A Moment of Sudden Disillusionment for Kerala’s Christian 'Sanghis'

The arrest of two Malayali Catholic nuns in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and proselytisation, now out on bail for which the prime minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are profusely thanked by the Church leadership, has brought about some hilarious and ironical repercussions in Kerala.

A substantial chunk of the Syrian Christian leadership has been hobnobbing with the Sangh Parivar, and much to the latter’s delight and on its behalf, spreading anti-Muslim venom for quite some time now. In fact, several of the anti-Muslim online channels in Malayalam are owned and run by Christians. There are a bunch of Christian ideologues, by now very well-known, who peddle Islamophobic propaganda on television channels with irksome regularity. Unprecedented and highly objectionable anti-Muslim rhetoric by priests at the highest levels has become somewhat commonplace.

The nuns’ arrest has led to a moment of disillusion, and many of the notorious Muslim haters among the Christians who were fascinated by the Sangh Parivar are now expressing shock and disgust at the event. One foul-mouthed man even went to the extent of regretting the hard work he and his ilk had done over the years in pushing the Sanghi narrative. In a moment of rare candidness, he even blurted out that he had expected such atrocities only for another group of people. A particularly egregious media owner lamented that the credibility the BJP had established among Kerala Christians completely vanished following the arrest of the nuns. In a statement that revealed a veiled admission of the cooperation with the Sangh Parivar, the Supreme Head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Baselios Marthoma Mathews The Third (III), said that a policy of simultaneous appeasement and persecution is contradictory.

People from the Christian community take part in a march against the recent arrest of two Kerala nuns in Chhattisgarh, in Kozhikode, Kerala, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. The nuns were released from Durg Central Jail on bail on Saturday. Photo: PTI.

In this rare moment of vindication, secular circles are throwing the Martin Niemoller lines at the "Chrisanghis" (Christian Sanghis) with utter disdain. Now that the state elections are round the corner, both the UDF and LDF have begun using the opportunity to woo the Christians, a significant section among whom revelled in their bonhomie with the BJP. In fact, the most vituperative verbal attacks against the Muslims in Kerala in recent times have not come from the ranks of the Sangh Parivar, but from a bunch of Christians, who included bishops and political leaders.

Alarmed by the developments, the BJP leadership in the state has rushed to initiate dialogue with the clergy at the very top and is expected to reach some deal that will outwardly assuage the feelings of the community on the one hand and provide the Church leadership concessions in financial and other matters on the other. The long and short of the response from the "Chrisanghi" cabal seems to be: “Leave us alone, and please focus on the Muslims.” Muslim leaders, cutting across confessional divides, have come forward and declared solidarity with the Christian community, as they did on previous occasions when Christians were targeted by the Sangh Parivar. The issue has also led to the emergence of many ordinary Christian users of social media who vocally critique the ‘Judases’ among their brethren, who did all they could to betray and destroy the pluralistic culture of Kerala where different faiths and the multiple sects within them coexisted rather peaceably, if not fully harmoniously, over the decades.

The question on everyone’s mind is whether the arrest of the nuns and the debates it stirred up will lead to some introspection among the hate-mongers within the Christian community and a realisation that the Sangh Parivar will not spare anyone that does not fall within its idea of ‘true Indians.’ In the long run, the answer to the question about introspection is ‘no’, but it will surely wean many ordinary Christians away from the Sangh during the upcoming state elections. In the long run, the Churches have too much at stake and the anti-Muslim polarisation they created is too deep to wish away. This is evident in the statements that came out following the bail, for which the central government is credited, as if judicial decisions on granting bail is now ordered by the PM’s office.

The Syrian Christians of Kerala perceive themselves to be something of a caste group high up in the social ladder and hence will not feel any real sense of solidarity with persecuted co-religionists of lesser ranking in terms of class and caste. The current commotion is entirely because the nuns arrested are Syrian Christians belonging to the all-powerful Catholic Church.

Swami Vivekananda famously said that if Jesus Christ were to return to the world today, he would not find a place to lay his head on. This is so true of Kerala today, where some followers of the god of love (including top echelons of His representatives on earth) are incessantly preaching hate, and turning the state into a hotbed of communal strife. The pitiable reality of Kerala’s Christian community today is that the laity are throwing words of wisdom and piety at the clergy, a section of which has no qualms in selling themselves out for much more than thirty pieces of silver.

Shajahan Madampat is a writer and cultural commentator based in Abu Dhabi.

This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.

Note: A hyperlink was changed since published for greater clarity on what the head of the Orthodox Church said. In an earlier version of this piece, the Supreme Head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Baselios Marthoma Mathews The Third (III) was misidentified as Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church head Theodosius Mar Thoma Metropolitan. The error has been rectified.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.