By Matters India Reporter
Ahmedabad, April 17, 2023: A Catholic nun has approached the Gujarat High Court for action against alleged derogatory remarks on nuns and the Pope during an event organized by a rightwing Hindu group.
Sister Manjula Tuscano, a member of the Missionary Dominican Sisters of the Rosary, on April 17 confirmed to Matters India that she had filed the petition in the Gujarat High Court four days earlier.
She, however, declined to divulge the details of the petition saying, “It is now before the court and therefore, I would not like to comment on it.”
A video circulated on social media platforms shows an unidentified speaker at a function organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Kadi, a town some 45 km northwest of Ahmedabad, exhorting people to take Christians to task and to banish them from Gujarat, a western Indian state.
Sister Tuscano’s petition seeking registration of the first information report against the speaker is likely to come up next week.
The nun from Vadodara, a major city in the state, has stated in the petition signed by more than 100 that the police authorities of Mehsana district have ignored their March 28 plea for criminal action against the speaker.
The petition filed through Utkarsh Dave, a lawyer, bemoans that the police have not acted in accordance with the law.
The meeting took place in March and the speaker referred to a convent in Irana village.
“The said video is in circulation over the social media and public domain, the individual in his speech could be seen additionally seen making several derogatory and vile comments specifically targeted towards women mocking the chastity of nuns/sisters and making insinuations against his holiness the Pope,” the petition reads.
The petition also contends that the speaker is promoting communal hatred and discrimination as his statement encourages separatism and hatred towards Christians and minorities, which is against India’s national interest.
“This is a testament of an act done with a predetermination of causing disruption in the religious harmony of the state, and any indolence on part of the authorities to act on the complaint “only reflects the failure of the State in curbing anti-social elements,” reads the nun’s petition.
In representations made before various authorities, Christian leaders said that the speech in Gujarati language makes sexually explicit references to the Pope and Catholic nuns. He alleges that the Pope is the husband of thousands of nuns the world over because during their initiation ceremony they need to accept him as such.