>"The Syrian Christians of Kerala perceive themselves to be something of a caste group high up in the social ladder and hence will not feel any real sense of solidarity with persecuted co-religionists of lesser ranking in terms of class and caste. The current commotion is entirely because the nuns arrested are Syrian Christians belonging to the all-powerful Catholic Church."
The question on everyone’s mind is whether the arrest of the nuns and the debates it stirred up will lead to some introspection among the hate-mongers within the Christian community and a realisation that the Sangh Parivar will not spare anyone that does not fall within its idea of ‘true Indians.’ In the long run, the answer to the question about introspection is ‘no’, but it will surely wean many ordinary Christians away from the Sangh during the upcoming state elections." ------------------------ By: Shajahan Madampat [Shajahan Madampat is a writer and cultural commentator based in Abu Dhabi.] Published in: *The Wire* Date: August 5, 2025 Source: https://thewire.in/communalism/christian-sanghi-kerala-bjp-chhattisgarh-nun-arrest The arrest of two Malayali Catholic nuns in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and proselytisation, now out on bail for which the prime minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are profusely thanked by the Church leadership, has brought about some hilarious and ironical repercussions in Kerala. A substantial chunk of the Syrian Christian leadership has been hobnobbing with the Sangh Parivar, and much to the latter’s delight and on its behalf, spreading anti-Muslim venom for quite some time now. In fact, several of the anti-Muslim online channels in Malayalam are owned and run by Christians. A particularly egregious media owner lamented that the credibility the BJP had established among Kerala Christians completely vanished following the arrest of the nuns. In a statement that revealed a clear admission of the cooperation with the Sangh Parivar, the Head of Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church Theodosius Mar Thoma Metropolitan, said that a policy of simultaneous appeasement and persecution is duplicitous.
