Jharkhand: Hindu nationalists again target a nun and young people on a train

The nun was accompanying teenagers to a training seminar organised by the Social Services Centre of the Diocese of Jamshedpur. Accused of ‘trafficking and conversions’, she was detained for hours at a station until late at night. Once the accusation was proven unfounded, the activity went ahead as planned. But the episode confirms a worrying trend that sees fundamentalists targeting educational activities promoted by Christians in the service of all.

Ranchi (AsiaNews) - A Catholic nun, two staff members of the Social Services Centre of the Diocese of Jamshedpur and 19 minors were detained on 19 September at Tatanagar railway station in Jamshedpur, in the Indian state of Jharkhand, by a joint team of local and government railway police.

As has unfortunately happened before to groups of girls accompanied by nuns, the arrest followed a complaint by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad - an association of the Hindu nationalist right wing - which claimed that the minors were victims of human trafficking.

Members of the VHP and Bajrang Dal claimed that the nun intended to employ the minors in Karandih and convert them to Christianity. Fr Birendra Tete, director of the Centre for Social Services of the Diocese of Jamshedpur, clarified that the minors had been invited to participate in a two-day training programme on adolescent health and skills development at their centre in Sundernagar.

Of the 19 children, only a few were Christian because these activities are carried out in the service of all. Complications arose due to the lack of some identity documents and written parental consent.

After questioning, the nun, the staff and the minors were released late at night and accompanied to the Centre. The training programme continued as planned and ended on Sunday 21st. Fr Birendra said that the police raised no objections, except for the conversion allegations made by the VHP and Bajrang Dal, and that the diocese intends to respond formally to these allegations.

‘On Friday at 10.30 pm, as soon as I heard about what had happened, I went to the railway station,’ Fr Alwin, vicar general of the diocese of Jamshedpur, told AsiaNews. "The train normally arrives around 7.30 pm, but that evening it was late. It seems that during the journey someone had already informed the VHP that the nun was bringing some girls with her. So the president of the VHP, together with an organised group, were waiting on the platform. They did not allow the children to get off."

‘We intervened together with representatives of Dalit groups inspired by Dr Ambedkar,’ the priest continues. ‘They held us there until 2:30 a.m. Then the police arrived, with a female deputy inspector, and we were released with the promise that we would present all the children's documents and a letter signed by their parents. The group had filed a formal complaint for attempted conversion.’

The following day, the case was referred to the Child Protection Committee, which carried out an inspection. ‘The Dalit groups and even the Sikh community joined together in solidarity,’ says Fr Alwin.

"There is a citizens' forum called the United Forum for Peace and Justice, which intervened in our support. They spoke with the children and the trainers. They expressed regret for what had happened and dissatisfaction with the situation. The children were very upset,‘ adds the vicar general of the diocese, ’because they were not allowed to move or use the toilets and were kept in the cold on the platform. They even proposed to make them sleep all night in a small room without ventilation. The children clearly explained that they had come to participate in the programme, that they had already been there in the past and knew the institution well, but the VHP continued to ignore them. The programme ran smoothly for two days and yesterday everyone returned to their villages."