The Governor should convey to the Centre about the public outrage in Kerala over the arrest and imprisonment of two Keralite nuns by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Chhattisgarh, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and MLA Sunny Joseph said.

Addressing a march organised by the KPCC to Raj Bhavan on Wednesday to protest against the arrest and the unconstitutional actions of the BJP administration in Chhattisgarh, Mr. Joseph pointed out that the Chhattisgarh government had foisted false charges against the nuns and had manipulated the first information report (FIR) by adding non-existent legal clauses, thus denying them bail.

He said that the BJP was challenging the rule of law and it was shameful that the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh was justifying its action against the nuns, which was a violation of the civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Inaugurating the march, the Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the Kerala Chief Minister should not waste any time in informing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister the State’s strong protest against the unfounded action against the nuns .

He said the Chhattisgarh government had been unfair in imprisoning the nuns who were engaged in humanitarian work. The Sangh Parivar’s hallmark was intolerance. Instigating people and communities to fight against each other over religious freedom and rights was how the BJP was playing the people of Kerala, Mr. Satheesan said.

An example

He said the incident in Chhattisgarh was a stark example of the fate that awaited the minorities and the marginalised wherever the Congress was out of power The incident has tarnished the nation’s secular image on the international front, he pointed out.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala spoke about the anxiety and insecurities faced by the religious minorities in the country today. The arrest of the nuns who were engaged in humanitarian activities amongst the poor and marginalised in Chhattisgarh was a joint attempt by the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to unleash a communal riot, he said.

Mr. Modi, who makes a song and dance about greeting Christians on the occasion of Christmas, has been silent about the atrocities that were being committed against the Christians by the BJP’s feeder organisations, Mr. Chennithala added.

AICC general secretary Deepa Dasmunshi, KPCC working president P.C. Vishnunath, acting president of Thiruvananthapuram DCC N. Sakthan and senior Congress leaders M.M. Hassan, V.M. Sudheeran, K. Muraleedharan, among others, spoke