By Jose Kavi
New Delhi: The harassment of Catholic nuns in a train compartment allegedly by Hindu radicals has drawn condemnation from all sections of society in India.
Two nuns and their two novices were taken off an express train and detained for questioning by railway police in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh on March 19. According to officials in Jhansi, the nuns were detained after local activists complained that two women were allegedly being taken forcibly for religious conversion.
Rajmohan Gandhi, a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, says Indians should worry more about education, health and a job than alleged designs of conversion by Christians and Muslims.
Writing in ndtv.com, Gandhi bemoans that the young Hindu activists, who attacked the nuns, were brainwashed and “conditioned to see Muslims and Christian compatriots not as partners in a great enterprise, but as open or secret enemies, and encouraged to spy patriotically on them.”
Justice Markandey Katju, a retired Supreme Court judge, condemned the incident and urged Indians to emulate Catholic nuns’ spirit of service and sacrifice.
“In my opinion, the nuns are our role models, for if India is to progress, our people must develop the spirit of service and sacrifice that the nuns have. Far from harassing them, we must give them the highest respect and learn from them,” Justice Katju wrote in theweek.in on March 25.
A day earlier, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah assured strong action against those who allegedly harassed the nuns belonging to a Kerala-based Sacred Heart congregation during their train journey.
“I want to assure the people of Kerala that the culprits behind this incident will be brought to justice at the earliest,” Shah said while addressing a poll rally in Kerala that is going to polls on April 6 to elect the state legislative assembly.
Meanwhile Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked Bharatiya Janata Party for the incident and termed Shah’s assurance of action as “hollow statements.”
“And now that there is an election in Kerala, HM Amit Shah is busy giving hollow statements about protecting nuns from harassment. Really?” the she said and tagged a purported video of the incident.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought from Shah strict action against the nuns’ attackers.
In a letter to Shah on March 24, Pinarayi termed the attack as shocking and said such incidents tarnished the image of the nation and its ancient tradition of religious tolerance. “Such incidents must elicit utmost condemnation by the Union Government,” he wrote.
Sister Jessy Kurian, a Supreme Court lawyer and former of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, on March 25 urged the Nation Human Rights Commission to act against the nuns’ attackers.
In a letter to the commission, a statutory body responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights in India, Sister Kurian said she was shocked to hear the event “as a woman and a nun.”
She requested the commission to probe the incident and take appropriate action against the police and those involved in harassing the nuns.
The attack violated the nuns’ “right to live with human dignity enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution,” asserted the first Catholic nun in India to hold a quasi-judiciary post.
Women, she added, have the right to embrace any religion and accept any life-style. They have the right to travel in a peaceful and safe manner, she added.
The attack “deeply saddened and shocked” the Catholic bishops in the country. “Such incidents surely bring dishonour and shame to all of us, the law-abiding citizens of our beloved Mother India,” said a statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India on March 24.
The conference called upon federal and Uttar Pradesh governments and the Indian Railways to ensure safety of all women in future.
“The Catholic Church has always stood for good governance and seeks to collaborate always with the government in working for the good of all communities and for the respect of all religions in our beloved country,” added the statement signed by Archbishop Felix Machado, the conference’s secretary general.
On the same day, the All India Catholic Union demanded that the federal home minister take action against the vigilante group that harassed the nuns send “strong warning against persecution of minorities.”
The union, the largest body lay people founded 101 years ago, too pointed out that such incidents bring a bad name to the country.
Thanking Shah for his assurance of action against the nuns’ attackers, the union expressed the hope the assurance would be extended to the entire community in India that has been shocked by the vigilante persecution of religious women in public transport with the active participation of policemen.
The Bajrangdal has already announced that they were not the people who harassed the nuns. Now who ? Is it any team deputed by Yogi Adityanath to find out secret forceful conversion? What a fun! Ultimately Amit Shahaji will say , there was no concerted attempt by any organisation, The police who failed to protect the nuns will be protected by saying that they did their duty to take action on allegation. One question is, if anyone levels a charge against our BJP brothers of high positions , will goondas groups come to arrest them ? Is the work of implementation of law outsourced to goondas?
When there are rules that forcing anyone for anything against his/ her will ,are punishable, why speciality in religious conversion. Actually everybody including our ministers need conversion— conversion to truth, justice, compassion, tolerance . That is what these Christian missionaries are preaching. It is not for a change in the name of religion, but change of the mind
It is a heinous act and a nightmare for any travelling now. No safety and security for women in general. Govt. must act on this and protect people.
All of us should vociferously protest this cowardly act on defenceless women. The politicians will of course make all the correct noises.
However, I find it strange that Catholic organisations seem to speak only when nuns and priests are attacked. But they are ominously silent when criminal acts are perpetrated by the all powerful bishops. Why these double standards?