How these brave Kerala nuns called out hate speech in the church

It was a regular Sunday mass at the St Francis Mission home chapel in Kuravilangad town in Kottayam district of Kerala on September 12. There was no public in attendance. The small private mass was attended by the 12 nuns of the chapel and four residents of the Mission's old age home. The prayer service that was delivered in English was conducted by Father Rajeev, a priest belonging to the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis of Penance.Among the attendees were the five nuns — Sister Anupama Kelamangalathuveliyil, Sister Alphy Pallasseril, Sister Ancitta Urumbil, Sister Neena Rose and Sister Josephine Viloonickal — that Kerala knows all too well. After all, in 2018, they were the ones who had led a brave protest in Kochi against the head of their church Bishop Franco Mulakkal, after he was accused of rape by a fellow sister. As the sisters waged years of unwavering protests for the rights of their fellow sister, inviting the wrath of their church, they found huge admiration and following among the general public.Since then, the church has done everything to isolate and silence the nuns, even resorting to torture. Of late, the nuns have been wary of talking to the press. But after last Sunday’s mass, the sisters were pushed once more to the fore — their bravery and courage needling them to call out the injustice and hate speech from the altars. medium86394348It was during the homily that Father Rajeev, who was presiding over the Sunday mass, started speaking about the threats from the Muslim community in the form of ‘love jihad’ and ‘narcotic jihad’. Three days before, on September 9, the Catholic bishop from Pala town in Kottayam, Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt had kicked up a controversy when, during a sermon at Marth Mariam Pilgrim Church at Kuravilangad, he went on to speak about how these two jihads were being used to spread “religious propaganda” and to “destroy non-Muslims”. He also said that these were the most urgent threats to the youngsters of Kerala. Kallarangatt had also in August written a letter to his clergy alerting them about “some sections and groups trying to trap the girls of the diocese”, without naming anyone indulging in such practices. The Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC), an assembly of all the Catholic bishops of Kerala, has also been raising the issue of ‘love jihad’ for some time. While ‘love jihad’ connotes forced conversions of women through marriage by Muslim men, the term ‘narcotic jihad’ means to ruin the life of non-Muslims by getting them addicted to drugs. medium86394366Speaking to news channels soon after Sunday mass, sister Anupama stated that Father Rajeev started his homily by saying that the Pala Bishop was right in his concerns. “The speech was aimed at sowing communalism,” she said, adding that the priest went on to advise the nuns not to buy vegetables and other stuff from Muslim vendors, not to hire autorickshaws driven by Muslims or avail their taxis.This was not the first time when the priest had spoken against the Muslim community, but previously the nuns had let it pass. This time, however, they had had enough. They immediately objected to the sermon. “This can’t be spoken here. We won’t allow this chapel to be used as a place for hate speech,” they said, and two of them walked out, unable to complete the mass.Later at a press meet at their Kuravilangad Mission Home, Sister Anupama said: “We have Muslims among our teachers. There are Muslim doctors who treat us when we are ill. And among the policemen who guard us there are Muslims. We have never faced any threats from any one of them. Neither us nor any of our family has been subjected to any such treatment by Muslims, so why should we subject ourselves to listening to such a sermon? Christ hasn’t taught us to sow communalism. He had propagated the message of love to bring us all together.” The sisters are now refusing to comment anymore on this issue.“This was a very righteous response by the sisters”, said George Joseph, secretary of the Kerala Catholic Reformation Movement. “A place to talk about love for your fellow humans cannot be converted to a place for hate speech and communalism."While the entry of the ‘narcotic jihad’ terminology into the clergy lexicon is fairly recent, the churches of Kerala and their concern for ‘love jihad’ is not new. In January 2020, the Syro Malabar Synod, chaired by Cardinal George Alencherry, had put out a press statement saying, “It is a matter of concern that 'love jihad' is on the rise in Kerala, posing danger to secular harmony and societal peace in the state”. A year later, in January 2021, ahead of the Kerala Assembly elections, in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, a few of the top bishops of the state, namely — the Syro Malabar Church's archbishop, cardinal George Alanchery, the Malankara Syrian Church's archbishop, cardinal Baselious Mar Cleemus and Roman Catholic archdiocese of Mumbai's cardinal archbishop Oswald Gracias — collectively brought the church’s concerns regarding ‘love jihad’ to attention. medium86394397During the last Assembly elections of Kerala, the issue became one of the hot topics, with the Kerala BJP president, K Surendran promising an anti-love jihad law if the party were to win in the state. The BJP’s star candidate, E Sreedharan, also commented that “he opposes the concept of ‘love jihad’ as he has seen Hindu, Muslim and Christian girls in Kerala being tricked into marriages”.“During the last elections we saw the influential churches here playing to the tunes of the political powers,” commented George Joseph. He called the recent ‘narcotic jihad’ comments from the wealthiest church of Kerala — the Syro Malabar — as an effort to maintain its power and influence. “The church is scared that it will be next on the hit list of the central government, because of the kind of power and influence it has in Kerala, it is trying to please the political powers by taking these stands,” Joseph surmised.Polarisation is hitting a peak in the state. “It’s a dangerous time in Kerala. Some communal disharmony can happen anytime,” said Shyju Antony, the spokesperson of Archdiocesan Movement of Transparency, a laity movement that aims to bring transparency in the church. “So, it is the duty of all political parties, religious leaders and socio-cultural figures to come together and safeguard its secularism and protect our social fabric.”The solidarity sisters of Kuravilangad have done just that — they have stood up to protest and to show the path forward for the church and laity.