Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Arrest and unrest: On arrest of nuns in Chhattisgarh

Arrest and unrest: On arrest of nuns in Chhattisgarh

Communal agenda is behind the arrest of nuns for human trafficking

The arrest of two Catholic nuns by the Chhattisgarh police on charges (आरोप, अभियोग) of human trafficking (अवैध व्यापार, तस्करी) and forced (ज़बरदस्ती, अनिवार्य) conversion is another instance (उदाहरण, मामला) of growing (बढ़ता हुआ, फैलता हुआ) religion-related harassment (उत्पीड़न, परेशान करना). Keralite Sisters Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis, from the order of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate, were escorting (साथ ले जाना, संरक्षण देना) three tribal girls to an Agra convent for jobs when they were apprehended (गिरफ्तार करना, पकड़ना) from Durg railway station on July 25, 2025, after a Bajrang Dal member filed a complaint. They have been booked under Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act, 1968 (conversion) and Section 143 of the BNS (trafficking). While Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai insisted (ज़ोर देना, आग्रह करना) that the nuns were engaging in “human trafficking and conversion... through inducement (प्रलोभन, प्रोत्साहन)”, the kin (रिश्तेदार, सगे-संबंधी) of the girls have since clarified that there was no forceful conversion and they had given their consent (सहमति, अनुमति) to be taken to Agra. The arrests have led to condemnation (निंदा) across the political spectrum (a system of classifying different political ideologies based on their beliefs about government, economy, and society; it ranges from left (liberal) to right (conservative)) against communal vigilantism (unofficial way of punishing crime by a self-appointed group of people). Leaders across political lines (a position, stance, or boundary of thought or belief, especially in politics) have protested. Ruling Left Democratic Front and Opposition United Democratic Front MPs from Kerala held dharnas (a (peaceful) demonstration/protest) outside Parliament, and the Catholic Church, through its official mouthpiece (a media outlet that expresses the opinions or policies of a specific (political/religious) entity, such as a government, party, or organization), Deepika, and other church organisations too denounced (condemn, criticize, censure, castigate, hit out at, discredit, find fault with, slam) the arrests.

This is not the first time that a proselytisation (an act of persuading someone to convert from one religious faith to another) row (fight, clash, dispute, quarrel) has erupted (happen, occur, start suddenly; ensue, break out, flare up, boil over) involving Christian missionaries. Last year marked (indicate; observe, recognize, remember) 25 years of the brutal killing of Australian missionary (campaigner, crusader, champion, promoter, advocate, proponent) Graham Staines and his two minor sons in Odisha. Despite the fact that (used to refer to a specific situation under consideration/discussion) the Constitution (body of law; system of rules; regulations, fundamental principles, charter) provides citizens the right to practise and propagate (spread, disseminate, communicate, publicize, promote) the religion of their choice, several States, including U.P., M.P., Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha, have misused (misapply, exploit, use wrongly/illegally) provisions (clause, condition, stipulation, requirement, term) of anti-conversion laws that were intended only to prevent conversion through force or fraud or allurement (enticement, lure, temptation, attraction, and inducement). These laws are often used to criminalise (make something (an activity) illegal) interfaith (between different religions; relating to members of different religions) marriages by labelling (categorize, classify, tag, designate, describe, identify) conversion by marriage as unlawful. In tribal-dominated regions such as Jharkhand, there is another tension (strained relations, strain, unease) brewing (develop, loom, impend, fume, simmer, smoulder (of something bad/unpleasant situation)) between Adivasis and both Christian tribals and Hindus. While Hindutva groups with the RSS’s backing (support, assistance, encouragement, endorsement, patronage, approval, advocacy) are exhorting ((strongly or earnestly) urge, encourage, enjoin, instruct, spur, appeal to, advise someone to do something) tribals to wake up (awake, reawaken, rouse, arouse, urge, inspire, enliven, rekindle) to their Hindu roots (the fundamental cause, source, or origin of something), tribal outfits (organization, group, unit) are resisting (oppose, fight against, refuse to accept, object, defy) this and demanding a separate Sarna religious code (a proposed official recognition of the indigenous Sarna faith followed by several tribal communities in India, particularly in Jharkhand, which worship nature and ancestral spirits, distinct from major religions like Hinduism, Islam, or Christianity). Tribal outfits allege (claim, charge, accuse; assert, state strongly) that the Hindu groups are doing the same thing as Christian missionaries to subsume (include, incorporate, absorb, encompass) their distinct (different, individual, distinctive, particular, separate, special, specific, unique) culture. In Chhattisgarh, which has around a 2% Christian population according to the 2011 Census (an official survey, particularly of a population), there is also a debate on whether tribals who are converting to Christianity should be delisted (remove from a list) from the Scheduled Tribes. In such a churn (disorder/disorganization, confusion, disruption/chaos), the onus (responsibility, duty, liability, accountability, obligation, burden) is on political, religious and social organisations to focus on economic development, jobs and welfare (social security, government/state benefit, public assistance). Government machineries (system, structure, administration, institution, agency, channel, apparatus) should be used to enforce rights, guaranteed by the Constitution, not violate (breach, break, infract, contravene, offend, transgress, go against) them.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.unrest (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अशांति, अव्यवस्था
English Meaning - disruption, agitation, turmoil, disorder, chaos.

