Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan shot off a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah claiming postulants (applicants seeking to join a congregation) and nuns were subjected to harassment by Bajrang Dal members and the police while they were travelling in a train from New Delhi to Rourkela.
A controversy surrounding nuns who were forced to get off a train at the Jhansi Railway station by the Railway Police personnel and self-styled guardians of 'Hindu samaaj' has snowballed into a major controversy in the election season.
The mob that called in the Railway Police believed that the two girls who were accompanying the nuns of the Sacred Hearts Congregation of Delhi Province were being taken for forceful conversion.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan shot off a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah claiming postulants (applicants seeking to join a congregation) and nuns were subjected to harassment by Bajrang Dal members and the police while they were travelling in the train from New Delhi to Rourkela.
Harassment of nuns in UP is shocking. Indian citizens' fundamental rights have been violated. & have tarnished India's image and our ancient tradition of religious tolerance. Wrote to requesting intervention, so that authorities take action. pic.twitter.com/H9IMAupesd
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi)
He alleged that they were deboarded from the Haridwar-Puri Kalinga Utkal Express around 8 pm without the presence of women police officials and despite the nuns showing their Aadhaar card.
A video of the incident was shared on social media that shows the women being questioned by the Railway Protection Force and others.
It later emerged that the postulates were adults and were willingly going to join the congregation with consent.
The nuns were released at 11 pm in the night after the matter reached senior officials and the local congregation rushed to their help.
Amid uproar over the incident, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had to issue a statement during a rally in Kerala. He assured the people of the state that the culprits behind this incident will be brought to justice at the earliest.
Meanwhile, Congress too jumped into the fray and shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a probe into the matter.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, in a statement, termed the incident as an instance of how insecure secularism was under the BJP government in India.