Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the arrest of a Malayali Christian priest and his wife in Nagpur, Maharashtra, under non-bailable sections over allegations of religious conversion, calling it deeply disturbing and part of a “worrying pattern of the Sangh Parivar targeting minorities to fuel polarisation.”
The case has been filed against Sudheer, a native of Amaravila in Thiruvananthapuram and a priest with the Nagpur Mission, and his wife Jasmine.
The police arrested a six-member group, including local priests, on Tuesday night while they were attending a Christmas prayer meeting.
The arrests were made around midnight, and the accused were questioned throughout the night. Reports suggest that the police have also registered cases against four people who arrived to enquire about those detained, taking the total number of accused in the case to 12.
Cases have been filed against local priests as well as the homeowner who organised the prayer meeting and his wife.
Describing it as part of a “worrying pattern followed by the Sangh Parivar to target minorities and fuel polarisation,” as seen earlier in Jabalpur, Pinarayi warned that such actions undermine constitutional freedoms.
In November, another Kerala CSI priest, Fr. G. Godwin, faced similar charges in Jabalpur but later secured bail.
Meanwhile, the CSI Bishops’ Council has strongly condemned the arrest of the priest, calling it “deeply unfortunate.”
“Mahayidavaka has been serving in Nagpur for the past 12 years,” said Malayil Sabu Koshy Cherian, Bishop of the CSI Madhya Kerala Mahayidavaka.
Calling the arrest baseless, Sabu Koshy Cherian said the council would extend full legal support to the priest.
The accused will be produced before a court at 11 am today.
A group of priests from Kerala has also left for Nagpur in response to the incident.
Ebin Thankachan, programme associate at the Council for World Mission, called the arrest a “grave injustice” and said that “criminalising prayer, fellowship, and pastoral presence is deeply troubling.”
“What we are witnessing is a systematic targeting of religious minorities through the misuse of anti-conversion laws. This is not about law and order; it is about fear, intimidation, and the erosion of constitutional freedoms,” he said, highlighting that India’s Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and that “no one should be arrested for praying, and no family should be terrorised for their faith.”
Anti-conversion laws, which exist in several BJP-ruled states including Madhya Pradesh, have been widely criticised for being disproportionately enforced against religious minorities, fostering an environment of harassment, violence, and discrimination, and for targeting communities, particularly Christians and Muslims, in line with Hindu nationalist ideologies.
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