M.P. Nathanael | Targeting of Nuns Shows Vital Need to protect Christians from Persecution
The false propaganda by fundamentalist elements that Christians are out to convert others is gaining ground
The recent arrest of two Catholic nuns at Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh caught the nation’s attention and was viewed with concern by the Christian community. The two nuns, Preethy Mary and Vandana Francis, both from Kerala, along with three tribal women and a man, were waiting on July 25 to board a train to Agra when they were confronted by Bajrang Dal activists who assaulted them and took them to the GRP. The police registered a case against the nuns for human trafficking and forcible conversion under the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act and Immoral Traffic Prevention Act. This despite the tribal women claiming they were adults, as proof of which they produced their Aadhaar, and that they were Christians already, a fact supported by their parents. They clarified they were willingly going to Agra with the nuns for skills training in their convent.
Despite being coerced to give statements against the nuns, the three girls stuck to their guns and did not yield to pressure by the police and the hostile mob. Yet, under threat and assault, one of them was coerced to give adverse statements and the police filed an FIR at the diktat of a Bajrang Dal woman activist, Jyoti Sharma, and sent to judicial custody.
The matter took a political hue with the Kerala government and even BJP leaders striving to get them released, as the BJP is making desperate attempts to get a foothold in Kerala politics. They were finally released on August 2 on bail.
With police refusing to file their complaints, the three women approached the Chhattisgarh Women’s Commission recently to seek action against Jyoti Sharma and two men who assaulted and touched them inappropriately.
Many such recent incidents have sent tremors among Christians, with no respite visible. The fear is that no concrete steps are being taken to curb such incidents. With the police hand in glove with fundamentalist elements, the situation is precarious. The false propaganda by fundamentalist elements that Christians are out to convert others is gaining ground. If conversions to Christianity were so rampant, their population wouldn’t have dwindled to 2.30 per cent (2011 Census) from 2.34 per cent in 2001.
Soon after the arrest and release of nuns in Durg, there was another attack on nuns and priests by right-wing activists at Gangadhar village in Odisha’s Balasore district on August 6.
While going to a memorial service, they were attacked by some activists alleging conversion of villagers. Earlier, on June 15, Pastor Vinod Kunjumon and Prem Chand were arrested from Ghaziabad for alleged forcible conversion on a complaint by a Bajrang Dal activist. With no evidence, the police arrested the two. A week later, the police were still groping for evidence.
The Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India claims there were as many as 840 attacks on churches and Christians last year. In 2023, 601 violent incidents were reported across the country, while in 2022 there were 599 incidents. There were 147 violent incidents in 2014, that gradually rose every year until it dipped to 279 in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but shot up to 505 next year. Many incidents go unreported either because these happen in remote areas or as the victims look the other way to avoid retribution. Till July, 336 incidents were recorded in 2025.
Uttar Pradesh leads in attacks on Christians, with 188 incidents reported last year, followed by Chhattisgarh, with 150. In 2023, UP registered 275 violent incidents and Chhattisgarh 132. Till July 2025, UP and Chhattisgarh recorded 95 and 86 attacks on Christians respectively.
Such frequent attacks not only instil a sense of insecurity among Christians but also dents India’s global image. Twelve states have anti-conversion laws in place, and efforts are on to make them more stringent. The 2021 UP anti-conversion law has been challenged in the Supreme Court, which has stayed its operation until a complete hearing. Chhattisgarh proposes to make its anti-conversion law more stringent.
In the struggle for one-upmanship, Uttarakhand passed the Freedom of Religion and Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion (Amendment) Bill 2025 recently, with stricter penalties just short of the death sentence. It provides for arrest without warrant, seizure of properties and has been made non-bailable. Inducement for conversion has been defined as offering “any gift, gratification, easy money or material benefit in cash or kind, employment, free education in schools or colleges run by religious institutions”. Children will lose free education under this rule.
The Centre must intervene to rein in fundamentalist elements in the country who file false complaints with impunity and get Christians arrested. The apex court should take cognisance of the gravity of the situation and strike down the anti-conversion laws that impinge on the fundamental rights of citizens to practice and propagate their religion without any restraint.
Conversion being a matter of individual faith, there need be no barriers to any conversion. The enactment of anti-conversion laws cast aspersions on the intelligence of our citizens who, it is supposed, can be easily lured or forced to convert. When there is an element of propaganda, it goes without saying it carries an element of persuasion, and not force. Freedom to propagate one’s religion carries with it as a natural corollary: the freedom to convert.
Anyone lodging a false complaint of conversion must be dealt with a heavy hand as it not only amounts to harassment and unnecessary detention of victims, but also encourages others to lodge false complaints to gain media publicity. The police must be educated to be bold enough to reject false complaints and not be carried away by mob frenzy to register false complaints as had happened in Durg.