2.trafficking (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अवैध व्यापार, तस्करी
English Meaning - the activity of buying and selling goods/animal/people illegally; (illegal/illicit) trading, dealing.

3.charge (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आरोप, अभियोग
English Meaning - claim, accusation, allegation, indictment.

4.forced (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - ज़बरदस्ती, अनिवार्य
English Meaning - enforced, coerced, compelled, demanded, compulsory.

5.instance (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उदाहरण, मामला
English Meaning - occasion, occurrence, case in point, example.

6.growing (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - बढ़ता हुआ, फैलता हुआ
English Meaning - increasing.

7.harassment (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उत्पीड़न, परेशान करना
English Meaning - oppression, victimization, persecution, persistent annoyance, coercion/intimidation.

8.escort (verb)

Hindi Meaning - साथ ले जाना, संरक्षण देना
English Meaning - accompany, take, come with, go with.

9.apprehend (verb)

Hindi Meaning - गिरफ्तार करना, पकड़ना
English Meaning - arrest, catch, capture, incarcerate, imprison, take into custody.

10.Indian Penal Code (IPC) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - भारतीय दंड संहिता
English Meaning - The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The draft was passed into law on 6 October 1860. The Code came into operation on 1 January 1862. The Indian Penal Code of 1860, subdivided into 23 chapters, comprises 511 sections. IPC deals with crimes and punishments.

11.insist (verb)

Hindi Meaning - ज़ोर देना, आग्रह करना
English Meaning - claim, assert, state assertively.

12.inducement (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रलोभन, प्रोत्साहन
English Meaning - provocation, persuasion, incitement, allurement, motivation .

13.kin (noun)

Hindi Meaning - रिश्तेदार, सगे-संबंधी
English Meaning - family, family members, relations, relatives.

14.consent (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सहमति, अनुमति
English Meaning - approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, concurrence.

15.condemnation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - निंदा
English Meaning - strong criticism, censure, disapproval, flak, castigation, lambasting, denunciation.

16.nun (noun)

English Meaning - A nun is a woman who has devoted her life to her faith (religion), usually living in a religious community and following special vows and disciplines; sister.

17.Keralite (noun)

English Meaning - a person from Kerala; a native or inhabitant of Kerala.

18.book (verb)

English Meaning - register a case under a particular provision and to record an arrestee’s details.

19.Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act, 1968 (conversion) (noun)

English Meaning - it prohibits religious conversions achieved through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or any fraudulent means.

20.Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, 2023 (noun)

English Meaning - An Act to consolidate and amend the provisions relating to offences and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It is the official criminal code in India and it replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It came into effect on 1 July 2024 after being passed by the parliament in December 2023.

21.Section 143 of the BNS (trafficking) (noun)

English Meaning - it provides penal provisions for strict punishment for any offence of human trafficking.

22.engage in (verb)

English Meaning - to take part in or do something.

