THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The release of the two Catholic nuns after nine days of imprisonment in Chhattisgarh has come as a relief for both the Church and the state BJP. The fact that it was realised following the intervention of the prime minister’s office (PMO) is being viewed as a feather in party state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s political cap.
TNIE was the first to report the PMO’s intervention. The entire episode is now expected to function as a catalyst in Rajeev’s efforts to intensify his party’s Christian outreach programme in central Kerala in the coming days.
For the Catholic Church, with its larger interest in the pan-Indian socio-political sphere, it has reiterated the need for friends in high places, especially in times of crises. “In that sense the whole episode has been a give-and-take,” a Church official told on condition of anonymity.
If the mission had failed it would have cast a shadow on Rajeev. It ended up proving his close ties to the corridors of power in Delhi.
According to sources in the BJP national leadership, the PMO intervened because the Christian outreach was Modi’s idea to begin with — with an eye on elections. “At the BJP parliamentary board meeting ahead of the 2019 general election, Modi rejected the candidate list submitted by the then state leadership because it did not include any Christians,” a party leader said.
“Alphons Kannanthanam’s name was included later. In the run-up to the 2021 assembly election, the BJP central leadership instructed the state unit to hold talks with the Jacobite Church,” he said.
Though the state leadership is of the view that the BJP stands to gain from how the chapter involving the nuns was handled, a section within the party and other Sangh parivar organisations believes that the BJP failed to protect the sentiments of Hindu masses.
Many Sangh organisations publicly denounced the efforts of Rajeev. “Whenever the BJP surrendered its core Hindutva ideology, its workers and the Hindu masses voted against it,” a RSS leader said.
“We have seen several examples nationally. Kerala has changed a lot. We now have a more radical Hindu upper middle class and middle class. In Kerala, it is the Congress which professes soft Hindutva and still enjoys the faith of minorities. This will continue to be the main threat for the BJP,” he added.
Considering the fact that the Christian factor in the victory of Suresh Gopi in Thrissur was minimal, the next few months will be crucial for both BJP and Rajeev considering the upcoming assembly election. “We will have to counter the campaigns of both the UDF, the LDF and the media,” a BJP office-bearer said.
“The Congress has a Catholic as KPCC president. What is crucial is how the Christian community views the whole issue. Does the fate that befell the CPM in the 2024 Lok Sabha election now await the BJP? We all knew though it was the CPM which had openly voiced support for the Muslim community on CAA, in the end the minority votes went to the Congress. The CPM lost its Hindu vote, too,” he said.
ORTHODOX CHURCH HEAD SEEKS STRICT ACTION AGAINST BAJRANG DAL
KOTTAYAM: Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, the supreme head of the Malankara Orthodox Church, has said the bail granted for the two Keralite nuns, who were arrested and remanded in Chhattisgarh, was a great relief. He called for stringent action against the Bajrang Dal activists involved in their detention and mistreatment.
“It is a relief that the nuns were granted bail after nine days of unjust detention. However, those responsible for their wrongful treatment remain at large. The Chhattisgarh government must charge a case against the extremists who detained the nuns and assaulted them in public,” he said.
The Catholicos emphasised that while the granting of bail is a positive development, it is merely a preliminary step in the pursuit of justice. “The false case against the nuns should be quashed entirely. Only then will the nuns get justice. Only then will the stain on the culture of Arsha Bharata be removed,” he added.
CBCI prez welcomes bail, urges govts to end mob trials
THRISSUR: Mar Andrews Thazhath, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India and Archbishop of Thrissur, on Saturday expressed happiness over the release of the Kerala-based nuns who were granted bail in Chhattisgarh.
He urged the Centre to intervene to prevent similar incidents in the future. “Two nuns from Kerala were jailed in Chhattisgarh for engaging in charity work. They were imprisoned based on false accusations of human trafficking and forced conversion.
Steps must be taken to dispose of the case at the earliest, as all charges are baseless,” he said. He also called on authorities to ensure the protection of minority rights across the country. He urged both the state and Centre to put an end to mob trials by extremist groups.