KOCHI: Calling the detention and arrest of two Malayali nuns — one from Kannur and the other from Angamaly — in Chhattisgarh a "deeply painful incident", Mar Andrews Thazhath, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), said the matter had been taken up with the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, and MPs Suresh Gopi and George Kurien.
“But the general atmosphere is one of fear,” he told reporters at Mount St Thomas, the Syro-Malabar Church headquarters in Kakkanad on July 28.
"The fact that these nuns were arrested on trumped-up charges of human trafficking is extremely alarming. They have also been accused of religious conversion. These actions by the authorities infringe upon the Right to Religious Freedom and amount to a gross violation of the Constitution," he said.
Mar Thazhath added that a section of the population continues to see Christianity as a foreign religion. He said the Chhattisgarh incident is a clear violation of minority rights and religious freedoms guaranteed by the country’s secular Constitution.
“The Durg incident is just one among several recent episodes of persecution of Christians. There have been cases where priests were even denied the right to wear cassocks and move freely within the country.”
Mar Thazhath called upon the Prime Minister and the Centre to act urgently and provide protection to religious minorities so they may live and work without fear.
“At the same time, the Church does not endorse politicising this issue. We must work toward securing protection for Christian minorities without turning the matter into a political weapon. All political movements need to come together to support this,” he said.
Calling the arrest unjustified, Mar Thazhath said the nuns were involved in the uplift of the poor and marginalised. “This arrest is simply wrong,” he said.
He stressed the growing importance of safeguarding the Constitution. “India has always been a secular nation that upholds religious freedom. That legacy is now under threat,” he added.
He thanked MPs from Kerala for their intervention. “The nuns should be released without delay,” he said. The Centre must act against those infringing on religious freedoms, he added. He said the girls involved were Christians and members of the Church of North India (CNI).
“They were of legal age and were accompanying the nuns with parental consent,” he clarified. CBCI had previously submitted letters to the PM highlighting the struggles faced by Christians, including during last year’s Christmas celebrations in Delhi.
Meanwhile, Kerala Minister for Law, Coir and Industries P Rajeeve condemned the arrest, calling it wrongful. He warned that efforts to weaken the Constitution are underway across the country.
“Religious minorities are facing persecution in different parts of India. This is not a problem for one community alone. Just as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) affected more than just the Muslim community, this incident impacts all citizens. The Centre must act swiftly to address this violation of fundamental rights,” he said.
CBCI twisting facts: VHP
The CBCI leadership is concealing the real facts behind the case, said Vishwa Hindu Parishad state general secretary Anil Vilayil.
“Chhattisgarh has laws against religious conversion using inducements or financial benefits, and against human trafficking. These charges fall under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act and the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act — both enacted by the Congress government in 1968 when Chhattisgarh was still part of Madhya Pradesh,” he said.
According to him, certain Kerala-based Christian organisations working to evangelise India are active in the northeast. “Local communities may object to aggressive and well-funded conversion drives that misrepresent Hindu rituals. Branding such objections as orchestrated conspiracies by groups like the VHP or Bajrang Dal is misleading and condemnable. Instead of politicising, the CBCI should investigate and act against individuals and organisations involved in systematic conversion efforts,” he said.