New Delhi [India], August 1 : Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday condemned as "grave injustice" the arrest of two Kerala nuns in Chhattisgarh.
"The arrest of nuns is a grave injustice. They have not done anything against the law," Tharoor told reporters in the national capital.
He said that the nuns were just taking some tribal girls to the city for employment.
"Seeing this, members of the Bajrang Dal raised a false alarm and the police came and arrested the nuns. 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," he said.
Congress MP Jebi Mather said charging the nuns with human trafficking and human conversion is a gross injustice.
"Congress has been standing, speaking, and protesting from day one, demanding that this unjust arrest be addressed. We have been condemning it and taking all steps, from writing letters to protests inside and outside Parliament. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal, and everyone else have been fighting for justice for the sisters," she said.
"We now hope that the sisters will be released on bail, but charging them with human trafficking and human conversion is a gross injustice. According to BJP and the Chhattisgarh government, what Bajrang Dal says and listens to has influenced this decision. We remain hopeful that they will be released today."
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said, "We are going to Chhattisgarh to meet the nuns and to facilitate the ongoing bail process. We hope that the nuns can be released on bail because of the assurance given by the Home Minister, and the process is underway."
An All India Congress Committee delegation will visit the nuns on Friday.
Congress MP Hibi Eden, who is part of the delegation, said that he hoped the State government would not oppose their bail and justice would be done.
"We have been protesting inside and outside Parliament for the last five days in support of the nuns. We have come to meet them and know their health condition," Eden told ANI in Raipur on Friday.
"We hope the government will not oppose their bail, and justice will be done. We all pray that they get bail today," he said.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Friday told reporters in Delhi that the "law is doing its job" in the case against the nuns.
The nuns were arrested at Durg Railway Station in Chhattisgarh on July 25 over charges of human trafficking and religious conversion.
On July 27, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) also strongly condemned the alleged incident, claiming that, according to reports, the women had explicit written permission from their parents but were physically assaulted after being arrested.