Thrissur(Kerala) |BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday said the arrest of two nuns in Chhattisgarh over allegations of human trafficking and forced conversion was due to a "misunderstanding" and that they will be released on bail soon.
Chandrasekhar made the statement after meeting with Archbishop of Trichur Andrews Thazhath, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), to brief him that the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister have assured the nuns would be released on bail.
The BJP state president said that both the PM and HM assured him that the state government will not oppose the bail pleas of the nuns.
"It is a judicial process. Let it happen. I only want to say that don't politicise the issue. We are not seeing it as politics. We are only trying to help the people. This was a misunderstanding," he contended.
Chandrasekhar said that there is a law regulating private placement agencies in Chhattisgarh which requires that young women moving from one district to another for jobs have to register on a portal.
"That was not done. Hence, the misunderstanding and the subsequent police action." The BJP leader also urged that the issue not be politicised.
"We do not see the issue as a political one," he said.
He also termed as a "political drama" the protests recently outside the Durg sessions court in Chhattisgarh and the jail where the nuns were kept.
Chandrasekhar, in an apparent reference to the Congress-Left protests there, claimed that it was due to the "drama" outside the sessions court that the case was transferred to an NIA court.
On the other hand, the Congress-led UDF slammed the ruling BJP government at the Centre, accusing it of "encouraging" the attacks against the Christian community across the country.
"It is the BJP government in Chhattisgarh which arrested the nuns in the first place," Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly, V D Satheesan told media.
He alleged that attacks against the Christian community were on the rise across the country and that is why the UDF in 2023 had termed BJP leaders' visits to churches during Christmas as "wolves in sheeps clothing going to churches with cakes".
"Now the church itself is saying not to come with cakes," he claimed.
He also rejected the BJP allegations that no Congress leaders or MPs from Chhattisgarh were part of the protests seeking release of the arrested nuns.
Satheesan said all senior Congress leaders and MPs from that state were part of the protests.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Thazhath, after the meeting with the BJP state chief, told reporters the church wants the nuns to be released on bail during the day.
He said it was "painful" to hear about the action taken against the nuns.
The Archbishop also said he informed Chandrasekhar about the increasing attacks on the Christian community in the country and the need to ensure their security.
The BJP leader, on Thursday, had met with Mar Raphael Thattil, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, and informed him of the concrete steps taken to secure the early release of the nuns, according to a release by the church.
Chandrasekhar had also informed the Archbishop about the assurances given by the PM and HM regarding the issue.
His visits to the Syro-Malabar Church and the CBCI chief come in the wake of a powerful body of senior Catholic clergy in Kerala indirectly cautioning the BJP that any prospective friendship would depend on securing justice for the two nuns.
Nuns Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis along with Sukaman Mandavi were arrested at Durg railway station on July 25 following a complaint by a local Bajrang Dal functionary who accused them of forcibly converting three girls from Narayanpur and trafficking them
The Archbishop also said he informed Chandrasekhar about the increasing attacks on the Christian community in the country and the need to ensure their security.
The BJP leader, on Thursday, had met with Mar Raphael Thattil, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, and informed him of the concrete steps taken to secure the early release of the nuns, according to a release by the church.
Chandrasekhar had also informed the Archbishop about the assurances given by the PM and HM regarding the issue.
His visits to the Syro-Malabar Church and the CBCI chief come in the wake of a powerful body of senior Catholic clergy in Kerala indirectly cautioning the BJP that any prospective friendship would depend on securing justice for the two nuns.
Nuns Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis along with Sukaman Mandavi were arrested at Durg railway station on July 25 following a complaint by a local Bajrang Dal functionary who accused them of forcibly converting three girls from Narayanpur and trafficking them
