The investigators said that they have not yet found any merit in the allegations; the Jharkhand State Minority Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of the incident
NEW DELHI — A disturbing incident unfolded at Tatanagar railway station in Jharkhand when members of the Bajrang Dal, a right-wing Hindutva organisation, intercepted a group of 19 Adivasi children and a Catholic nun, accusing them of religious conversion.
The group, consisting of four boys and 15 girls, was travelling to attend a life-skills training programme organised by Catholic Charities Jamshedpur, a report in The Indian Express said on Tuesday.
The Bajrang Dal members alleged that the children were being taken for religious conversion and questioned the nun and children for about five hours. During this time, the children were reportedly surrounded by Bajrang Dal members, who took pictures of the minor girls without their consent. The nun claimed that she showed permission letters from the children’s guardians and the village chief to the ticket examiner, but the Bajrang Dal members continued to question them, the report said.
The investigators and Child Helpline officials have not found any merit in the allegations made by the Bajrang Dal. The Deputy Superintendent of Police, GRP, Jayshree Kujur, stated that no confirmed religious conversion has taken place and the investigation is ongoing.
The Jharkhand State Minority Commission (JSMC) has taken suo motu cognizance of the incident and plans to investigate the matter further. The commission’s vice-chairman, Pranesh Solomon, expressed concern over the harassment of minorities by right-wing groups and stated that they will be meeting with officials to address the issue, The Indian Express report said.
The children were eventually allowed to attend the training programme after the Bajrang Dal members left. However, the session had to be cancelled due to the trauma experienced by the children during the questioning. The incident has raised concerns about the safety and well-being of minority groups in the region.
Some children were not carrying their Aadhaar cards as they had decided to join the programme late.
The nun had called the director of the programme, priest Birendra Tete, after the ticket examiner allegedly said that the group would be handed over to the police.
Tete was quoted by The Indian Express as saying that when he reached the railway station, he saw the children sitting on the platform with no female police personnel. “All of them were surrounded by Bajrang Dal members, who were taking pictures of the minor girls,” Tete alleged.
The priest alleged that the nun and the children were at the station from 11 pm on Friday to about 4 am on Saturday, the newspaper reported. They were with the Railway Protection Force before the Government Railway Police questioned them, he added.
In July, two nuns from Kerala were arrested along with a man identified as Sukhman Mandavi at the Durg railway station in neighbouring Chhattisgarh on allegations of human trafficking and religious conversion. They were accompanied by three women from the state’s Narayanpur district.
