Delegations of LDF, UDF head to Chhattisgarh to champion cause of arrested Keralite nuns

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala on Tuesday (July 29, 2025) dispatched separate top-level political delegations to Chhattisgarh to parley with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for the early release of the two Keralite nuns arrested on “questionable charges” of forced conversion, human trafficking and kidnapping at the Durg Railway station last Friday.

The controversial arrests, which prompted bipartisan protests in Kerala, occurred after Bajrang Dal workers mobbed sisters Preeta Mary and Vandana Francis of the order of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) at the station, accusing them of spiriting away three women, including a tribal community member, to Agra for conversion.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas told The Hindu that Brinda Karat, party’s Polit Bureau member and one of the founders of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), would lead the LDF delegation. 

Kerala Congress chairperson Jose K. Mani, MP, K. Radhakrishnan, MP, A.A. Rahim, MP, and P.P. Suneer, MP, will accompany her. Mr. Brittas said the delegation would reach Chhattisgarh later in the day. 

Mr. Brittas said he had written to the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Vishnu Deo Sai, seeking his intervention to secure the early release of the nuns arrested on “false charges of conversion and human trafficking.” He termed the nuns “victims of a Sangh Parivar-prosecuted hate campaign against minorities in BJP-ruled States in north India.”

On Monday, the CPI(M) moved a notice in Rajya Sabha for an adjournment debate on the “illegal arrests”.

UDF delegation

Meanwhile, Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan told reporters in Kozhikode that Congress legislators Roji M. John and Saji Joseph would join the UDF’s delegation to Chhattisgarh. RSP leader N.K. Premachandran, MP, Benny Behanan, MP and Francis George would lead the UDF deputation.

Mr. Satheesan said the arrests on “false charges was the latest in a series of attacks against minorities, chiefly Christians.” He said nuns and priests were fearful of wearing their habits and conducting prayers in BJP-ruled States in north India. 

Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) State president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal termed the arrests “an infringement on the Constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of religion.:

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a UDF leadership meeting, he said the “victimisation” of nuns and missionaries involved in social work, education, public health, and charity did not portend well for the country’s secular society and its minorities. 

Meanwhile, BJP State general secretary Anoop Antony, who is in Chhattisgarh as part of the party’s delegation from Kerala, told reporters that he had met with the Chhattisgarh Home Minister and efforts were under way to secure the early release of the nuns and ensure an “unbiased” investigation.