23.led to past participle of lead to (verb)

English Meaning - result in, cause, bring on, bring about, give rise to.

24.spectrum (noun)

English Meaning - wide range, gamut, ambit.

25.political spectrum (noun)

English Meaning - a system of classifying different political ideologies based on their beliefs about government, economy, and society; it ranges from left (liberal) to right (conservative).

26.vigilantism (noun)

English Meaning - unofficial way of punishing crime by a self-appointed group of people.

27.line (noun)

English Meaning - a position, stance, or boundary of thought or belief, especially in politics.

28.held past tense of hold (verb)

English Meaning - organize, arrange, convene.

29.dharna (noun)

English Meaning - a (peaceful) demonstration/protest.

30.mouthpiece (noun)

English Meaning - a media outlet that expresses the opinions or policies of a specific (political/religious) entity, such as a government, party, or organization.

31.denounce (verb)

English Meaning - condemn, criticize, censure, castigate, hit out at, discredit, find fault with, slam.

32.proselytisation (noun)

English Meaning - an act of persuading someone to convert from one religious faith to another.

33.row (noun)

English Meaning - fight, clash, dispute, quarrel.

34.erupt (verb)

English Meaning - happen, occur, start suddenly; ensue, break out, flare up, boil over.

35.missionary (noun)

English Meaning - campaigner, crusader, champion, promoter, advocate, proponent.

36.missionary (noun)

English Meaning - a person who travels to a foreign country in an attempt to spread a religion, especially Christianity.

37.mark (verb)

English Meaning - indicate; observe, recognize, remember.

38.the fact that (phrase)

English Meaning - used to refer to a specific situation under consideration/discussion.

39.constitution (noun)

English Meaning - body of law; system of rules; regulations, fundamental principles, charter.

40.The Constitution of India (noun)

English Meaning - India, also known as Bharat, is a Union of States. It is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with a parliamentary system of government. The Republic is governed in terms of the Constitution of India which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November, 1949 and came into force on 26th January, 1950.

41.propagate (verb)

English Meaning - spread, disseminate, communicate, publicize, promote.

42.misuse (verb)

English Meaning - misapply, exploit, use wrongly/illegally.

43.provision (noun)

English Meaning - clause, condition, stipulation, requirement, term.

44.allurement (noun)

English Meaning - enticement, lure, temptation, attraction, and inducement.

45.criminalise (verb)

English Meaning - make something (an activity) illegal.

46.interfaith (adjective)

English Meaning - between different religions; relating to members of different religions.

47.label (verb)

English Meaning - categorize, classify, tag, designate, describe, identify.

48.tensions (noun)

English Meaning - strained relations, strain, unease.

49.brew (verb)

English Meaning - develop, loom, impend, fume, simmer, smoulder (of something bad/unpleasant situation).

50.backing (noun)

English Meaning - support, assistance, encouragement, endorsement, patronage, approval, advocacy.

51.exhort (verb)

English Meaning - (strongly or earnestly) urge, encourage, enjoin, instruct, spur, appeal to, advise someone to do something.

52.wake up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - awake, reawaken, rouse, arouse, urge, inspire, enliven, rekindle.

53.root (noun)

English Meaning - the fundamental cause, source, or origin of something.

54.outfit (noun)

English Meaning - organization, group, unit.

55.resist (verb)

English Meaning - oppose, fight against, refuse to accept, object, defy.

56.Sarna religious code (noun)

English Meaning - a proposed official recognition of the indigenous Sarna faith followed by several tribal communities in India, particularly in Jharkhand, which worship nature and ancestral spirits, distinct from major religions like Hinduism, Islam, or Christianity.

57.allege (verb)

English Meaning - claim, charge, accuse; assert, state strongly.

58.subsume (verb)

English Meaning - include, incorporate, absorb, encompass.

59.distinct (adjective)

English Meaning - different, individual, distinctive, particular, separate, special, specific, unique.

60.census (noun)

English Meaning - an official survey, particularly of a population.

61.delist (verb)

English Meaning - remove from a list.

62.churn (noun)

English Meaning - disorder/disorganization, confusion, disruption/chaos.