Sr Divya
Sr Divya

Video of Kerala nun apologising for Onam wishes goes viral

The Hindu Aikya Vedi had found her Onam greetings offensive to Lord Vamana and took it to the police.

The viral video shows a nun sitting at a police station in Kerala, reading out an apology about an Onam wish that she had sent to her students. The right-wing Hindu Aikya Vedi group had found her Onam wish to students offensive and filed a complaint on September 1 with the police at the Karukachal station in Changanassery taluk, Kottayam. Sister Divya, who is the headmistress at St. Teresa's Girls High School Nedumkunnam, reached the police station as soon as they informed her of the complaint, immediately wrote down the apology and then read it out on video.

So what has made the Hindu Aikya Vedi upset? The nun had sent out her Onam wishes in the form of a short video to her students. Addressing the teachers, children and parents, she spoke of Onam as a timeless story of one where the giver - Mahabali- is trampled upon by the receiver - Vamana (Lord Vishnu's Avatar).. 

“It is a story of the receiver stamping the one who gives. The one who gives gets pushed down, the other becomes Vamana,” says Sister Divya, who then goes on to equate Mahabali’s sacrifice to that of Jesus Christ, and many world leaders. “In the history of this world, whoever has given has been pushed down. The biggest example is of Jesus Christ, who came to give love, truth, freedom and equality for human beings. He is a model of those who got pushed down. Later many others followed that example – Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Irom Sharmila, Aung San Suu Kyi… we have had so many Mahabalis,” the nun says in the video, with a smile.

She ends her wishes with a positive note asking the ‘dear children’ to join the good and hold onto the strength of hope no matter ‘how many Vamanas push us down to the netherworld of cheating, selfishness and communalism’. They should believe that an Onam of peace and prosperity is waiting for them. She signs off with love, thanks and happiness.

The Hindu Aikya Vedi approached the police station with a written complaint about the video which was circulated on social media. Ajith VK, general secretary of Hindu Aikya Vedi in Changanassery wrote that the nun, who has 'knowingly insulted Hindu gods' should be booked and asked that further legal action should be taken against her.

It is after this that the video of the nun reading out her apology cropped up. She says in her apology that the Onam wish she sent to her students, mentioning Lord Vamana, is from her ignorance. “Realising the hurt I have caused the Hindu community I apologise.”

After the video emerged, there was criticism of the police inaction, in letting it happen. Many have questioned the police complaint also pointed out that what she narrated was anyway park of popular folklore in Kerala.

The audio clipping of the circle inspector of police at the Karukachal station speaking about the issue has also emerged. “It was an Onam wish she sent on a group. The next day, members of the Hindu Aikya Vedi protested and came with a complaint. The police called the Sister to inform her about it. She keeps cordial relations with the station and said that she will come to the station. Both parties were then present at the station and they spoke to each other and reached an understanding. It is on that basis that the apology was written and read out. The police had no role in any of this, except giving them a space to discuss and settle the issue among themselves. We have no provision to demand an apology, our procedure would have involved writing an FIR. But they settled the matter among themselves and left the station.”

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