Tension prevailed in a village in Odisha’s Balasore district after workers of a right-wing group stopped vehicles carrying Christian nuns and priests on suspicion that they were engaging in forced religious conversion, police sources said.
Citing allegations that some of the nuns and priests, who were from Kerala, were assaulted, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition leader V D Satheesan condemned the incident.
The local police, however, said the nuns and priests were not harmed and that no complaint had been filed.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening at Gangadhar village under Basta police station in Balasore district, where the nuns and others came to attend a memorial service.
According to Basta police inspector-in-charge Ranjit Sahu, they received a call from a local person about the incident, following which the police team reached the village.
“There was tension when the police team reached the spot. But we managed to disperse the crowd and convinced them that they had come to attend the memorial service. The nuns and priests were not harmed in any manner,” Sahu told The Indian Express.
Sahu said police haven’t received any written or oral complaint from anyone in this regard. “We have done a station diary entry of the incident for the sake of record,” said the inspector said.
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Police also said they had no information about allegations that mobile phones of the priests and others were forcibly taken by the mob.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) on Friday strongly condemned the incident and expressed “deep anguish” calling it a “blatant violation” of constitutional rights and dignity of minorities.
The Bishops’ body urged the Odisha government to take “swift and decisive action” to prosecute the perpetrators, and to ensure the protection of minority communities.
“We further urge the authorities to safeguard the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution, so that every citizen may live and practice their faith without fear,” said a statement issued by CBCI.
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The CBCI added that it would continue to monitor the situation and stand firm in its commitment to defend the rights, dignity, and safety of all citizens, especially the Christian community.
Kerala Chief Minister Vijayan took to social media and said the incident was part of a “witch hunt”.
“Reports of an assault on Keralite Catholic priests and nuns by Sangh Parivar goons in Jaleswar, Odisha, on false charges of religious conversion, reflect the ongoing communal witch-hunt against Christians in the country, exemplified by the arrest of nuns in Chhattisgarh weeks ago. Such Hindutva vigilantism, enabled by the regime’s impunity, must be unitedly resisted by secular & democratic forces,” the Vijayan wrote on X.
Also condemning the incident, Kerala Opposition Leader V D Satheesan alleged that over the last year, Christians in BJP-ruled states had faced 835 attacks.
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Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference (KCBC) also expressed concern. “The Indian constitution gives freedom of religion for all people However, the present situation shows that this right is not protected. The government should take stern action to protect the religious rights of the people and their right to live without fear,” said Father Micheal Pulikkal of the KCBC.
The incident comes just weeks after two nuns from Kerala were arrested in Chhattisgarh on charges of forceful conversion and later released on bail. That incident had also led to uproar in Kerala.