Harassment of nuns: It’s attack on their constitutional rights, says Kerala CM

Nuns on the platform at Jhansi, UP, on Tuesday. Pic/Twitter

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday condemned the alleged harassment of a group of nuns by some Bajrang Dal members in UP's Jhansi and urged the Centre to take action, saying such incidents tarnish the image of the nation.

Four nuns were heckled and forced off an express train by local Bajrang Dal members, and were later detained for questioning by the railway police in Jhansi on Tuesday night. The right-wing members had accused two of them of religious conversion. Police said there was no basis in their complaint and all four women later took the next train to their destination in Odisha.

In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Vijayan sought strict action against those "who disrupt and impair the freedom of individual rights" guaranteed by the Constitution. He said two postulants, who had recently joined a Christian congregation were travelling for the first time to their homes accompanied by two nuns and were "harassed and intimidated" by the Bajrang Dal members.

Earlier, addressing the media in Pathanamthitta, Vijayan said the Constitution gives freedom to everyone in the country to believe and not to believe in any religion. "...What happened yesterday was an encroachment on the freedom. Both these freedoms are fundamental rights of Indians. The nuns faced the violation of these rights during the train journey," he pointed out. He also attacked the BJP, saying UP is ‘notorious' for such matters.

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