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The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
No bail for jailed nuns as Chhattisgarh court cites jurisdiction issues
A Sessions Court in Chhattisgarh's Durg district on Wednesday (July 30, 2025) disposed of the bail applications of the two nuns and a Narayanpur resident — who were arrested last week on charges of human trafficking and forcible religious conversion — observing that it did not have the jurisdiction to hear the matter. The court said it could not go into the merits of the case. In his order, Additional Sessions Judge Anish Dubey cited Section 11 of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008 to point out the jurisdiction issue and ordered the applicants — nuns Preethi Mary and Vandana Francis, and Sukman Mandavi — to move a special court for relief. The court noted that Section 2(1)(g) of the NIA Act, 2008 contains a separate Schedule that includes Section 370 of the now abolished Indian Penal Code, 1860. It further added that Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023 [that the applicants are accused of violating] pertains to 'trafficking of a person' which is similar to Section 370 IPC. Citing Chhattisgarh government orders to list courts that have been given the jurisdiction to hear such cases in different divisions, it said that the applicants move the designated court. Also Read | Catholic rites hold united protest against arrest of nuns in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh Earlier, the applicants submitted that they were accused on the basis of mere suspicion. The application also said due to poverty and lack of employment, the three girls were going to Agra voluntarily to work and learn work. The girls were already followers of Christianity and, hence, there was no question of their conversion, the application added. The bail was opposed by the Public Prosecutor, who submitted that since Section 143 of the Indian Penal Code was imposed on the accused, 'this court has no jurisdiction to hear the bail application'. The nuns and Ms. Mandavi were arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) at Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh on July 25 following a complaint by a local Bajrang Dal functionary, who accused them of forcibly converting three women from the State's tribal-dominated Narayanpur district and trafficking them. The issue has triggered protests from political parties across the spectrum in the nuns' native State of Kerala. Brinda Karat meets nuns Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat on Wednesday (July 30, 2025) met the two nuns at the Durg Central Jail in Chhattisgarh following which she called the arrests 'unconstitutional and illegal', and demanded their immediate release. Ms. Karat also held a press conference in Raipur where she said that the allegations against the nuns were false.


India Today
12 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
Why the arrest of two nuns in Chhattisgarh challenges BJP in Kerala
The July 25 arrest of two Kerala nuns on charges of forcible conversion and human trafficking in BJP-governed Chhattisgarh has snowballed into a major political controversy. On July 29, a delegation of United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs from Kerala met the nuns in jail. Another delegation of MPs of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), along with CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, had reached Durg but was denied permission to meet nuns, Vandana Francis and Preeti Mary, are originally from Kerala. Mary is a native of Elavoor village near Angamaly in Ernakulam district whereas Francis is from Udayagiri in Kannur district. They were arrested from Durg railway station following accusations made by Bajrang Dal activists. A tribal youth accompanying the nuns was thrashed by the activists. Besides, there were three tribal girls from Narayanpur with the nuns; the Bajrang Dal claimed the trio was being forcibly taken the incident acquiring national limelight, Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai issued a statement. Sai, incidentally a product of missionary education himself, said the tribal girls were being deceitfully taken out of Chhattisgarh under the pretext of nursing training. He said the law would take its statement, ironically, did not find support from the BJP unit in Kerala, where the party has been proactively wooing the 19 per cent Christian electorate. BJP Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said he did not believe the nuns were involved in illegalities while state general secretary Anoop Antony was already in Chhattisgarh to attempt the release of the nuns. Chandrasekhar criticised the Bajrang Dal and said anyone who takes the law into their own hands should be made to face it. The UDF delegation that visited Durg jail comprised MPs K. Francis George, Benny Behanan, Saptagiri Ulaka and N.K. Premchandran; joining them were Congress minorities cell leaders and Chhattisgarh leaders Arun Vohra and Tamradhwaj Sahu. In Delhi, outside Parliament on July 28, protesting MPs accused the BJP government in Chhattisgarh of targeting really happened on July 25? The nuns, accompanied by tribal girls Kamleshwari, Sukhmati and Lalita and a tribal youth, were at Durg railway station. The girls were apparently being taken to Agra for training. A group of Bajrang Dal activists arrived at the railway station and created a ruckus. The nuns were taken to the Government Railway Police (GRP) police station where Bajrang Dal office-bearer Jyoti Sharma allegedly threatened them with dire claimed the girls, residents of Orcha in Narayanpur district, had gone to Narayanpur town where they were abducted, and that their parents were also approaching the police in Narayanpur. On the contrary, though, the mother of one of the girls, Kamleshwari, told the local police her daughter had gone with the nuns for work out of her free Kerala, the arrests are reverberating socio-politically. The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the apex body of Catholic Church leaders in the country, expressed shock. 'It's a humiliating incident for Catholics in the country. The nuns who went to Chhattisgarh with valid documents to employ three women in a Catholic-run hospital were sent to jail and charged with forceful religious conversion and human trafficking. We do not indulge in conversions of any manner. It seems the constitutional guarantee of minority rights has no relevance in the BJP-ruled state,' Mar Andrews Thazhath, the archbishop of Thrissur and CBCI president, told INDIA anger on the ground is palpable. As Felix J. Pulluden, a lay Catholic leader in Ernakulam, put it, 'BJP governments in the states and at the Centre are pursuing their anti-minority agenda. Church leaders sold the Christian community to the BJP and are now raising the pitch over the arrests of the nuns.'With both the ruling CPI(M) and Congress-led Opposition pledging solidarity with the nuns, the state BJP finds itself in a quandary. With an imposing assembly election next year, the party faces the risk of erosion of the Christian community's trust, thought to have been carefully gained over the past few years through a series of outreach initiatives led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi BJP's Lok Sabha election victory from Thrissur last year was partly credited to the support of Christians. Incidentally, archbishop Thazhath had supported the BJP candidate Suresh Gopi. A litmus test now lies ahead: local body polls in Kerala expected to be held in December. Next up: assembly polls, in which the party aspires to win up to 50 seats and have a formidable presence in the 140-member legislative to India Today Magazine- Ends


