By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ
‘Hamlet’ written by William Shakespeare, sometime between 1599 and 1601, is one of his immortal works and the longest play he has written. It is considered among the ‘most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language’, with a story capable of ‘seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others’. There are strong and emotive scenes in the entire play. Some of the phrases and key sentences in ‘Hamlet’ have stood the test of time and are today accepted even as idiomatic expressions. One significant phrase is “something is rotten in the State of Denmark.” It is spoken by Marcellus, a guard, in Act I, Scene IV. The line signifies that something is deeply wrong or corrupt within the kingdom of Denmark, hinting at serious hidden problems and moral decay. It implies intrigue, manipulations,murder and the basic fact that something is terribly wrong…in fact rotten!
There is something rotten: One has to revisit the Durg Railway Station the night of 25/26 July. An Adivasi Sukhman Mandavi, (a resident of Narayanpur) was accompanying three young Adivasi ladies (all adults between the ages of 18-20 years) Sukhmati Mandavi (Sukhman’s sister), Lalita Usendi and Kamaleswari Pradhan. Apparently, the girls were going to Agra for employment in a hospital attached to a convent. When they arrived at the Durg Railway Station the TTE asked for their tickets. He was told that the nuns who were already on the platform had their tickets. The nuns were Sr. Preeti Mary and Sr. Vandana Francis belonging to the Congregation of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI). Without verifying the tickets, the TTE apparently called the local Bajrang Dal outfit and in a matter of time they had arrived in a big group – shouting and raising all hell. So under whose instructions did the TTE call these goons? Who gave them the authority to yell at and intimidate, these citizens of India, bonafide passengers with legitimate tickets?
There is something rotten: The goons began accusing the group of travellers of all kinds of things. They were ultimately taken to the police station and detained there. Ultimately, the nuns and the man were arrested and remanded to judicial custody and the three young ladies were sent to a Government run shelter home. The three were charged for offences under Section 143 (human trafficking) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)2023 and under Section 4 (unlawful religious conversion) under the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act, 1968. Significantly, the initial FIR did not include charges of religious conversion, and mentioned only Section 143. The three women are all Christian, so there is absolutely no question of any religious conversion. So why were these false and fabricated charges framed which blatantly violate the Constitutional rights of a citizen? Under whose order? Can not a group of adults travel in India? On what basis was the FIR and charge- sheet made?
There is something rotten: In the police station, in full view of the policemen (who were sitting like spineless morons) one Jyoti Sharma, a Bajrang Dal activist, threatened, abused and even assaulted the detained group. Videos, on her absolutely unacceptable behaviour have gone viral. She is heard yelling at the man, “Do you understand? Will you speak? Or should I hit you?” She then turns to the nuns and threatens, “If you don’t want to speak, I will smash your face, I’m warning you.” She accuses the nuns of being part of a human trafficking and religious conversion racket, claiming that their bag contained “a Bible, a photo, a passbook, an ATM card, and a diary with pastors’ numbers.” She tells the crowd who had gathered in support of the nuns, “These numbers prove this is a racket. If they don’t have a racket, why would so many people gather for two nuns who are not from here? I am from a Hindu organisation. I have come to save my daughter. Who have they come to save?” She violently pulls their bags from their hands and begins to inspect their contents and documents in them. Speaking to a news channel she says, “I don’t hit everyone. I just hit people who convert Hindu girls to Christianity. I am sure that those women are Hindu, they have Hindu names. It’s the duty of Hindu organisations as well as the police to protect them.” Who gave this terrorist the right to take law and order in her own hands? Why were the police complicity silent while she ranted and raved? Could they not have stopped her? Could they have not arrested her? Why have they not done so?
There is something rotten: The nuns and the man were sent to judicial custody. The case is handed over to the National Investigation Agency(NIA) Court, Bilaspur. Finally, the Court of a Special Judge (under the N.I.A. Act) grants them bail on 2 August. The bail order among other things and stipulated conditions state, “there is no requisition from the Investigating Agency for custodial interrogation of the accused persons. It is apparent that the investigation as well as the trial shall require a reasonable span of time for completion. The Investigating Agency has not placed any material on record before the Court to show how continued custody of the accused persons would be necessary for the investigation or ends of justice. Hence, this Court is of the opinion that the applicants/accused persons are entitled to be enlarged on regular bail. The order granting bail shall not be construed as a reflection on the merits of the case, which shall be examined at the appropriate stage Accordingly, the bail application under Section 483 of BNSS, 2023, filed by the applicants in connection with Crime No. 60/2025, Police Station GRP Bhilai, District-Durg (C.G.), for offences under Section 143 of B.N.S., 2023 r/w Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam, 1968, is Allowed and it is ordered that if each applicant/accused executing bail bonds for a sum of Rs. 50,000/- with two sureties of the like sum produced to the satisfaction of this Court with following conditions, they shall be released on bail.” Why did an NIA Court have to deal with such a matter? The NIA was constituted ‘to investigate and prosecute offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India.’. Further, why was the case not quashed immediately and all charges dropped unconditionally?
There is something rotten: According to reports, in sections of the Media, a group of Parliamentarians from Kerala, met with Amit Shah, the Home Minister on 31 July in Delhi. They were apparently told by him that the nuns were innocent and he would ensure their release as soon as possible! The statement if true stinks more than rotten fish. How does the Home Minister know that the three are innocent? Have they been purposely arrested in keeping with a carefully scripted yet hidden agenda? So if they are innocent why were they not released immediately and unconditionally? Why are the charges still not dropped? Why are all those involved in the arrest of these three innocent persons, not been put even till now, behind bars? Above all, is the judiciary so pliable to listen to the orders of their political bosses?
