BJP in Kerala defends ‘mistaken’ arrests of nuns in Chhattisgarh, distances itself from Bajrang Dal

Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) Kerala State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has ought to distance the party in Kerala from the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu right-wing organisation suspected of mobbing two Keralite nuns at the Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh last Friday and allegedly browbeating the local law enforcement to arrest the nuns on “questionable charges” of attempting to spirit away three local women, including a tribal community member, to Agra for “forced” conversion to Christianity. 

Mr. Chandrasekhar told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday (July 29, 2025) that Sisters Preeta Mary and Vandana Francis of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) order, hailing from Kannur and Angamaly, respectively, in Kerala, were not human traffickers or proselytisers as accused by Bajrang Dal activists in Chattisgarh. He said the Bajrang Dal did not bear the BJP’s imprimatur and was an independent organisation. 

Mr. Chandrasekhar’s denouncement of the arrests came after the BJP in Kerala came under severe criticism from Church leaders, as well as the ruling front and the Opposition. The arrests also arguably threatened to derail the BJP’s political programme in Kerala, which aimed to woo the electorally significant Christian community to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold, ahead of the local body polls later this year and the Assembly elections in 2026.

‘Misunderstanding, miscommunication’

Mr. Chandrasekhar said a profound “misunderstanding and miscommunication” had culminated in the “unfortunate arrests.” 

He said the nuns were taking the women to Agra for employment with the consent of their parents. “The women were adults and they accompanied the sisters on their own volition,” he added.

‘Inadvertent procedural lapse’

“However, there was an inadvertent procedural lapse. They forgot to register the passage under the Chhattisgarh Private Placement Agencies (Regulation) Rules, 2014. The arrests are the result of a 100% misunderstanding and miscommunication. The sisters are entirely innocent of the charges of forced conversion and human trafficking. The State (Kerala) BJP is with the nuns and will ensure their freedom and help them prove their innocence”, he added. 

Mr. Chandrasekhar also condemned the Bajrang Dal’s alleged intimidation and public trial of the nuns at the railway station. “If they have broken the law, the law should hold them to task”, he said.

When reporters pointed out that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai had on Monday backed the arrests by stating that the case concerned “human trafficking and conversion”, Mr. Chandrasekhar said certain groups engaged in proselytisation using inducements and threats to convert Scheduled Cast and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) to other religions. 

He said that alongside human trafficking, issues such as forced conversion were matters that deeply concerned society. “It’s a complex issue. The Congress government had, in 2006, amended the Chhattisgarh Religion Freedom (Amendment) Act, 2006, making forced conversion, especially of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe citizens, a punishable offence (with up to three years imprisonment and a fine of ₹2 lakh),” he said. 

When journalists pointed out that Mr. Sai had called for a more stringent anti-conversion law entailing the delisting of tribals who convert to other religions, Mr. Chandrasekhar said: “The Chief Minister has merely highlighted large issues in his State, including the need to ensure communal harmony and security of tribal women.”