New Delhi: Over the incident of attack on priests and nuns, including Malayalis, by Bajrang Dal activists in Odisha’s Jaleswar, MPs protested outside and inside the Parliament on Friday. MPs, namely K. Radhakrishnan, John Brittas, AA Rahim, R Sachithanandam, PP Suneer, V Selvaraj, P Santhosh Kumar, Sudhama Prasad and Rajaram, participated in a left-led protest outside the main gate before Parliament session started for the day. They also protested against American imperialism, as US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs over tariffs on imports from India.
In the afternoon, another group of MPs, including Kodikunnil Suresh, NK Premachandran, Anto Antony, MK Raghavan, Rajmohan Unnithan, Benny Behanan, Francis George, Dean Kuriakose, Hibi Eden and others, participated. MPs from Kerala gave notice to raise the issue of the attack on priests and nuns during the Zero Hour and an adjournment motion in Parliament.
Kodikunnil Suresh MP pointed out in the notice that religious hatred, false propaganda and violence can never be accepted in a secular democratic country, India. K Sudhakaran stated in the notice given to the Speaker that the freedom to choose a religion and live in that religion is a fundamental right enshrined in the Indian Constitution, and this is what the BJP government is denying. Anto Antony, Benny Behanan, Francis George and Hibi Eden also gave notices.
Meanwhile, Left faction MPs from Kerala said that organised attacks against Christian priests and nuns are taking place in most states of North India and pointed out that the same incident that happened in Chhattisgarh was repeated in Odisha. The police registered cases against the victims of the attack and took no action against the assailants, they said. Union ministers from Kerala are keeping mum on the issue, they noted, saying that Suresh Gopi and George Kurien's ministerial positions were obtained by using the Christian minority in Kerala. The MPs said that they should end their silence and clarify their position.