'The nuns were subjected to abusive language and all types of mental torture.'
There is little doubt the arrest of the two nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh will result in a political tsunami in Kerala.
On July 26, two Catholic nuns from the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate in Kerala -- Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis -- were arrested at the Durg train station in Chhattisgarh.
The charges were forced religious conversion and human trafficking.
Sukaman Mandavi, a youth from Narayanpur who was with them, was also arrested.
The nuns along with three young Christian women and Mandavi were traveling to Agra.
Those who raised such complaints against the nuns were local Bajrang Dal members. They accused the nuns of forcibly converting the three young women and trafficking them.
The Bajrang Dal members reportedly attacked the nuns and the young women and made the railway police detain them.
Then the Bajrang Dal members reportedly protested outside the police station and made the police arrest the nuns and the man, and file an FIR against them for forcible religious conversion and human trafficking.
The police have filed charges under Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (trafficking of persons) and Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act (1968).
The nuns and the man were remanded to judicial custody in Durg central jail in Chhattisgarh until August 8.
On July 30, a sessions court in Durg district disposed of the bail application of two nuns saying that the matter should be heard by the National Investigation Agency court in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district.
Till then, the nuns will have to remain in jail.
N K Premachandran, the Lok Sabha MP from Kollam, was part of the United Democratic Front delegation from Kerala that visited the nuns on July 29.
"The Bajrang Dal workers not only threatened the sisters but attempted physical harassment," Premachandran, who Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday nominated as an empanelled member to preside over the proceedings of the Lok Sabha, tells Rediff's Shobha Warrier.
Was it a sudden decision to visit the nuns in jail?
Yes, it was a sudden decision. In fact, we took the decision to visit the sisters only on July 28.
As the situation demanded it, we decided to go as a delegation.
It was an AICC delegation in which K Francis George of the Kerala Congress-Joseph and I were also there as partners.
Was it easy to meet the nuns in the prison?
No, it was very difficult. We had given proper advance notice and application that we, four MPs and one MLA from Kerala and the brother of one of the nuns in custody, wanted to visit them in jail.
Between 12:30 pm and 12:45 pm on the 29th was the time given to us. We reached there early and was ready to go in at the given time. Then they said we could go only at 1:30 pm.
At 1:30 pm, we got the information that it was not possible that day, and we could go only the next day.
We then went to the jail gate, and decided to go on a dharna in front of the jail.
It was then that the chief minister of Chhattisgarh came and instructed the jail authorities to let us meet the nuns at 2:30 pm. It was only after the chief minister's intervention were we allowed to go in.
I want to stress the fact that what happened to us was political discrimination.
While we were waiting to meet the nuns at the time given to us, a Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary from Kerala came there and visited the nuns.
It was only after his visit that they wanted to let us go in.
When we came to know that he had gone back after visiting the nuns, we decided to go on a dharna in front of the jail.
Finally, they were forced to give us permission.
Even though you had fixed a time in advance...
Yes, we had gone through proper channels and sought a time to visit them.
Imagine, four MPs, an MLA and the brother of the person who was in custody were not given permission to go inside while a BJP general secretary from Kerala could visit without any problem!
How were the nuns when you met them? Were they disturbed by all that has happened?
They were totally disturbed. It is but natural as they received maximum torture in the police station and at the railway station.
It was not a trial by the police or the Railway Protection Police; it was a trial by the Bajrang Dal workers. That was what rattled them badly.
There is a video online of a woman telling the nuns, munh tod dungi...
Yes, they threatened the sisters by saying they should remain there like owls, without opening their mouth, without making any sound, without uttering a single word... They said, let the girls talk...
They searched the bags of the three girls from Narayanpur and found Rs 2,000 in one bag and a Bible in another bag.
They then asked the girls to say that it was the money given by the sisters to traffic them, and the Bible was given them to convert to Christianity.
The girls were forced to say these things so that they could slap these two crimes on the sisters: Human trafficking and forcible conversion.
