Agitating nuns had expressed their concerns regarding delay in bishop’s arrest.
Now that Kerala police have arrested Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun belonging to his diocese, multiple times, it is time for other burning issues that were swept under the deluge to resurface. The bishop’s arrest, coming three months after the formal complaint was made, happened the day the ruling CPM accused the nuns of being part of a larger conspiracy “designed to undermine the Left Front government” and the Marxist party in the state. The arrest also took place on the 13th day the nuns took to the streets, hitherto unheard of in the country, demanding justice for the sister who was tortured by the bishop for over two years. CPM state secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, in a signed article in the party organ Deshabhimani on Friday had said “some political forces…along with anarchists are trying to hijack the nuns’ protest and are trying to launch a series of agitations throughout the state”. Kodiyeri’s attempt to dismiss any kind of dissent as anti-CPM was understandable, for the party intolerance is one-way traffic. There was a growing belief among the public that the police were under pressure from the government to delay the arrest as far as possible. The agitating nuns too had expressed their concerns regarding the delay in arresting the bishop. This, many felt, was due to the growing nexus between the CPM and the church, which wields immense money power and controls large chunks of vote bank. “The BJP and the RSS with tacit support from a section of Congress and UDF anarchists are using the nuns to create communal divide and hatred against the government,” Kodiyeri wrote. “Such communal forces should be identified and exposed,” he told believers of the faith and the ideology.
However, the fact of the matter is that none of the opposition parties, be it BJP or the Congress, except for one or two individual leaders, had the courage to pledge solidarity with the nuns. Such is the hold of the church over political parties in Kerala. Franco Mulakkal, who was stripped of his powers by Pope Francis on Thursday but remains as head of Jalandhar diocese, may be put behind bars for a few days, but there is no guarantee that final justice will be delivered to the aggrieved nun. This was reflected on the faces of the five agitating nuns when asked for their reaction to the bishop’s arrest. “Money power and politics may play in future too, with some in the church playing dirty games,” they said. “Our agitation was not against the person, but against his wrong deeds and attitude,” said Sister Anupama, who was at the forefront of the agitation. The church has so far kept a studied silence over the arrest, just saying it is with the victim and the accused and will pray for them. In a short press release, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India hoped “truth will come out while law takes its own course”. It is short of saying that the CBCI still believes the bishop innocent and hopes justice will be done to him. There is no mention about the victim or the future of the nuns who had rallied behind her. Whether the political masters, who were extremely reluctant to book the bishop in the first place itself, prevent any witch-hunt happening against the nun, who dared to question the church, remains a big question. With the general election due in a few months, all political parties, revolutionary ones including, are sure to play their cards with utmost care. There will be no question of antagonising the church.
The attention of the state and the public is bound to divert to other issues. As it is the nuns’ struggle had come as a blessing in disguise for the ruling CPM, which itself is facing a rape case in its ranks. The nuns took the spotlight away from one of CPM’s legislators who is accused of raping an activist belonging to party’s youth wing, Democratic Youth Federation of India. Instead of going to the police, the party has, under pressure from the public, had ordered an in-house inquiry which is said to be progressing. As is going to be in the case of the bishop, the MLA too may get a reprieve in the not too distant future. Public memory is incredibly short. There are umpteen issues relating to the deluge and its aftermath. In the absence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is away in the US for medical treatment, there is hardly any governance. Even the Cabinet met only after a gap of three weeks. Ministers are said to be busy collecting relief funds from all over the states. There is muted protest over compulsory collection of salaries from government employees and even pensioners. CPM is well versed in the art of fund collection. There are complaints that even the flood-affected, those who lost everything, are not spared. “CPM has made a killing,” observed one commentator. An opposition in disarray has only helped the ruling party’s fund mobilisation drive. But so far, nothing is on paper regarding the building of a New Kerala. It is most likely to remain as yet another dream sold by those in power. Meanwhile, a political murder or a rape will happen, and the cycle will begin all over again. Common man will continue to be burdened with the task of living life; for those lost everything in the floods, living it all over again.