The Northeast Catholic Research Forum (NECARF), an unapologetic voice of conscience against all forms of injustice, joined thousands of Christian brethren across the country in condemning the deplorable harassment of two Catholic nuns and their travel mates in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district, based on unsubstantiated allegation of human trafficking.
The NECARF said incident is not an isolated case that could be brushed aside as an aberration, as some sectarian protagonists would like to term it to hoodwink the public, but a well-rehearsed insidious script authored by hate-mongering elements, sanctioned through a selective silence maintained by an authoritarian regime that is aiming to convert secular India into a Hindu nation.
“It is a calculated criminalization of Christian presence in public life, targeting those who bear witness to justice and compassion in some of the most socially and economically marginalized areas of the Indian Republic,” NECARF said on Friday.
The NECARF said the arrests reflect not merely the prejudice of the grassroots Hindutva vigilantes but the intentions of a regime that is attempting to weaponize the law to stifle dissent.
The Forum also strongly condemned the inaction of members of the law enforcement agencies, who, in their complicity, choose to watch and turn against the victims by arresting them.
Their action is even more outrageous than what the perpetrators have inflicted on the innocent victims, the NECARF said.
“We feel that the country is fast turning into a theocratic surveillance state where minority communities are being targeted under fabricated charges—a country where extending humanitarian services is also criminalized as acts of conversion, while the very system that claims to be a welfare state is failing to uplift the socioeconomic conditions of the neglected and the marginalized,” a statement issued by the NECARF said.
The arrest of these two nuns is therefore not just a warning to religious minorities. It is a message to anyone who dares to offer sanctuary, solidarity, or service to the poor and the dispossessed, the NECARF said.
The NECARF said that it is writing on the wall that this country is fast turning into a place where expediency gets the better of ethics and blind compliance over conscience.
“We, therefore, urge every right-thinking citizen of this country to speak up against attempts to target minorities at the cost of eroding the social fabric, which is so colourfully woven,” the NECARF appealed.
The forum also appealed to the Church hierarchy to remain steadfast in standing up against injustices done to every citizen of India.
The NECARF reminded that since January 2025, the country witnessed 378 instances of attacks on Christians, of which FIRs were registered only in 17 cases.
Therefore, the hierarchy now needs to shift from tokenism to hard talking and truth telling. The Christian community’s contribution to building modern India through education, health service, social service, and much more, after all is well known, acknowledged umpteen times by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well, the NECARF said.
“We appeal to the government of India and governments of every state to uphold the safety, security, and dignity of every citizen, irrespective of their community or religious affiliation,” the forum said.