New Indian Express
14 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
CPIM delegation led by Brinda Karat meets nuns in Chhattisgarh after being denied visit
A Brinda Karat led Communist Party of India (Marxist) delegation met the catholic nuns who were arrested on allegations of human trafficking in Chhattisgarh's Durg.


Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Bihar SIR aimed to remove poor voters from rolls: Brinda
Ranchi: Former CPI-M politburo member Brinda Karat on Friday claimed that the Election Commission's (EC) decision to remove around 52 lakh individuals from the electoral roll in Bihar through the special intensive revision (SIR) would deprive poor people of voting rights, which have been provided by the Constitution. Speaking to media persons at her party office in Ranchi, Karat stated that there is a large-scale migration for work from Jharkhand and Bihar. "How proper is it for the EC officials to reach their homes and remove their names in their absence," she said. The veteran politician alleged that the step is aimed to remove the poor voters as they would not vote for BJP. "The BJP is trying to use EC as it's agent under circumstances. Bihar is a rehearsal as the same method would be used in other parts of the country as well," she said. When asked that RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has spoken of boycotting the Bihar state assembly elections, she said that opposition parties are staging agitation against the EC move in Parliament and in Bihar. "The future mode of protests would be determined after discussion," she said. Karat claimed that the Union govt is yet to announce a separate column for the tribal communities in the upcoming national census. "Jharkhand govt had sent a resolution passed by its state assembly in this regard. Chief minister Hemant Soren should apply pressure on the Centre," she said. Karat also attacked the BJP for not accepting the demand and claimed that the saffron party wants that the tribal people register themselves as Hindus in the census.


Hindustan Times
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Bengali citizens harassed during drive to identify illegal migrants: CPI(M) leaders write to Shah
New Delhi, CPI leaders Brinda Karat and Anurag Saxena on Friday wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah, and said they have received several complaints of "harassment of genuine citizens" during the ongoing exercise for "identification of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants" on grounds that they speak Bengali. Bengali citizens harassed during drive to identify illegal migrants: CPI(M) leaders write to Shah In a letter addressed to the home minister, the CPI leaders said they heard complaints of human rights violations, harassment and extortion. Karat, a former MP and special invitee to CPI Politburo, and Saxena, Delhi state secretary of the party, said they, along with a team, visited Delhi's Bawana JJ colony and met several of the complainants. "We were shocked to find blatant violation of minimum human rights, harassment and in some cases, corruption amounting to extortion," the CPI leaders alleged. They noted that the exercise was being carried out by Delhi Police and several other agencies under directions from the Union Home Ministry. Listing out the cases, they gave cited the story of one Md Nizamuddin who said he was from Godda district, Jharkhand, and had migrated to Delhi several decades ago. "He was allotted a plot by DDA in 2004 in Bawana JJ colony and presently resides there. On July 5, a team of police personnel from the local thana went to his house and accused him of helping a Bangladeshi to get illegal papers. "He explained to the police that the tenant was staying there three years ago and he had no contact and had no idea of the person's whereabouts," the CPI leaders said. They said he was taken to the police station again on July 6, and also allegedly beaten up. While he was released later, the CPI leaders said they were told photographs of the family had been uploaded on a police site. "All such photos should be deleted from police records as the family are bonafide Indian citizens who have committed no crime. Also, action should be taken against those who beat Nizamuddin in custody," they said. The letter also gave the example of one Sajan Saudagar Das from the jhuggi settlement in Bawana C block, who was picked up by the police on May 6 and taken to Pritampura thana. The CPI leaders alleged he was badly beaten by two policemen who abused him saying that he should "confess" that he was a Bangladeshi. They added that the police later said he was picked up "by mistake", and had picked him up as they received information that he was speaking in Bengali, the CPI leaders said. Another example cited by the leaders mentioned three women aged between 60 and 70 years who came to India as children, got married and have families here. The letter also gave examples from Vivekanand camp in Chanakyapuri, where they alleged police took away ID documents from Bengalis and were returned later after intervention by some activists. "The process of identification of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in the capital of India is an example of violation of minimum human rights. In the process, genuine Indian citizens are being targeted on grounds of language and religion. Is it now a crime in India to speak Bengali?" the CPI leaders questioned. "Further, are all Bengali speaking Muslim citizens of India to be treated as criminals and illegal immigrants? We would like to remind you that 26 per cent of the population of West Bengal are Bengali speaking Muslims." they said. The CPI leaders also said there are international norms for deportation of illegal immigrants. "The present methods of identification in Delhi violate all such norms," they added. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.