Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi on Monday condemned the arrest of two Kerala nuns in Chhattisgarh, calling it BJP-RSS mob rule and a grave attack on minority rights, demanding their immediate release and accountability for the injustice.

“Two Catholic nuns jailed in Chhattisgarh after being targeted for their faith- this isn’t justice, it’s BJP-RSS mob rule. It reflects a dangerous pattern: systematic persecution of minorities under this regime,” the leader of Opposition wrote on X, sharing a post by Congress leader K.C. Venugopal.

He added, “..We will not be silent. Religious freedom is a constitutional right. We demand their immediate release and accountability for this injustice.”

Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi called it a grave attack on minority rights.

“…The detention of two Christian nuns—Sister Vandanha and Sister Preethi along with others, without legal basis and on false allegations of conversion and trafficking, is a grave attack on minority rights,” she posted on X.

“This is not an isolated case- under BJP rule, minorities are being systematically harassed and vilified. Mob justice and communal targeting have no place in our democracy. The rule of law must prevail,” she added.

Earlier on Monday, United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs protested outside Parliament against arrests.

Alappuzha MP K.C. Venugopal, who took part in the protests, accused the “jugalbandi between Bajrang Dal goons and the police in Chhattisgarh” as the reasons behind the arrests and said it showed the BJP’s “real intent towards religious minorities.”

“They were targeted by a violent mob despite no wrongdoing,” the Congress leader said.

The two nuns, Sister Vandana Francis and Sister Preethi, both affiliated with the Kerala-based Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI), were arrested at Durg Railway Station on July 26.

They were accompanied by a young man and three women between the ages of 18 and 19, all from Narayanpur district.

Local right-wing activists reportedly accused the nuns of human trafficking and religious conversion. The Chhattisgarh Police booked them under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act, 1968.

The arrests have also united Kerala’s Opposition UDF with the ruling Left Democratic Front.

“A mob trial was held against the nuns and a false case was filed against them.” He described the arrest as a “brutal police witch-hunt” and accused the Sangh Parivar of “acting like wolves in sheep’s clothing,” leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan wrote on Facebook.

“They will come to the churches and Christian homes in Kerala with cakes. In other places, they will disrupt all the celebrations of Christians. They will attack them brutally. The latest example of this was seen in Chhattisgarh,” Satheesan said.

According to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the nuns were at the station to receive the women who had travelled for employment at the convent.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vijayan wrote that “relatives of the nuns have complained that they had not been able to communicate with them after they were taken into custody.”

The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Sunday confirmed that Vijayan had requested the PM to ensure “transparent and fair proceedings” and to “intervene directly.”

Chhattisgarh BJP has promised due process. BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in a Facebook post that he had “requested the state authorities in Chhattisgarh to carry out a comprehensive probe into the issue and take necessary steps to protect the innocent people and punish the culprits.”

Chandrasekhar added, “The real facts should come out in the issue,” and noted that the Chhattisgarh chief minister had assured him “no innocent people would be punished.”