Congress leader K C Venugopal on Wednesday raised the issue of the two Catholic nuns arrested in Chhattisgarh last week on charges of religious conversion and human trafficking and urged the Centre to intervene, demanding that they “be released immediately”. He was speaking during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha. The nuns from Kerala, Preethi Mary and Vandana Francis, were allegedly attacked at Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh, purportedly by the Bajrang Dal, on July 25. Venugopal said that the nuns were helping cancer patients, giving palliative care services, and helping deprived people. “These two nuns, along with three other women, went to the station to go to Agra. The Bajrang Dal people manhandled them and tried to raise slogans. The police came, and we thought the police would rescue them,” he said. “Last Christmas, the Prime Minister went to CBCI [Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India] headquarters and gave a big speech with a promise to protect Christian and minority rights… For the last five days, these two nuns have been in jail without any reason,” Venugopal further said. Saying that Congress MPs went there a day earlier, Venugopal said the party has also written to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, seeking the release of the nuns. “The chief minister is repeating the same version as that of the Bajrang Dal. How can we allow it? If the government is not acting, the situation will go out of control,” he said, adding that nuns in Kerala were protesting. “We need a clear-cut answer. The government has to intervene, and they should be released immediately,” Venugopal said. Congress MP from Kerala, Kodikunnil Suresh, raised the same issue after Venugopal did, speaking in Malayalam. The arrest of the nuns has become a major political flashpoint. On Tuesday, MPs from Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) held separate protests over the issue outside Parliament.
