Two nuns and two novices belonging to a Kerala-based congregation were forcefully asked to deboard an express train in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) after local Bajrang Dal activists allegedly complained that the two women were allegedly conducting religious conversion. They were detained for questioning by railway police on March 19, and only after establishing there was no conversion involved, they were allowed to proceed. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday promised strict action in the incident.
Noting that Uttar Pradesh has a BJP-ruled government while addressing a poll rally in Kerala, Shah said, “I want to assure the people of Kerala that the culprits behind this incident will be brought to justice at the earliest”.
he issue was brought to the Home Minister’s notice by party’s Kanjirappally assembly candidate, K J Alphonse, who is his former ministerial colleague in the union cabinet. The Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) had also expressed concern over the matter.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan strongly condemned the incident and urged the Centre to take action against those “who disrupt and impair the freedomof individual rights” guaranteedby the Constitution.
The Congress and BJP took up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, respectively. The police said there was no basis in the complaint and all four women later took the next train to their destination in Odisha.
