Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], August 1 (HBTV): Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Chhattisgarh government has agreed not to oppose the bail applications of two Kerala nuns arrested on charges of forced religious conversion and human trafficking.

'We hope that they get bail in the coming days because the state government has agreed not to oppose their bail,' Chandrasekhar told ANI. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had assured that justice would be given to the nuns. 'Some mistakes have been made by the nuns in terms of uploading on the portal. Regardless of that, the Church reached out to me six days ago, and we have been working relentlessly to ensure that the nuns get justice and the judicial process moves forward to give them bail,' he said.

The nuns were arrested at Durg Railway Station in Chhattisgarh on July 25. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) condemned the arrest, claiming the women had written permission from their parents but were physically assaulted after being detained.

Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma questioned whether the Congress was attempting to pressure the court by staging protests over the arrests. 'This has nothing to do with votes. Earlier too, a delegation from the Congress party had come, and we facilitated their meeting with them. But they should understand whether by doing this, they are trying to pressure the court? This is a matter on which the police have taken action; whether bail will be granted or not, the court will decide,' he said.

In Kerala, both the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Opposition United Democratic Front condemned the arrests, accusing the BJP government in Chhattisgarh of undermining religious freedom. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also criticised the arrests, calling them 'a grave injustice.' He said the nuns were taking tribal girls to the city for employment when members of the Bajrang Dal raised a false alarm, leading to police action. 'This is not right. When everyone is raising objections to it, they are still in jail for the last one week. BJP's Kerala unit is saying they will travel to Chhattisgarh to get them bail. Nothing has happened so far,' Tharoor said.

(ANI)