sister Preeti Mary and Sister Vandana Francis, belong to the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate, a congregation under the Syro-Malabar Church in Alappuzha district. They had been working at a hospital in Agra.

On July 26, while accompanying three women from Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district to Agra for jobs as kitchen helpers in a convent, the nuns and a man named Sukhman Mandavi were intercepted at a railway station by Bajrang Dal activists.

Based on their complaint, the police arrested the nuns on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion. A local court subsequently remanded them to judicial custody.

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