BJP Woos Church in Kerala, Arrests Nuns in Chhattisgarh: SDPI Demands Immediate Release

Adv. Sharfuddin Ahmad, National Vice President of the Social Democratic Party of India, strongly condemns the arrest of Sisters Preethi Mary and Vandana Francis, along with tribal girl Sukhman Mandavi, in Chhattisgarh on 25 July 2025. The charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion are unfounded and appear to be part of a wider agenda to intimidate and criminalize Christians. This is a direct assault on India’s constitutional guarantee of religious freedom and reflects the BJP’s growing hostility towards minorities.

These arrests, based on a complaint reportedly filed by the Bajrang Dal, lack credible evidence. Reports indicate that the nuns were assisting tribal girls with employment-related travel—an act both lawful and humanitarian. However, it has been maliciously distorted into a criminal offense. Such misuse of anti-conversion laws has become routine in BJP-ruled states like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, and Manipur, where Hindutva vigilantes operate with impunity under administrative silence or complicity.

The BJP’s duplicity in dealing with minorities is stark. In Kerala, it courts the Christian vote—securing a seat in Thrissur and making conciliatory gestures over the Munambam land dispute. In contrast, in Chhattisgarh, it justifies the arrest of nuns and echoes the divisive rhetoric of the RSS and VHP. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai’s defense of the arrests reveals the ideological alignment between the state government and the Sangh Parivar. The VHP’s endorsement further exposes the communal motivations behind the action.

The silence of the Catholic Church in the face of such repression is deeply troubling. While it has engaged with the BJP on issues like the Waqf Amendment Bill, its failure to speak out against attacks on Christians elsewhere weakens resistance to Hindutva politics and undermines the broader fight for secularism and minority rights.

SDPI demands the immediate release of the arrested individuals and withdrawal of the fabricated FIR. A judicial probe must investigate the Bajrang Dal’s role and the legality of the arrests. Furthermore, urgent legal reforms are needed to prevent anti-conversion laws from being misused as tools of persecution.