Catholic rites hold united protest against arrest of nuns in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh

The Hindu

3 days ago

The various rites of the Catholic Church in Kerala came together for a joint protest on Wednesday against the arrest of two Keralite nuns at Durg in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Chhattisgarh last Friday on charges of forced conversion and human trafficking, allegations which various political parties and civil society have termed baseless.
Church leaders and laity members from the Syro-Malankara, Syro-Malabar, and Latin rites took part in the silent march with their mouths gagged to Raj Bhavan, in a reflection of the groundswell of anger and concern over the arrests.
Addressing the protest, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, president of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council, said those showing friendly gestures towards the Christian community should show the sincerity to 'walk the talk,' in what was interpreted as a thinly-veiled message to the BJP.
'When such incidents happen, those in power should display the will power to address it immediately. That is when minority communities like ours feel safe in the country. The State BJP president himself has said that the allegations against the nuns are false. Why are his words not being believed? Not only should the nuns be released, but action also should be taken against those who put them in jail so that such incidents are not repeated,' he said.
Countering the allegations of forced conversions against the Christian community, he said Christians still constitute only less than 2.5% of India's population, which would not have been the situation if the community had been converting people for the past 2,000 years as alleged.
'The minority Christian community in this country is only demanding the rulers to protect the right for anyone to believe and propagate any religion of their choice. Our protest is not a challenge against the government or a particular party. Some people are claiming that such protests are happening only in Kerala. As a State which remains in the forefront in literacy and where missionaries have brought education to the masses, all the right-thinking people of Kerala are questioning this injustice,' said the Cardinal.
He said that more than the denial of bail to the nuns, the angry shouts of the mob that gathered outside the court against them pained him. 'Is this a secular democracy? Is this the age-old Indian culture which has traditionally respected those who wore robes and went out to serve the community,' he asked.
The State has over the past four days witnessed bipartisan protests over the arrest of sisters Preeta Mary and Vandana Francis of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) order.