Congress MP Venugopal slams Kerala nuns' arrest in Chhattisgarh, asks Centre to intervene
Making a forceful intervention in the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, Mr. Venugopal said the arrest of the nuns from the Durg Railway Station as 'deeply disturbing and shocking incident'.
Describing the incident, the Congress leader said that on July 25, two nuns Preeta Mary and Vandana Francis, were targeted by members of Bajrang Dal.
'They belongto the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate, a Syro-Malabar congregation based in Cherthala,, were attacked and falsely accused of religious conversion and human trafficking by Bajrang Dal,' Mr. Venugopal said.
'This institution belong to my constituency and they are helping terminally ill cancer patients by offering palliative care .'he added amid Opposition members including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi crying out, 'shame, shame!'
The two nuns, along with two other local women from Chhattisgarh were arrested from the Railway Station, following a complaint by a local Bajrang Dal member, Ravi Nigam. These nuns were supposed to take two local women from Chhattisgarh to Agra to be trained as nurses.
'Last five days, these two innocent nuns are in jail without any reason. What cruelty is this? Is the country a banana republic?...Chief Minister [Vishnu Sai] is repeating the same version of Bajrang Dal. What a shame. It is high time fore the government acted upon,'Mr. Venugopal said.
In a separate post on X, Mr. Venugopal said that while 'the Prime Minister and Kerala BJP wax eloquent about their newfound love for Christians, but in reality, have venom in their hearts against minorities'.
Earliers, MPs belonging to Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala staged a protest outside Parliament to demand the release of the two nuns.
Top Congress leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K.C. Venugopal were part of the protests. They were carrying placards that read: 'Release the nuns, arrest the goons'.
'Every minute they remain in prison is an attack on our Constitution. Rights of minorities cannot be trampled upon by the forces of hate,' Mr. Venugopal said in a post on X.
These nuns were supposed to take two local women from Chhattisgarh to Agra to be trained as nurses.
Speaking to The Hindu over the phone on Monday evening, the respective sisters of two women rejected claims of forceful conversions and said that the women themselves had consented to being taken to Agra for the job and they (family members) did not have any objections either.
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