Thiruvananthapuram | Union Minister of State George Kurian on Thursday said that the mainstream churches in the country were not carrying out any conversions and it was the "new generation churches" which were doing it.
Kurian, the Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, was responding to queries in connection with the arrest of two nuns in Chhattisgarh over alleged conversion and human trafficking.
The minister said it was difficult for people to differentiate between the mainstream and new generation churches, and therefore, the BJP was taking steps to help create awareness about the two among the public.
He said that the new generation churches themselves have admitted that they were carrying out conversions.
On being asked whether conversions were wrong, Kurian said that "let the people of Kerala decide whether conversions were required. On whether the issue would create problems for the party in the southern state, which will see local body polls this year and assembly elections in 2026, the minister said it would depend on how well they can convince the people.
He said that the party was able to convince the people regarding the Manipur violence issue and therefore, it got votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
On being told that many prominent church priests have reportedly said that the BJP leaders need not come with "cakes", if the nuns arrest issue is not resolved, Kurian said that "they have the freedom to say so".
A powerful body of senior Catholic clergy in Kerala had on Wednesday indirectly cautioned the BJP that any prospective friendship would depend on securing justice for the two nuns.
Kurian said that Anoop Antony, the BJP's Kerala state general secretary, has been sent to Chhattisgarh to find a resolution for the issue and "good news was expected soon".
The BJP leader also blamed the Congress and the Left for the accusations against the saffron party in cyberspace over the issue.
He questioned why no Congress MP from Chhattisgarh was part of the protests by the grand old party against the nuns' arrest.
BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar took a similar stand by accusing the Congress and the Left of playing "drama and opportunistic politics" on the issue, especially in view of the approaching elections in Kerala.
Terming the protests outside the jails and courts by the Congress and the Left as a "drama" and "unnecessary", he claimed that such acts will only serve to worsen and complicate the situation being faced by the arrested nuns.
He alleged that Congress was trying to politicise the issue to make gains out of it.
Chandrasekhar contended that forced conversions and human trafficking were extremely serious issues in states like Chhattisgarh and that is why there were strict laws prohibiting them.
He claimed that only the BJP was working sincerely to resolve the issue and that if any Keralite faces a problem in the future in any part of the world, the saffron party will be with them irrespective of their caste, religion or beliefs.
The arrest of the two Kerala-based Catholic nuns in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh has triggered a political row, with the Congress and CPI(M) strongly criticising the move.