Did you have a conversation with the nuns about the entire incident?
The sisters were from two different convents. They came to the Durg railway station in two different trains and they were waiting there for the girls to come from Narayanpur.
The sisters told us that the only purpose of going to the Durg railway station was to pick up the girls as the girls were to work in a convent in Agra.
And they had the permission from the girls' families too though both of them are above 18. The girls were eager to have the jobs at the convent.
In fact, a lady who works at the Agra convent was from the same village and it was she who told the girls about the job.
So, the girls were going to Agra for the job.
The Bajrang Dal workers not only threatened the sisters but attempted physical harassment also.
The man who accompanied the girls from the village was manhandled.
The sisters were subjected to abusive language and all types of mental torture at the railway station.
I would call it a trial by a mob.
How do you plan to take this forward as this has become a huge issue in Kerala?
It is not only a huge issue in Kerala but all over the country as it concerns the safety and security of the minorities in India, in particular the Christian minorities.
This is not an isolated incident. It has been happening in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and various parts of India.
Nowadays, activists of the Bajrang Dal and Hanuman Sena are tracking all the Christian missionaries and clamping down on their religious work.
It is an attack on the Constitution, and it is an attack on the fundamental rights of the minorities as they are not getting the freedom to propagate their religion.
Unfortunately, after the BJP came to power, so many churches were attacked. About a month ago, two priests were attacked and one is still in hospital.
But the attackers are well protected.
There is this double engine government in Chhattisgarh but what is happening there?
The government talks about sabka saath, sabka vikas...
But what is happening in Kerala? The BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar says, what happened to the nuns was a case of misunderstanding. He said, we will rectify it.
When we met the Chhattisgarh chief minister yesterday and had a talk with him for 20 minutes, he was also saying the same narrative as the police.
He was not talking about any misunderstanding. He didn't give any assurance that the sisters would be released.
He said, 'More than 100 women were trafficked from the tribal areas. So, it is a very sensitive matter. We will examine. We will investigate'.
This is the narrative we are hearing from the Chhattisgarh police and the chief minister.
And Rajeev Chandrasekhar is giving another narrative. If it is a misunderstanding like he says, it is very easy to solve it. But nothing is being done.
In Kerala, they want to appease the Christian community just for election purpose. But in other states, the Bajrang Dal, Hanuman Sena and the other Sangh Parivar activists are targeting the religious minorities.
This is what is happening in the country.
Were the nuns upset about what had happened to them?
They were very upset. When they met the brother of one of the sisters, they hugged him and cried inconsolably.
Slapping human trafficking on people who work for the downtrodden in society can be very upsetting...
Yes, human trafficking is a heinous crime, and alleging that the sisters who work for the poor in society, indulge in it is very cruel.
Then the mental torture they are subjected to by sending them to prison.
What is happening is very bad.
Arresting the nuns and putting them in jail tarnishes the image of secular India.
We see this as a political issue in the sense that this shows the political policy of the government.
So, we have to fight this political policy.
We have to mobilise the people. People of India should understand that this is happening in the country.
We will definitely take this issue up in Parliament.
Do you think it has become very difficult for anyone who works in tribal areas or under-developed areas in the country?
Of late it has become extremely difficult. Nuns concentrate on such areas. How can you object to the charity work they do in such areas?
How can the state government say that two nuns who have dedicated their lives to the service of the downtrodden are indulging in human trafficking?
I can understand if they allege religious conversion as they do religious conversion while they do charity work.
But how can you they say these nuns are doing human trafficking?
Do you feel this issue has put the BJP on the back foot in Kerala?
In the last parliamentary election, a considerable section of the Christian community voted for the BJP.
In Thrissur, the BJP got the support of a large number of Christians from the Catholic community. That was how Suresh Gopi won and became a central minister.
But what is Suresh Gopi's reaction on this issue? He has said nothing.
There is another minister from Kerala, George Kurien. He has also said nothing.
I would say the BJP is totally exposed in Kerala.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff