Bajrang Dal holds nun, 19 minors at railway station; claims conversion

Ranchi: After allegations of religious conversion by Hindutva extremist group Bajrang Dal, a Catholic nun and 19 Adivasi minors were stopped at a railway station in Jharkhand for five hours and subjected to questioning, according to a report by The Indian Express.

The nun and the minors boarded the South Bihar Express at Jharkhand’s Tata Nagar railway station last Friday night and were subjected to the ordeal. However, investigators and Child Helpline officials have not found anything backing the Hindutva group’s allegations.

Meanwhile, Christian rights groups informed that Bajrang Dal members took photos and videos of the minors, who accompanied the nun, and published them on social media. The minors included four boys and 15 girls, The Indian Express reported.

The nun informed that she works in tribal dominated villages of Saraikela-Kharsawan district on adolescent awareness projects. She said that two men followed her and the children while they were travelling from Kharsawan to Jamshedpur for a life-skills training programme on Friday evening.

She said that at one point, the TTE asked her quietly where she was taking the minors. Later, a mob of Hindutva workers appeared and confronted her as if she were a criminal. The TTE and passengers questioned the children, asking about their religion, the nun said.

According to her, she showed those who questioned her the permission letters issued by the children’s guardians as well as the village chief, allowing her to take them with her. She said that the programme also admits children of non-Christian background, but they were not asked to convert to Christianity.

She also said that TTE threatened that he would hand them over to the police.

However, the children eventually attended the two-day event.