There is something rotten: PTI reports say that the BJP President of Kerala Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated on 1 August that the arrest of two nuns in Chhattisgarh over allegations of human trafficking and forced conversion were due to a “misunderstanding” and that they will be released on bail soon. He made the statement after meeting with Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, the current President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI). He went to brief him that the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister have assured the nuns would be released on bail and that the State Government would not oppose the bail plea of the nuns. Chandrasekhar also stated that, “It is a judicial process. Let it happen. I only want to say that don’t politicise the issue. We are not seeing it as politics. We are only trying to help the people. This was a misunderstanding,”. If it was seriously a ‘misunderstanding’ why have the cases not been withdrawn on all three and immediately? Like the vast majority of the court cases in India, will it be a tiring, lengthy process until all three are declared innocent and set free?
There is something rotten: After the nuns and the man were jailed, there was, naturally a national outrage. A part of the Church in Kerala has been toeing the BJP line. However, through its official mouthpiece ‘Deepika’, it denounced the arrests in unequivocal terms while the CSI and Orthodox Churches have also registered their protest. Members of Parliament (MPs) from Kerala also raised the matter in Parliament, though a motion to debate it was disallowed. MPs belonging to the Opposition parties vociferously condemned the arrests; some Parliamentarians also visited the three who were incarcerated in Durg; vehement protests came also from civil society, including academics, intellectuals and human rights defenders. Rallies and protest marches took place all over; statements emerged from all sections of society. All this was good, necessary and important. Such protests must take place. Sadly, many are questioning Church leadership in their very selective stand. Christianity is never selective; Jesus never took a stand selfishly! When hundreds of Adivasis are killed and displaced in Chhattisgarh alone, why is the Church silent? When human rights defenders and even Christian pastors are unjustly incarcerated and languishing in jail for years, why is the Church not visible or vocal? There are so much happening in the country today – the Constitution is being destroyed, the minorities are being trampled upon, the poor and marginalised are being denied their rights- on whose side is the Church? Why is there no outrage and protests – when someone not like us – is excluded and exploited, denigrated and demonised, harassed and incarcerated? What would Jesus have done?
There is something rotten: Playing footsie with the BJP and their ilk, is absolutely dangerous! It is a known fact that the Sanghi are able to put together the scams, scandals and sins – of many; particularly those who may oppose them or not on their side! It is no state secret that several members of opposition parties have been blackmailed into getting into the BJP washing machine! Once they toe the line and acquiesce to the demands of the BJP, all their sins are forgiven, even court cases are dropped. This is something very serious! The death-knell of the values enshrined in the Gospel and the Constitution of India
There is something rotten: The fact that the three were given bail is because of an intervention from the Pime Minister’s Office (PMO) and it is being viewed as a feather in the party state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s political cap. The New Indian Express claims that it “was the first to report the PMO’s intervention. The entire episode is now expected to function as a catalyst in Rajeev’s efforts to intensify his party’s Christian outreach programme in central Kerala in the coming days.” Chandrasekhar, other party officials and even their legal team were there in Durg when the three came out of jail. Many photos clicked! Later there were celebrations – with Chandrasekhar and some Church prelates giving each other cake. There are some who are genuinely questioning ‘what is there to celebrate- when the case is fabricate, the real criminals are scot-free and the case is bound to be a long-drawn out one. An extremely clever ploy on the part of the BJP – very manipulative yet strategic. It is not without reason that Chandrasekhar posted on his facebook page after the nuns got bail, “The BJP will always stand by any Malayali in crisis, wherever they are in the world, regardless of their religion, caste, or beliefs. Whenever there is a need, we will step forward and work to solve their problems. I also thank all those who worked tirelessly over the last few days to make bail of the nuns possible.” He conveniently forgets that Malyalis are not only Christians and Hindus but also Muslims! What is his stand on the false, derogatory film ‘The Kerala Story?’
There is something rotten: The BJP is systematically destroying the country; they have already eroded the secular fabric of the Constitution and the democratic ethos of the country. The attacks in the country take place with frightening regularity: recently a group of Catholic priests, nuns and catechists were attacked by a Bajrang Dal mob in Odisha. In Mumbai, the ABVP forced the St. Xavier’s College authorities to cancel a memorial lecture in honour of Fr. Stan Swamy. The fascist forces have polarised the country into ‘majority; versus ‘minority’- through divisive propaganda and hate speeches. India today is a laughing stock on the world stage. Whilst the crony capitalist friends of the ruling regime have a ball, it is the poor and the marginalised of the country that have to bear the brunt. The electoral process is sabotaged (as we see what is happening in Bihar today) and Constitutional bodies are usurped. Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Expression and Dissent and other fundamental rights are denied.
As we observe another independence day in a short while from now, what the country desperately needs at this moment, is that people awake to the realities around, overcome their fears and act now, keeping in my mind the words of Rabindranath Tagore:
“Freedom from fear is the freedom
I claim for you my motherland!
Freedom from the burden of the ages, bending your head,
breaking your back, blinding your eyes to the beckoning
call of the future;
Freedom from the shackles of slumber wherewith
you fasten yourself in night’s stillness,
mistrusting the star that speaks of truth’s adventurous paths;
freedom from the anarchy of destiny
whole sails are weakly yielded to the blind uncertain winds,
and the helm to a hand ever rigid and cold as death.
Freedom from the insult of dwelling in a puppet’s world,
where movements are started through brainless wires,
repeated through mindless habits,
where figures wait with patience and obedience for the
master of show,
to be stirred into a mimicry of life.”
We must stop the rot NOW! To act fearlessly and to say in unison, with Tagore, “into that that heaven of Freedom my Father (and Mother) let my country awake!
(The author is a human rights, reconciliation and peace activist/writer.)
