Nun, 19 children questioned at Jharkhand railway station after Bajrang Dal’s conversion claims

A nun and 19 Adivasi children were questioned at Tatanagar railway station in Jharkhand on Friday when they deboarded from a train after members of Hindutva organisation Bajrang Dal raised concerns of alleged religious conversion, The Indian Express reported.

The investigators have not yet found merit to the Bajrang Dal’s allegations.

The group of four boys, fifteen girls and the nun were made to wait at the station for about five hours.

The newspaper quoted Christian rights groups as having alleged that the Bajrang Dal vigilantes posted photos and videos of the minors on social media.

The Bajrang Dal is among a Hindutva groups led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The nun alleged that she and the children were followed by two men on the South Bihar Express between Kharsawan and Jamshedpur. The group was travelling to attend a life-skills training programme, the newspaper reported.

“They followed us, and at one point, the TTE (travelling ticket examiner) quietly asked me where I was taking them,” the nun was quoted as saying. “Later, a huge mob gathered, as if I were a criminal. The passengers and the TTE began questioning the religion of the minors.”

The nun said that she showed the ticket examiner permission letters from the children’s guardians and the village...

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