Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
In Thalassery, chants rang out in protest: “We don’t need your cake or ladoo. Do not come to visit Aramana.” The demonstrators, members of the Catholic Congress under the Syro-Malabar Church, were protesting the arrest of two nuns from Kerala—Sr Vandhana Francis and Sr Preethi Mary—in Chhattisgarh on July 25, over alleged forced religious conversion and human trafficking.
Sisters Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis were arrested on July 26 after a group of Bajrang Dal workers accused them of trafficking and religiously converting three young women. They were initially detained at Chhattisgarh’s Durg Railway Station along with a young man named Sukhman Mandavi, and are now lodged at the Durg Central Jail.
The protest, while loud in the streets, contrasts with the calibrated caution expressed by the Catholic Church’s top hierarchy. Leaders of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC), representing all 43 dioceses in the state, stopped short of naming either the BJP or its ideological affiliates like the Bajrang Dal—despite reports identifying Bajrang Dal members forcing the arrest of nuns. The TV reports and visuals showed how Bajrang Dal protests in Durg, where the nuns were arrested, opposing all efforts to avail bail to the nuns.
Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, KCBC president, addressed the media in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, July 30, carefully couching his criticism. “Two sanyasis of India have been insulted in the country. That too, was based on a cooked-up allegation. Their current situation—being in jail—will be a criterion for us to observe and carry forward our future approach. If there is no justice, what friendship? How can we speak of perfect brotherhood? Let them get justice,” he said.
Cleemis was answering questions about the BJP’s ongoing outreach to Kerala Christians, but he never once named the party. Though his statement was widely seen as a warning that the Church’s relationship with the ruling party could hinge on how this case is handled, not once did he name the Bajrang Dal or the BJP government. When asked more about the BJP and the church’s relationship, he refused to comment, saying, “I represent the church's voice now, so that's all I can say.”
Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany of Thalassery, who once said Catholics could support the BJP if rubber prices were raised, condemned the arrests but kept his language non-confrontational.“This is done by anti-national elements. We are not taking it politically,” he said at a protest in Kannur district.
“To attack a person illegally and keep them in jail, some barbaric rules like anti-conversion laws have been passed by some states. In the name of this law, minority communities are being persecuted,” he added.
When asked why Church leaders were reluctant to name the BJP or its affiliated groups, Pamplany said, “We cannot say the attackers are part of the government without an enquiry. But now we have an allegation that the government did not intervene strongly in this case.”
Pamplany also addressed internal criticism of Church-affiliated groups seen as leaning toward the BJP. “It was just allegations that we sympathised with some political parties. We don’t have blind affinity or blind hatred toward any party,” he said. “I hope such organisations will reanalyse their stand, based on these incidents.”
At a prayer meeting held in Kottayam on July 30 to protest the arrest of the two nuns, Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt chose his words with deliberate caution. Known for his earlier controversial remarks on “love jihad” and “narcotic jihad”—comments that closely mirrored Sangh Parivar rhetoric—Kallarangatt steered clear of directly criticising either the BJP government or its ideological affiliates.
“The Church does not directly take part in political party politics. But the Church has a clear political stand. We have the responsibility to teach politics to political parties without actually turning into politicians,” he said.
Stressing religious freedom without naming those responsible for its violation, he warned, “Denying religious freedom is as dangerous as lighting a matchbox in a petrol bunk.”
Anchoring his protest in biblical language rather than political confrontation, he declared, “We will not step back from our duty of spreading the good news to the poor. We will not stop following the gospel even for a second.”
His choice to avoid naming the BJP or Bajrang Dal, despite the context, reflected the same cautious approach seen across the Church leadership—condemning the injustice without challenging those in power directly.
The official KCBC statement, issued on July 27, was equally cautious but named Bajrang Dal. It condemned the arrest as “unjust” and “based on false and baseless allegations... reportedly made by members of the Bajrang Dal.” Without naming the BJP, the KCBC warned against the “weaponisation of anti-conversion laws by extremist groups,” adding that such trends threaten “the constitutional rights of religious minorities.”
“We urge the Hon’ble Prime Minister, the Union Minister of Home Affairs, and the Union Minister of Minority Affairs to act swiftly and decisively,” the statement said. “The Central Government must not remain silent but act as a guardian of constitutional rights, communal harmony, and justice.”
The Church’s muted language underscores the delicate balancing act it must enact in Kerala, where the BJP has intensified outreach efforts toward Christians over the past decade. From Christmas visits to bishop houses, to symbolic gestures such as BJP MP Suresh Gopi offering a golden crown at Thrissur’s Lourdes Cathedral, the party has made clear efforts to court the Christian vote.
That outreach bore fruit in 2024, with Suresh Gopi winning from Thrissur.
“We Christians have historically sided with those in power—even Hitler. The same is happening here,” said Bishop Geevarghese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. “Maybe we stay silent because we have too much to lose,” he added.
Fr Paul Thelakat, former editor of Sathyadeepam and spokesperson for the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, was more blunt: “I feel they are scared that the BJP government will send the Enforcement Directorate after them if they speak out,” he said.